I took an early minibus to the boat bound for Ko Tao. To travel to the island, passengers had to fill out an online application for COVID-19 tracking which included the number and type of vaccinations they had, a COVID-19 negative test within 72 hours of travel, the hotel they came from, and where you are staying on Ko Tao. Our catamaran speedboat made it to Ko Tao in about an hour and on the way we passed by Ko Pha-Ngan which is well known for its all-night Full Moon Parties along the Hat Rin beach.
My Thai dentist, Dr. Pacheree, recommended seeing this island and when she showed me some of the scenery there, I adjusted my travel plans to include this visit. She also indicated that this was a major world-class diving location with lots of dive shops there to train tourists who want to learn how to scuba dive.
As we approached the island, I was struck by the rugged coastline with all of the huge boulders and rocks that lined the shoreline. Also, the light blue waters included huge stripes of darker waters where the coral grew. I learned that during the COVID-19, lockdown, the Ko Tao community began an aggressive program to reseed the coral and create fish nests with plans to charge a small fee to tourists to cover the costs of this conservation program.
I had booked the Blue Wave House just a short walk up from the pier which had discounted the cost of the room by 70% so I ended up with a great room for just 534 Baht per night—$16 USD.
The receptionist recommended an all-day snorkel trip around the island for 500 Baht. The high season price for this all-day snorkel trip was 900 Baht—$28 USD. Here are some pictures of my room and other sights. No pool nor beachside, but the price was right and it is very clean and modern.
I took a mile and half walk to Sairee Beach with its many restaurants, bars, and dive shops where I enjoy some great food and views of the area as the sunset. The Lonely Planet guide indicated that this place is jumping from dusk to dawn, but that is not what I saw. Instead, many entertainment places like the Queen Cabaret were shuttered as were over half of the dive shops and this is the high season where prices are normally at their peak and rooms are hard to find. Not so on this trip.
Just as I returned to the hotel, the sky opened up and it was a downpour. This seems to be the norm.
The snorkel trip began with a 2 hour stop at Nang Yuan Island where we could snorkel to see coral and many types of fish. We first began with a climb up to the viewpoint that looked down to the island and the sand spits joining these small islands.
I joined up with two other tourists during the snorkeling. Didi was from Austria and Natalie was from Holland and both were solo travelers like me. Natalie was on a 2-week vacation from work and Didi was a brain cancer survivor and had a question mark scar on the top of his head. He attributed his recovery to being a vegetarian and becoming a yoga instructor. He looked in top shape as he jumped off the 4-meter platform on the boat. I took the more conservative approach and took the water slide.
My two underwater cameras did a pretty good job of capturing some of the underwater activity of the fish and clams and other creatures as well as the varied coral. Some were big lumps and others were delicate draperies or different colors. The water was a bit turgid because of the continuing storms passing through, but it was a wonderful experience and we spent about 4 hours in the water at the five places we stopped at.
The last place we snorkeled at was called Shark Bay where many of us followed a huge turtle as it cruised along the bottom. Some saw the small sharks, but I did not.
If anyone wants to learn how to scuba dive this would be the place. The water is bathtub warm, there are many diving places out further from shore where the coral is more varied and the fish are larger. I enjoyed the snorkeling and was frequently joined by diving boats that were initiating new divers in these shallower waters.
I did not see it, but this place is also popular for ‘free diving’ which is where people descend without scuba gear and learn how to hold their breaths. Some say that they can go as deep as 100 meters—not for me.
Ban Mae Hat Main Street.
This water seller is filling up his “pure” water bottles.
I booked a boat/bus to Krabi through the hotel receptionist. which would take all day, starting with a big catamaran to Ko Phanang and then transferring to a speedboat followed by a minibus to Krabi. I have found these tour companies really do a great job of getting you from one place to another without having to cobble together a trip by going to the various ferry and bus stations. With COVID 19 there are added bargains in the cost of these trips, except there are fewer options than pre-COVID-19.
First boat to Ko Pha-Nang.
The second boat to Surat Thani.
With my stay in Ko Tao over, I headed to Krabi.
I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads and you may want to see my Peru Adventures there as well as my other travel videos. That link is https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold
If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels. Fewer people are using DVDs so I am transitioning to streaming my travels on my YouTube channel.
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