Koh Tao is very undeveloped with its long stretched beaches and mountainous jungles that still appear to be in tact with minimal invasion. It's known for its many coves that you can only get to by water taxi. The island is inhabited by local Thais, a large population of Burmese, a plethora of backpackers and expats that have decided to call Koh Tao home most of who work at one of the local diving companies. The diving in Koh Tao is supposed to be the best in the area and one of the cheapest places to get your certification as well. This place will be a different world in 10 years. You can already tell with the ongoing construction everywhere. We knew we found this gem right at the right time and decided we were going to take full advantage of it.
We arrived at In Touch Resort located in the outskirts of Sairree Beach (the main town of Koh Tao). Christina and I had our own little villa just steps away from the beach. For starters, this was heaven. To have our own room and be able to unpack and set up camp was a real treat. We threw on our swimsuits and headed straight to the hotel bar perched right on the water front. We ordered mojitos and within minutes had already asked if we could stay an extra day extending our stay from 3 nights to 4. In typical Claire and Christina style, we sat there reading blogs and TripAdvisor on the go to places to eat on the island. Due to the many expats on the islands, the food options are endless. We decided on Portobello Bistro where we enjoyed a platter of grilled meats and tzatziki and a margarita pizza.
The next day we lounged at the beach and made plans to get diving certified for the next 3 days. We dined at a tapas bar that we loved so much we went back 3 more times. The staff knew us by the end of the trip. From zucchini fritters to a quinoa salad with manchego and beets to a slow cooked lamb paired with tzatziki. We almost sampled the whole menu over the week. Everything was amazing. It also turned out that the chef/owner was also an instructor at Big Blue Diving (where we got certified) so we got to know him and raved to him about how we were probably his #1 foodie fans. For any of you who plan to visit Koh Tao the place is called Kusto.
The following morning we began our diving classes. It was a bit of an awakening to have to be somewhere at 8 am to sit in a classroom. To be honest all we wanted to do was hang on the beach all day. We watched videos all morning and then got in the pool in that afternoon. The first day was pretty basic training. That night we ate at Sairree Beach Cottage and drank Tiki Treats (rum, pineapple, coconut milk and mangos) with barbecue skewers.
The next day we spent the morning finishing our classroom diving lessons and took a written test that was part of the certification process (and passed!). We headed out on the water that afternoon. We did a total of 4 dives over the next 2 days that were amazing. It is a different world down there that I don't think you truly can understand until your diving feet away from beautiful coral and thousands of fish. Unfortunately we didn't find the whale shark that inhabits the waters. The night we got certified we celebrated at the bar of Big Blue diving with our instructor, Alex, and the other instructors and students from the past 3 days. They put together a video of us under water which was pretty cool. We made our way down the beach to a few more clubs and had so much fun that I lost my shoes (or someone stole them - still unclear). To my defense you do have to take your shoes off everywhere you go and put them at the front of the restaurant.
The next day we moved to a new hotel. We decided to stay somewhere cheaper since we extended our stay and the Seaview Hotel seemed like our best option. While we had some of the best views from our porch, the beds were pretty brutal. For the next few nights, Christina and I shared a rock hard bed that whenever you moved you could feel each spring piercing into your back. Our first night there we went back to Kusto and drank a bottle of wine to help ease into it. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep to well there but at least we had the beaches all day to nap.
View from Seaview Hotel
For the next few days we enjoyed the beautiful beaches of Koh Tao. As I mentioned before, they are known for their many coves all throughout the island. One day we hired a taxi boat to take us to one. We had heard there was a supposed to be a cool bar near by. We hiked around snd discovered a tree house/pirate shack set up in a little cove. It was perfectly isolated with all kinds of nooks and lofts that overlooked the water. We sipped on some beers and fresh coconut for awhile taking it all in.
We were pretty bummed to leave Koh Tao. It became our little home for the week. We particularly were a bit skeptical to be heading to our next destination that we had heard a lot of mixed reviews on...Koh Phanghan. From previous backpacking trips, I had heard that the Full Moon Party on Koh Phanghan was the best party in the world and must do for world travelers. Although after coming through SE Asia this time around, we heard from numerous that is just a bunch of backpackers partying on a trashy/touristy beach. We were imagining Panama City Spring Break. But never the less, we were a few hour ferry ride away and felt we had to see it with our own eyes.
Koh Phanghan was interesting the minute we got off the ferry. We were shuffled to a taxi line where we were told to get on the back of a truck with 6 other fellow back packers. The taxi driver sped up and down hills like a mad man. It felt as if he forgot that there were 8 people on the back of his truck with very little holding them in. We finally made it to our hotel that evening and decided to walk around the town of Haad Rin (where the Full Moon Party takes place). The whole town is centered around the party. Besides the quiet beach at our hotel, it doesn't appear there is much else to do around there.
The following night was the night of the party. We met up with 2 girls from New Orleans one of which went to school with Stina at UGA. We gathered loads of drinking supplies and headed out to grab dinner. We came back to our room to make a new "bucket" (that's what they drink there - buckets you use to use to make sandcastles now filled with copious amounts of your choice of liquor and chaser). Being the typical foodies/cocktail connoisseurs we are - we decided to make ours with vodka, coconut milk, pineapple juice and lime soda water. We were greeted at our room by the furious hotel owner yelling at us for allowing the 2 girls to stay in the room and saying that we needed to pay him. Even though they never mentioned a limit of people in the room when we checked in - I fought with him for a good five minutes explaining that we were never notified of this and that he just made up a price we had to pay for them. But we paid it because he said he would kick us out if we didn't.
With full buckets, we made our way down to the beach. Thousands of people - some of who were so drunk they could barely stand at 11 pm (the party is supposed to last until sunrise). Another big attraction is the fire. People jump rope through massive fire ropes. I didn't see one person make it out with out getting burned. It's a wild place - basically seems like a no rules party except apparently there are many undercover cops that will threaten to take you to jail unless you pay them off even for not having your passport on you. We decided to make our way up to Mellow Mountain that overlooks the party and hung out there most of the night enjoying their delicious milkshakes. We only made it until 4 am but I think that was enough for me to see it all. All I can say is if your thinking of going to Full Moon Party skip it.
We had a recovery day on the beach the next day and then headed back to Bangkok.
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