And finally….Koh Tao
The bright yellow fish darted in and out of the coral reef below us, completely oblivious to our presence. They were joined by inquisitive little black and white striped fish, the larger colourful coral trout and dozens of other Nemo-like friends. And we had a private viewing of all this colour and movement through our mask and snorkel floating in the calm warm water of this protected bay. Such is the life at Koh Tao.
Koh Tao, or Turtle Island, has always been high on our list of islands to go to in Thailand but, well, other places and other circumstances conspired against us to get there. Actually, the island is known as a diver’s heaven and also a young people’s hangout, neither of which quite fit us. But we know that where there are divers there is also great snorkeling and we don’t mind being twice the age of the average guests on the island (and after all, we’re invisible to them). So we took advantage of our time to have one last splurge in Thailand and hopped on a plane/mini-van/ferry/shuttle to get to this beautiful island.
Koh Tao is a smallish quite mountainous island north of the more popular Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand. It isn’t easy to get to and its layback lifestyle encourages longer stays. We saw accommodation offered for 9,000 Baht (about $300) per month for a small bungalow with a slow moving fan and no views or breakfast. Such is Koh Tao.
For us it was one last opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of Thailand which basically revolves around the slower easy going lifestyle, the sun, the beaches, the great food and the people. Our four days on the island followed a familiar pattern – lazy morning by the pool or on the beach, snorkeling or exploring in the afternoon, followed by cocktails with views of the sunset over the ocean and a great dinner involving beautiful whole fried fish with some sort of delicious sauce. Heaven.
One afternoon we hired a long tail boat to take us to Nangyuan Island, a small island off the shore of Koh Tao which had some bungalows, a restaurant, a good beach and some great snorkeling. We snorkeled in a few spots around its coastline and were surprised by not just the variety of fish we saw, including some beautifully colourful ones, but also the size of some of them.
Another afternoon we hired a ‘taxi’, which was really a ute that we rode in the back of, which took us to a number of the key beaches or lookouts on the island. The roads on the island are almost all single lane and some of them are not paved. Motorbikes are a more common means of getting around and we saw many inexperienced young people in their swimmers riding double without helmets. We kept our fingers crossed for them.
Our favourite spot was the secluded beach of Ao Leuk, quiet and almost deserted, beautiful clear water with colourful fish swimming up to our mask and all around us. We went to a few other beaches and finished with a beer at Two View lookout with sweeping views of most of the west side of the island. Great stuff.
Another day we hired a long tail boat to take us to the four key snorkeling bays around the island. Our journey started badly as the high winds on the windy side of the island created huge swells that our little boat bravely rose up and over while its two passengers bravely held on and copped the constant big splashes over the bow. But once we got around the southern tip of the island the water smoothed out and the little bays exposed some terrific snorkeling.
First stop was our favourite from the previous day, Ao Leuk, and we had a good snorkel amongst the colourful fish and the wide range of interesting coral. The coral at Koh Tao was not necessarily colourful, although occasionally we would see some green or red coral, but there was a wide range of fascinating shapes and sizes, including large brain corals, huge beds of antler coral, lots of mushroom-shaped coral, all sorts of varieties. Overall the coral was much better than we expected.
From Ao Leuk we motored north along the coast to Hin Wong Bay which is almost inaccessible by land but reveals all its secrets under its warm water. We snorkeled here for over an hour, swimming in and around the large rocks off the shore, through little nooks and crannies to spot fish hiding under ledges. We were totally overwhelmed when a large school of bright yellow fish camped just below us and went into a feeding frenzy on some local coral. This was a special treat, we’d never seen anything like it before.
From there it was up the coast further to Mango Bay where we enjoyed a lunch overlooking the beautiful water, followed by a quick snorkel (of course) before finishing off in a quiet bay off Nangyuan Island where we had been the first day. We had the rare sensation of beginner divers swimming below us at one stage and waving up at us.
Koh Tao was a great way to finish off a crazy final two months in Asia before we made our way back to Australia for our permanent relocation back home. It had all the elements we enjoy in Thailand and we were able to mix a lot of snorkeling with a bit of exploring and some good old fashion chilling out. We had a few beers at the swim-up bar at our hotel and a few late night Black Russians in bean bags listening to live music. But generally we wound down the pace and enjoyed our final days in Thailand. And we knew that when we got back to Australia, as good as it will be to return to our real home and be close again to our family and friends, we will always have special memories of our four plus years in Thailand. Sanuk maak, as they say!