What is Koh Tao? Well there is no other way to put it. It is a paradise hidden away from the usual places that tourists visit in Thailand. And that is where we went!

Koh Tao is an island of Thailand. It is part of the Chumphon Archipelago situated in the Gulf of Thailand. It is around 21 sq kms. From a visitor’s point of view, the main attraction is the crystal clear waters surrounding the island and the rich marine life in the waters. Well, in fact this has made the economy of the island to be centered around tourism, especially scuba diving.

When we were thinking about going on a family vacation to Thailand, our children wanted to include scuba diving in the trip as both of them are certified divers. A few days later they told us that they had narrowed down their choice to Koh Tao. I had never heard of the place and got curious to know more about it. A search on the internet had both my wife and I drooling over what we saw; crystal clear waters and some nice sandy beaches on the islands. Was it really going to be so? Well, time would tell, we told ourselves.

The first leg of our trip to Thailand was to be at Koh Tao. We wanted to give it enough time so that our children could dive on 2 days. So we spent 3 days and 3 nights there. And boy did we fall in love with the place!

To reach Koh Tao, we had to first fly into Bangkok, then take a domestic flight to Koh Samui and post that take the boat service to Koh Tao. There are only a set number of boat service in a day to Koh Tao from Koh Samui. And there was not much time between our flight landing in Koh Samui and the boat service. We did not want to be struggling to get a taxi at the airport to reach the ferry stop. So we made arrangements through the travel desk at our hotel in Bangkok to have someone pick us up at the Koh Samui airport, drive us to the ferry service and organise the boat tickets for us. And it all went smoothly.

Once we reached the ferry point at Koh Samui we got our first sights of the waters.

The pictures on the internet were not lying 😀 . Just look at the blue! Well, soon we headed to the catamaran and our boat ride started. Koh Tao, here we come!

We passed a couple of islands before we reached Koh Tao. Overall tt took us around 1.5 hours. Here are some pictures of the waters as we neared Koh Tao.

We had booked our stay at Sairee Cottage. Our children would also be scuba diving with them. It was located in Sairee village. They had organised a free pickup for us the ferry point in Koh Tao. Here is the first view that we got when we reached their property.

We had booked two cottages bang on the beach front. The cottages had hammock and deck chairs and of course direct access to the beach 🙂 .

We were hungry. So we dumped our luggage in our rooms and then headed out to grab lunch. Their restaurant was just the next building. It too was located bang on the beach. You can see the restaurant on the right in the picture below.

Their restaurant had a good selection of dishes to choose from. When we travel we make it a point to try and eat as much of new dishes as possible. For lunch we decided to try some of the local dishes. And we were not disappointed.

Over the next many meals in our stay on the island we tried several other restaurants around the island. But I must say that the restaurant at Sairee Cottage seemed like one of the most popular places. Not surprising as their food was good and reasonanbly priced too.

The island had a calming effect on all of us. With the calm surroundings, clear waters and pleasant weather, we could already feel all of us slowing down. There were no deadlines to meet, meetings to run to, chores and assignments to complete. Ah paradise!

We spend the evening just relaxing and soaking in the place. With the beach and clear waters beckoning us, my wife and I decided to take a stroll on the beach. Here are some pictures from then.

Back at the cottage, it was time to relax on the deck chairs and then enjoy some ice-creams 🙂 .

Evening and it was time go for a stroll as well as enjoy more local delicacies. Here is my son selecting something of on-the-go food cart 🙂 .

And what do you know, we also met a fairy on the way 😀 .

The next day was when our children would have their first day of scuba diving. Here is them with their dive master at the scuba diving school.

They were to have two diving sessions each on the two days. This meant that my wife and I had pretty much the whole day to ourselves 🙂 . Well, we started it with a lazy breakfast.

Followed by some time spent on our cottage hammock.

With the kids busy with their activities, my wife and I decided to explore the island. So we rented a two wheeler for the day. We headed to hike up to the John Suwan viewpoint. Our first stop enroute was the Buddhist temple, Wat Koh Tao.

It was closed. So we had to do with a short look around from the roadside. We then moved on. Once we reached the starting point, we parked our motorbike and then started the hike up.

As we climbed up towards the view point, we could start seeing the waters through the gap in between the coconut trees. It looked brilliant!

To reach the view point involved pulling oneself up over some boulders. There was a rope to help us do so though.

And finally we were at the view point. Here are some pictures of what we got to see.

We were glad we had come. The views were certainly worth it. Don’t you agree?

Since it was near noon, the sun was blazing down on us. It was hot and hence we decided head back to our rooms. As we started back, we noticed a signboard that indicated the presence of another view point around the area. So we talked about coming back and checking it out later in the evening. And we did.

The climb up to the view point was much easier than that of John Suwan. Here are some photos from what we saw there.

For the next day, the children were off for their sessions. So my wife and I booked a snorkeling tour for the day. Here is the boat that took us around.

It would take us to one of the main attractions in the first half; visit to the Nang Yuan island with its white sand beach. Then it would be followed by snorkeling at different spots around Koh Tao.

Nang Yuan island and the views from it was brilliant and is not to be missed. Here are some photos from there:

There is a view point on top of the island. This is another spot that is not to be missed. It involved a bit of a hike up. It does get a bit steep at the top and involved climbing up over some boulders. Here are some photos from the top:

Worth it, isn’t it?

Most visitors head to the view point first as soon as their boat gets them to the island and then head down to snorkel in the waters at the island. We decided to the reverse. So we had hardly anyone at the viewpoint when we reached it and thus we could spend more time at it. I recommend you to do the same as well if you want to be able to spend some time at the viewpoint without the stress of others waiting to take their turn 🙂 .

For the last night at Koh Tao, we spent taking a stroll on the street brilliantly called “Walking Street” 🙂 and then trying another beach side restaurant. We would certainly miss Koh Tao.

Next morning after breakfast we checked out and got dropped off at the ferry point. Here is our transport coming in to dock. Just look at the colour of the water!

We had made arrangements for someone to come and pick us up at Koh Samui ferry point and drop us off to the Koh Samui airport. And very soon it was time to say goodbye to even this part of Thailand. But here are some pictures :

And we finally crossed over to the mainland.

Video

You MUST check out the short video below to get a quick view of what all to expect.

Heard of the beautiful Wat Pho – The Temple of the Reclining Buddha? Read about here.

Have you been to this part of the world? Or any other such paradise? Do share it through comments to this post.