Koh Tao, Thailand

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After a 1.5 hour ferry ride we arrived on Koh Tao. Koh in Thai means island and Tao means turtle, so Turtle Island. I'm not sure why because I never saw a turtle there but I guess that doesn't mean that there weren't any. Upon arrival to the island we found accommodations on one of the three main beaches called, Sairee Beach. I thought it may be a bad idea initially because it's pronounced "sorry," but it all turned out okay. One of the things Kailie and I really liked about this particular resort is that it had a dive shop on location so we could be fitted for all our equipment and be ready to dive in the morning. We signed up for a two tank morning dive then headed out for lunch. After lunch we roamed around the island to get familiarized with the area then headed to bed early that night because we had to be up a 7:30 to dive.

The thing that's strange to me about diving in Thailand that they have an 18 meter (60ft) depth limit on divers with Open Water certifications such as Kailie and myself. I find this odd because when I was 12 years old, my first and second ocean dives ever were both between 70 and 85 feet. The other thing that grabs my attention is the fact that I've dove all over the world and the first place that has actually cared about my safety is Thailand. The only thing I can figure is that they want to sell you an Advanced Open Water certification which allows you to go 30 meters (100ft), which I've also done. Kailie and I got lucky with the dive master we were issued, he could see that we knew what we were doing and allowed us to go deeper. The diving wasn't incredibly deep here, but it was nice to go below the 18 meter depth so we could actually explore the reef apposed to look at it from above.

The diving here in Koh Tao was not the best that I've seen but there were a lot of things that I had not seen before. There were quite a few banded sea snakes and a ton of scorpion fish. But the most exciting moment came on our third dive. On the way to the reef they told us that the location had been changed but we wouldn't be disappointed. Our dive master told us that 2 whale sharks had been spotted so I was instantly ecstatic, all my life I've wanted to dive with whale sharks! Unfortunately, on the way out we got word that they were actually Minke Whales, I was slightly disappointed at first but it's still a huge freaking animal. We got to the site and saw them swimming around so we suited up and hopped in. The whales were nowhere near as excited to see us as we were to see them so the closest we came to them was about 60 yards, they circled around the area for a while but eventually we realized that it was a waste of time to kick after them so we said screw it and went on with our dive. Once back on the boat we saw them swimming a few more times, so it was a cool experience even though they we didn't get to dive with them.

After our sixth dive we decided to take the following morning off. We found out there was an American fighting at the local Muay Thai ring so we grabbed some booze and headed to the fights. I didn't really know what to expect but anytime I can pay a few bucks to watch other people kick the shit out of each other I'm there! These fights turned out to be awesome, it was amazing how involved the crowd was in every fight. I thought for sure the American was going to get killed. He was tall and skinny and had a traditional boxing style, whereas the Thai had the Muay Thai kickboxing thing down to a science. In the second round the American got a clear shot on the Thai and knocked his breath right out and he didn't get back up. We stayed for all eight fights then headed out to the bars.

Here in Thailand the best value for your baht, is a bucket. They sell you a bucket with a handle and you can get any kind of mixed beverage under the sun. Most people don't need more than one bucket, however some people find themselves on their second and don't entirely know how it happened! I'll leave out the details of the evening mostly because they're a bit blurry but I woke at 1pm the following day and instantly regretted everything that occurred after the Muay Thai fights. I didn't feel better until I ventured over to the girls bungalow just in time to see Kailie run out the front door and projectile vomit off the porch...it hurt to laugh, but I pushed through. I'm sure she left that out of her blog and yes, that's why I'm here. Needless to say, we had a very quite afternoon that involved feeling sorry for ourselves and making fun of Kailie.

The next day we rented motorbikes to cruise around the island and do a little snorkeling. The whole island is only 7km long and 2km wide and most of it is inaccessible due to a lack of roads. I had never been on a motorbike let alone driven one, so I kinda knew deep down that things would end badly. Kailie and I shared one, which means that I did all the work and she sat on the back worry free. We stopped at a few snorkeling areas and swam around checking out the coral, fish and a few shipwrecks. All went well until we decided to go to this "secret" location were you can go in the water and attract sharks by crinkling an empty plastic bottle under the water. The problem with this "secret" location is that the freakin roads are terrible. The parts that were paved were covered in loose gravel along with a steep downgrade. Kailie had to get off the bike numerous times because the weight of the two of us would cause the bike to slide over the loose gravel even with the breaks locked. It was only a matter of time before the bike got dropped on its side and the paneling got scratched. Before this happened, I may or may not have said, "Hey Kailie, watch me hit this jump!" Regardless, I believe the bike was destined to hit the pavement at some point during the trip. I believe the indecent was directly followed by brief laughter and then the reality that I was going to have to pay a bunch of money.

We ended up parking the motorbike so there wouldn't be too much blood dripping out of my body while we were trying to attract sharks. We got down to the beach and snorkeled out to the reef, once we got there we started crinkling the bottle. Initially I didn't understand why that attracted them but once underwater it sounds like the crunching sound of fish being eaten, so they hear this and come to find the feast. While we were waiting for the sharks we saw a giant trigger fish and a good sized moray eel. Eventually I saw a baby black tip reef shark swim by but it was starting to get dark out so the visibility was going down hill quickly and I wanted to get the bike back up the hill before the sun went down. On the way back to shore we saw two more black tips that were a little bigger than the first one, so it was well worth the trip.

The following day I returned the bike and tried to act like nothing happened but he noticed the scratches. These were surface scratches but the dude charged me for brand new panels, my hands were pretty much tied because he had my passport to make sure I returned the bike. I was able to talk him down from 9,000 baht to 7,000, I'd do the exchange to US dollars but it'll just piss me off to see how much it actually is. This was my last day because Bryan and I were headed over to Krabi then Koh Phi Phi (Ko Pee Pee) to do some diving there. I had to say by to Kailie which was sad because we'd been traveling together for over a month.

Lastly, I'd like to point out that Koh Tao had the most incredible sunset BBQ's. Every night the tide would go out and they would let up tables and chairs on the beach along with citronella tiki torches. There would be a huge boat on a stand full of ice with 10-12 different sea food items all for reasonable prices. I got the Blue Marlin Kabob every night. This came with huge chucks of Blue Marlin, Pineapple, Peppers, Onion and Tomato along with a salad and baked potato all for under $3. It doesn't get any better than that!

Alright, off to catch the night boat to Krabi, Thailand.....

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Photos

Koh Tao, Thailand
The view from our beach resort.

Koh Tao, Thailand
Muay Thai fight on the island.

Koh Tao, Thailand
One of the beaches on Koh Tao.

Koh Tao, Thailand
Typical Koh Tao sunset.

Koh Tao, Thailand
Koh Tao sunset.

Koh Tao, Thailand
and another.

Koh Tao, Thailand
The BBQ we looked forward to on a daily basis.