Blogs from Ko Tao, South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

De Jungle Party was best leuk. Tussen de bomen met een watervalletje en een vuurshow. Ik heb hier nog behoorlijk ingehouden met de alcohol, omdat ik anders de volgende dag niet zou overleven. Die begon namelijk met een feestje op de boot. We kregen hier een emmer mixdrankje gratis waar ik er later nog eentje van nam. Heel gezellig met veel mensen gepraat, ook die niet met de groepsreis mee waren. Tussendoor stopten we nog ergens om van de boot het water in te springen en te snorkelen. Toen kregen we een prima lunch om weer een bodempje op te bouwen. Na nog een stukje rondvaren gingen we weer terug naar het hostel voor nog een poging tot een dutje te doen (wat mij helaas niet lukte, nog te wakker zijn en een hard matras gaan ... read more

Koh Tao is visited mostly for its exceeding reputation for scuba diving. We spent 3 days at Big Blue Diving school, completing our open water dive course. We didn’t actually see much of Koh Tao itself as we spent the duration of our time there learning to dive. However we stayed on a perfect beach with clear water and golden sand, with fire throwing and entertainment every night at the beach bars. Big Blue had been recommended to us as the best place to learn to dive, and it really was. Our instructor was a young Israeli lad called Yam who taught us in the most fun way possible, making us feel completely comfortable and confident. Once we’d got the basics, he had us doing backflips and tricks under water. We loved it. We did 4 ... read more

George and Sam had the closest encounter with the sharks early this morning. Georgie said it's the first time he felt nervous as one of them was circling him. They hope to have some good photos. After breakfast we got a ride to the pier in town and hired a longtail boat and went right round the island. We had was such a fabulous day. The sea was rough for the first part and we got very wet indeed. We arrived at a group of three small islands that were so idealic except there were so my tourist there and it seemed they were all wearing orange life jackets. Most if them I think were Chinese. We walked along a spit of sand that joined two of the island and there were rows of deck chairs ... read more

This morning I woke very early and the cove was mine. From the veranda I watched as, slowly, people came down to the beach for an early morning snorkel. There are never many people on the beach. The sea has white horses today but our little cove is quite calm. The boys went snorkeling early and came back thrilled to the core saying they had been surrounded by black tip sharks, the biggest one about 5 1/2 ft. They woke Mollie and went again and saw more sharks but not as many. I'm so pleased for them. After breakfast we went into town for supplies. It was to hot to spend too much time looking around so we came back and went to the other side of the peninsular to snorkel. It was so lovely and ... read more

After breakfast and a swim we finished packing and took the truck back into town and waited for our ferry to Ko Tao. The sea was choppy on the one and half hour journey but we were all fine. (I took a travel pill). It was very busy when we docked but our driver was there to meet us and he drove us up the steep, narrow roads to Sai Daeng Beach Resort. This place is absolutely stunning. It is set into a rocky hillside. The reception is at the top (I don't think I'll be climbing up there much) and the chalets are scattered down the sides down to the beach. Our rooms are just about on the beach which is great for me with my dodgy hip - it couldn't be more perfect. G ... read more