Beachtime on Koh Tao!

The trip to Koh Tao started by taking an almost 2 hours delayed night train from Phechaburi to Chumpon. It was about 5 hours of shaking and noise, and as expected Tatiana could not sleep. We arrived at Chumpon just on time to get the ferry tickets to Koh Tao, which took about 3 hours. When we arrived to the island we had a quick snack before we walked towards Sairee Beach, in search for a diving school. We found one with Spanish speaking instructors, and Tachi decided to start the course that same afternoon. We ended up staying next door in a dirty bungalow so we wouldn’t have to get up so early to walk to the diving school.

While Tachi was doing her Open Water course David had to find other things he could do on his own. On Tachi’s first day in the water David decided to explore the island by foot. On the way up to Two View viewpoint he met and joined two other travellers who were heading for Aow Leuk, a beach on the other side of the island.

View over Sairee Beach from Two View viewpoint

The next day, David joined the boat for a couple of dives while Tachi kept doing her exercises. Unfortunately she did not feel comfortable, and had problems with some of the exercises, so she decided not to finish the course. A three day course was a bit to quick for her to get comfortable with the sensation of breathing under water, so we got a cut in the price for not continuing the last day. Hopefully with some more practice she will be able to join David for some scuba diving in the future.

As we didn’t need to stay next to the diving school anymore, we headed out to find a better place to stay. We found a very clean place in front of Sairee Beach, with swimming pool, restaurant, bar, and for the same price as we were paying at the dirty place. Now we had a few days to enjoy the island and its beaches!

Boats in the sunset at Sairee Beach

The day we moved to the new bungalow we just stayed around Sairee Beach and enjoyed a relaxed day in the sun. We didn't really have much luck with a cloudless sunset, but it was still a beautiful view! The next morning we got up early, grabbed a not so tasty breakfast, and started our hike to the other side of the island. David had managed to convince Tachi that the steep and sweaty walk was well worth the amazing views over the island. Our plan was to do the same route over to the other side, but then go to Tanote Bay instead of Aow Leuk. Because of the burning sun, and a very steep road down to Tanote Bay, we ended up going to Aow Leuk. It was so good to get into the water, but unfortunately we didn't have enough money to pay the deposit for renting snorkeling gear :( Just because we had left almost all the rest of our money as a deposit for our bungalow... Why all these deposits??
Nevertheless we enjoyed the beach, and could watch some colorful fishes in the crystal clear water. As the sand was to hot we spent almost all the time in the water, just getting out for lunch. Before it got dark we returned to our hotel, and enjoyed a refreshing dip in the pool after a long day of burning sun and a lot of sweating. We were hoping to have a nice fish dinner as our last on the island, but we were rather disappointed. 

Enjoying Aow Leuk Beach

The next day was our ferry back to Chumpon, and our overnight bus back to Bangkok. We will be missing Koh Tao!!