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Published: August 25th 2012
Ko Tao & Ko Pha-Ngan
After all the warnings we received in BKK we were not planning to travel to
Ko Tao with any private agency and we simply went to the bus terminal and got on the overnight bus to the port of
Chumphon. Well you could say simply as the terminal is really far from the downtown area (30-45min on a bus) and you have to find a local bus to take you there if you want to save some money on taxi fare etc. Well we made it, so it is doable ;-) We were dropped at some crossroad at 5 am and told to head right but we had no idea where the speedboat terminal was. We got stopped by a guy at motorbike who said that the employee of Songserm Ferries can pick us up and take us to the train station for free. From there, there is a free pick up for the boat customers. We did not have to think long – it was for free in the end. The prices of speedboats were high and surprisingly differed from each other. Songserm was the cheapest and wanted 500Baht/17$ so we took it (Seatran
650Baht). The ride to the island was smooth and nice and we slept through most of the 2,5h.
When we arrived the whole bunch of touts already waited for us but politely pushed through them and decided to walk. The main
Sairee Beach is only 1km away so we did not see the reason to pay 100Baht for motorcycle ride over there. This way we could also check all the available options of accommodation on the way and found really nice resort called
DD Huts where they had loads of cabanas suited for different budget needs. We managed to get a very, very and again basic hut for 300Baht but with bathroom and mosquito net so we were pleased. Beside that DD Huts had their own private beach hidden between rocks and nice decking area with bar just by the water – we liked that deal a lot;-) The more into Sairee beach you get the more expensive everything becomes – budget rooms are suddenly 500Baht and restaurant meals cost a little fortune. We had to try hard to find some cheap finds but as always we made it;-) There is an excellent Pat Thai stall just on the
street and also DD Huts have selection of nice and inexpensive meals including of our favorite fresh chicken salad.
What can we say; Ko Tao is simply stunning – small, clean and not crowded. We could even enjoy it more as it is divers’ paradise and everybody comes here to PADI certify. For that reason the beach is empty most of the time and we took a big advantage of it. Generally if there is great diving there is also an amazing snorkel so we did not hesitate to spend as much time in water as we could, admiring corals and colorful fish. We knew it would only get better and better when we get to Malaysia and Indonesia but we could not complain about marine life here at all. We only had one thing to see on our plan and it was small and private
Ko Nang Yuan Island that we spotted in some travel magazine weeks before. We took a long tail boat to get there (200Baht return each, 10 min) and it was the most incredible island we had ever seen. Two hills are connected by a white sandbar and have this amazing reef and turquoise
water around. You have to pay entrance fee to get there (100Baht) but you can stay for the whole day and enjoy snorkel or diving. It is not allowed to bring your own water or food (obviously because there is one resort that enjoys all the profits from it but we managed to sneak some cookies and nuts in for lunch and just bought water from the resort. It was amazing day and we loved every bit of it. We could not get our head around the fact that the water had this amazing color. If not the Chinese tours coming and going all the time it would have been a true paradise.
One day we decided to walk on the other side of an island (renting a scooter supposed to be dangerous here with all the hills and bad quality of roads and we saw many people with scratched limbs everywhere) and we got to a small bay with one guesthouse with private beach and a bar. It was so secluded that we know we can spend some great time there. We ordered some bears at the bar, chit-chat with few other people and went into the water
to see if snorkel was really that great here. We liked Sairee Beach but in comparison to this little bay it had no marine life at all. It was stunning down there and we could not get ourselves out of water. Another great snorkel, great day and we even met some nice company. There was some small storm in the afternoon so we just at the bar, exchanged travel stories and drank shots of cocktails. Finally it felt like holiday. Do you really need holiday from travelling? Yes, you do!!! We spent so many months moving around, experiencing and doing stuff and that can be exhausting. Sightseeing and getting to places takes time and energy so the relaxation we had at Ko Tao was much needed. After 5 days reluctantly we decided to move on to
Ko Pha-Ngan and see what to see what this place had to offer.
The ride was very short and sweet – thank God as I hate boats and so far so good- and again at the pier we were approached by a group of touts who tries to sell us rooms and trips. The problem with this island is that it is not
small and you have to pick the beach you want to say at. We wondered if we should stay at the party epicenter of Hat Rin Beach but because of the Black Moon Party (at Ban Tai Beach) taking place that evening we decided to stay at close by. We also met Marry and Rene from Germany and we decided to go together to the same guesthouse – Chokana (350Baht per night). It was a lovely place with nice wide beach area but…. Kind of boring and we all agreed on that. We decided to stay one night and move on to Hat Rai the nest day as there is more bars and restaurants etc. We got all dressed up for the party and went to grab a bite before and then massive storm broke out and it was pouring down with rain for like an hour and would not stop… that was it for the party for us…. We did not want to spend a lot of money on taxi just to get to an empty beach and go back home. We heard later on that there was a party in the end but it did not start till
like 1 am after the rain stopped… oh well maybe next time.
We actually lost track of Marry and Rene but when we checked in to
Coaral Bungalows at Hat Rin they were also there. We loved this place straight away – pool beach (that was not that great so it made sense), cheap food and drinks (happy hours all the time) and great room for just 200Baht. We have never paid that little for a room in Thailand but this was their ‘between the Full Moon Party’ price – we were lucky ;-) The town was almost deserted and you could see how much the whole its economy relied on those parties. No party almost no people. We spend our day swimming and lying by the pool and reading books. Evenings we were going out with Marry and her friend for a drink and some food – it was relaxing and fun but it could have been any other place in the world. The island did not make huge impression on us. We walked to the sunset point and on sunrise side of Hat Rai but that was it. Nice but not the same class as Ko Tao,
we thought. Some people love this island and maybe we should have explore more but what we liked the most about the small one is that you can literally walk everywhere, you don’t need any adventure plan to go anywhere, you just go. Here it felt more complex than just walking of our room … just not our cup of tea I guess…
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
When you changed your profile picture several months ago...
I knew someday you would post a blog about your time on a beach...most likely an island in southern Thailand. Thanks for a very informative blog. I think I will send it to my son who teaches in Bangkok, so that he has precise information about how to get to paradise.