Koh Tao
- Amy
- May 15, 2019
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 14, 2019
KOH TAO
5th - 11th May 2019
05/05/19
And our long journey to Koh Tao began. I won't bore you with the travel details, only that we got 2 buses and a long ferry to get to the beautiful little island situated north of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan.
On the journey I got an interesting breakfast/lunch of rice and an omelet... tasted as good as it looks...
Koh Tao is located off of the east coast of Southern Thailand, an hours ferry journey north from Koh Sumui and Koh Phangan. Known as ‘Death Island’ from strange tourist deaths and disappearances, we were slightly sceptical to go. However, it turned out to be my favourite place in Thailand so far!
We arrived late in the evening, with the three guys from Krabi who followed us there (typical! I guess we’re just too much fun)! We all went out for a meal at a run down local restaurant and then had a few drinks in the pub across the road from our hostel that was dedicated to playing live football with England flags decorated throughout... wow! This was soon to become our favourite place...
06/05/19
Welcome to our first full day on Koh Tao! With little knowledge of the island and the trendy places to go, we started off with a big full English breakfast in the football bar (disappointed in ourselves for not being more adventurous haha) before we walked down to the beach and spent most of the day swimming and sunbathing!
I found a swing and of course got some great insta pictures (if you know, you know)!
Later in the evening we participated in the Koh Tao pub crawl which we found after seeing so many people on all of the islands wearing the T-shirt’s. The crawl was basically going to four different spots, the first being a pool party where I ended up jumping in the pool with my denim shorts on (not a great idea)...
The second place was a private show from the most gorgeous women I have ever seen... except there was a catch... they were ladyboys haha! We watched one of their performances which was a lot of fun! I apologise for the bad photos but as I have not yet discovered how to put videos on (which were much more entertaining) screenshots will have to do...
We also had a huge group photo of the whole pub crawl...
Megan entered in a competition that ended up being dancing in front of everyone 😂 Funniest moment of my life! Again, I wish videos could be added, but for Megan‘s sake she’s probably glad that this one can’t!
The final two bars were full of dancing to a live band and also free shots on the door... pretty fun night indeed!
07/05/19
The morning after and a few sore heads (I was perfectly fine of course because I’m a legend), we had a nice breakfast and then went to hire some mopeds. Now, I originally wasn’t going to as I have never even sat on one before and therefore decided that it would best that I didn’t ride one. However (and don’t be disappointed in me Mum and Dad), as it was one of the things on my list I really wanted to do - as well as Koh Tao being a good place to try it out... I hired one... It definitely took me a little while to get used to but one of the guys in our group drives bikes at home, so he was able to help me a lot. Otherwise I wouldn’t have got anywhere haha! Disclaimer: don’t worry to any of my family members or those who care about me even a little bit, I drove slowly and safely and had a fab time without falling off and crashing!
We drove to the most beautiful viewpoint, me on my own bike and the others pairing up on the other two bikes, and it was spectacular. We had a 350 degree view across the ocean and beaches. If that view doesn’t seem worth a moped drive to get there then I don’t know what is...
Looking down upon the beautiful beaches below, we decided to visit one and spent the afternoon sat chilling. Sitting on the beach soaking up the sun has definitely become a theme of ours, but we’re making the most of it before before we head up north to absolutely no beaches!
Later in the evening, Megan began her Open Water Divers course with Phoenix Divers and the guys and I went for dinner and then watched the sunset... how cute!
The rest of the evening was spent with three of us watching the new episode of Game of Thrones (for the older generation, this is a TV programme that is very popular). We’ve met so many people who love the show and who are watching the episodes weekly which has besn so nice - true fans!
08/05/19
A day of diving! Megan left early in the morning to continue her course and two of the guys and I (who all have our OW qualifications) went to do some diving!
Our first boat dive was incredible. We saw some beautiful corral - these are some photos I have stolen from one of the guys (without their knowledge haha) so enjoy!
We were supposed to do a second dive, got kitted up and were halfway down when the dive was called off because a diver in another group had decided to go off and dive by himself (which is not allowed). So all of the instructors had to go and find him... selfish man! We did get refunded but it meant we couldn't do the second dive which was a real shame! More of a shame for the guys who’s wouldn’t be able to do more diving again soon.
When we all arrived back we went for a non Thai pizza... sorry (we’ve eaten so much Thai food we needed a break)! Supposed to be the best pizza on the island and it was delicious!
Here is a surprise... the evening was spent in the football bar across the road where we got a cute little family photo, played cards and had a few drinks. Mojitos have become a massive staple in both mine and Megan’s diets... champagne taste on a beer budget...
Our last night with the guys before they left to go up north was nice just chilling and making the most of seeing them!
09/05/19
The guys left in the morning whilst Megan was diving and then I met up with her afterwards and we went for more of an explore around the island...
We found a restaurant that did hummus and olives (which was what Megan fancied). And because she was now an OW diver she could have whatever she wanted (I ate all the black olives yummmm)! I had a fresh mango smoothie. The view from the restaurant was beautiful overlooking the trees to the ocean in the distance.
We had a relatively unproductive and uneventful afternoon. We checked into our new hostel which was part of the dive centre and I finally put on a wash for all my disgustingly dirty clothes (travelling life). It was at this kind of dodgy looking place (don’t worry I got it all back haha)! Ready for a 6:45am start to begin my Advanced Open Water diving course...
10/05/19
And my Advanced Open Water diving course began! Of course I had to be on the same level as Mum and Luke, so this qualification was a must have! Also a good excuse to do lots of diving!
Megan and I both left at 6:45am and did two amazing boat dives. The first was my deep dive where I went to 27.5m and the other was a wreck dive around a sunken boat. Both dives were very cool, however the water was slightly murky from the current. Even though Megan and I were diving separately, we still managed to see each other and wave a few times underwater which was cool!
These were Megan’s last dives before she was officially an Open Water Diver WOOOOOO!!!!! Also, here is a cute ginger cat that lived at the dive centre...
We celebrated our newly qualified diver with a burger that was recommended to us by the dive centre... yes, I know all the photos of food I post aren’t Thai... but I swear, we do eat a lot of Thai food!
At 6pm I was back out on the boat for my night dive. Spooky! We entered the water just as it was getting dark and then exited when it was pitch black. Luckily we had torches so we could actually see where we were, but still a strange experience diving in the dark... think I prefer during the day. Wayyyy less creepy! Sharks like the dark too!
By this point I was shattered after the three dives (not used to doing so many... not used to diving full stop) but Megan and I still went out for a walk down the Main Street where everyone was out and about. They have Thai pancake carts dotted all over the island so we treated ourselves to one. They are folded up with the chocolate or filling on the outside rather than the inside... very oily which is not ideal if you’re on a diet (clearly we weren’t haha!)
Sad news: although I enjoyed the pancake at the time, my body clearly didn't, and I threw up a lot in the night... not ideal considering I was diving at 6:45am the next day... well done Amy!
11/05/19
Another 6:45am start for me and I completed the last two dives of my course. The first being the navigation dive where I guided the group, and the second being a mixture of navigation and buoyancy skills. So there we go... by 11am I was officially an Advanced Open Water Diver... who’s going to get their Dive Master first? Luke or I? Haha!
Next destination: Koh Phangan
- A
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