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Published: August 20th 2010
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Keying In
Brent doesn't let his IT skills get rusty Koh Tao
After the hassle & bustle of the big city that is Bangkok, we decided to head to a more mellow scene on the island of Koh Tao. Koh Tao is famous for its excellent dive areas within spitting distance from the island. This is why Brent had chosen it to complete his open water dive certification.
To get to the island we embarked on a six hour train journey south to Chumphon, the mainland gateway to the islands. We decided to stay the night in Chumphon and catch the quick catamaran to Koh Tao the next day. There isn't too much to see in Chumphon, and the weather wasn't great, so we made a bee line to the closest pub with WI-FI and hankered down with a ice cold Chang (Brent's favourite beer in Thailand at 6%!a(MISSING)lcohol volume it has to be good for you!) and a Leo (Cath's beer of choice, naturally, as she is a Leo..). The next day bought better weather and we had a pleasant crossing on the catamaran to the island. Upon arrival we were descended upon by 20 million taxi drivers and long boat touts all trying to win our
Islands
Here we come! fare. We still hadn't decided where we were staying yet so we took our time, browsed the brochures, & finally deciding upon Ban's Diving Resort.
Ban's Diving Resort is just over the hill from the main port in Koh Tao. A taxi driver offered us a lift for the bargain price of 200 baht for a journey that takes all of 4 minutes (if you haven't guessed, I'm being sarcastic). We kindly declined this offer but managed to find a free lift with a truck belonging to the hotel. Ban's is well positioned right in the centre of Sairee Beach, the second major centre on the island. If you are a student with the dive school then Ban's offers discounted rates on its accommodation. We opted for the DELUXE room with balcony overlooking the resort's gardens so Cath would have a bit of luxury (namely tea making facilities!) while Brent gallivanted around in the open seas. With the dive course booked and our room organised we decided to head out and explore our little piece of island paradise.
Koh Tao has that perfect sleepy island feel to it. Set off the mainroad, there is one wide footpath running
Yes
It was this beautiful! all the way up with restaurants and bars on one side set on the beach and shops, dive stores and massage services occupying the other. Walkers have to share this small path with dozens of scooters all the time which both locals and tourists use. We saw LOADS of scooter injuries ranging from strapped up limbs & crutches to burn marks. Ouch! Koh Tao is also the island of no shoes, you take your shoes off to go inside anywhere, so Brent very quickly acquired a handy pair of knock-off quiksilver jandals!
Diving
The next morning Brent was up with the birds for the trip out to the reef for the first of four dives (over two days) required for the open water qualification. Brent had already completed a PADI dive referral course in the UK so was able to wade straight into the open water dives (no wasting a day in the classroom and pool). The main dive sites in Koh Tao only take about 30 mins in the boat to get to. The group arrived nice and early and proceeded to suit up. Brent's dive instructor for the course was a English gentleman by the name
See
I told you it was! of Lee Nightingale. Lee was a great instructor and top bloke. Brent quickly got off to covering the course requirements for PADI certification i.e. full mask flooding, regulator recovery, buddy breathing etc. before going off to do the fun part of exploring the reef and its inhabitants. Brent was able to see plenty of sea life during the dives, including a moray eel and “Nemo”. Scuba diving is everything Brent thought it would be, and he absolutely loved it! Two Days and four dives later Brent is now PADI Open Water qualified and keen to get back in the water.
Meanwhile, Cath was able to explore the local stores on her own and spend some time at one of the many bars offering free WiFi to catch up with friends and family. She also researched some accomodation for the next part of the journey & generally had some R&R (and a lot of cups of tea).
Kayaking
The next day we decided to try out our new masks and snorkels we had purchased in Koh Tao out in the bay. We hired a sea kayak and headed out for the day. We originally intended to head to
The perfect pair
Leo & Chang (what'd you think I was talking about??) a little outlying island but after 60 mins of paddling it became evident that we would not be getting there anytime soon. Change of plan, we headed back into the mainland and a nice rocky cove that looked promising for snorkeling. The water was pretty shallow over the reef so it was difficult to fully explore but we had a good time none-the-less. The evening we decided to treat our weary bones to a Thai Massage for Brent and a Oil Massage for Cath. Cath enjoyed a lovely relaxing massage while Brent proceeded to get pummeled! Unfortunately the Thai massage was not quite to Brent's tastes but don't let that stop you from trying one if your ever in Thailand. We stopped by a bar for some nice spicy noodle soup and the bar was playing the movie "The Beach" on a large screen..so a nice accompliment to our meal.
Our fifth and final day in Koh Tao was dedicated to relaxing and watching NZ vs SA in the Tri Nations Rugby. We found a Aussie pub in town that was playing the game so we grabbed some Chang's and got warmed up for the game. We got chatting
Romeo Romeo..
Is he hiding behind Brent?? to a friendly pair of South Africans who had a keen interest in the match. Many Chang's later and a win to the AB's left us feeling in fine form. The South Africans took the loss graciously and challenged us to a game of pool to restore some national pride. Unfortunately they weren't to know that Cath is somewhat of a pool shark when she is in form. Tonight was one of those nights. After a number of sound beating in pool the South Africans said a hearty goodbye and we turned in for the night.
The next day we were up bright and early again and back on the ferry on the way to our next destination, Phuket.
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