The Ko Tao Experience

Tomorrow we are leaving our small island paradise which we have called home for the last two weeks. Our time here was the perfect first stop in Thailand. The slow relaxing days spent snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking, sun-bathing, and sampling cuisines has gently introduced us to the people, hot weather, and backpacker life.

One day last week we hiked up to the view point overlooking our bay and the bay to the east. The views were pretty sweet, which made the hot climb up the hill worth it.

There is a path up that hill, I promise.

Some of the views require some climbing.

This is looking back towards the island from the tip of the peninsula.

Aerial view of Chalok Baan Kao Bay, our resort in the foreground.

The majority of our second week here was spent scuba diving, earning our Open Water Diver certificates. The class was 4 days, with the last two days having two open water dives each. The diving in Ko Tao is amazing and we were able to see tons of fish and coral. On our dives we saw a moray eel, butterfly fish, angelfish, a huge masked puffer, two blue-spotted stingrays, trigger fish, banner fish, super bright christmas-tree worms, a big grouper, and tons of soft and hard corals.

This is one of the dive sites we went to, called Four Rocks (creative, huh?).

Yesterday we rented a motorbike and took a tour of the other towns on the island. Everyone rides around on scooters here, but until yesterday we thought it unnecessary and walked everywhere. The tour was noisy, dusty, thrilling, and sometimes sketchy. We swam off the northern point of the island, Nangyuan Viewpoint, which overlooks a nearby island, had drinks overlooking gorgeous Tanote Bay, and stopped on Sairee Beach for dinner and the sunset. A full and awesome day it was.

Entrance to Nangyuan Viewpoint.

View of Nangyuan Island (rocky islands connected by sandbars)

Enjoying the view of Tanote Bay

The viewpoint is set amongst a flower garden

Dinnertime at Sairee Beach

Taxi and fishing boats at low tide

Sairee is a long beach with lots of restaraunts and shops, and lots more people than we have seen the last two weeks

A wonderful way to end the day

Next up for us is Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, after 26 hours of traveling...wish us luck!