We're setting off on a full tour of Koh Tao by sea today, checking out 4 different bays and marine habitats along the way and even the small neighbouring archipel of Koh Nyangan, reputed for the sandy beaches bridging its three islands. Perks of arranging through our hotel: we get picked up right outside the restaurant after another nice breakfast. The mode of transportation is a first for us however: we're sitting in the back of a pick-up truck, with just a couple of handles to hold on to avoid falling out of the car entirely! Luckily it's only a very short drive as we just pick up a couple of other tourists before heading off to the pier.
Once there, we collect our snorkels from the tour organisers before heading off to the boat - a two-storey affair with a slide from the top deck ready to launch us into the water. We're a biggish group of twenty people from various part of the world: France, Australia, America, and a couple of other Brits and we spread out over the benches ready to admire the view as we set off. We start with the archipel, which is right next door - we could see it from our hotel already! It's a very short ride over slightly choppy seas - there's a little bit of wind today but we're still on the lee side of Koh Tao so it's not too bad for now. There's a lot of traffic going our way - the archipel is a popular day trip from the various islands nearby, and in addition to other snorkelling boats there are also some speedboats just shuttling tourists back and forth to spend the whole day there. It is a picturesque sight, with three small, rocky, jungle-topped islands linked by undulating strips of pure white sand.
We alight on the smallest of the three isles, just big enough for a pier, a counter to pay the landing fee (250THB per person!) and a cafe. Our guide takes us through to the isthmus leading to one of the other islands, but it's high tide and the beach is under the waves! No matter, it looks shallow and he's already started crossing without waiting for us. We take of our shoes and start across - the sand is gritty with broken corals and shells and we have to pick our footing carefully. There's also quite a strong current and as we start getting deeper, it becomes more and more treacherous. Our guide didn't see fit to give us a heads up but what started as pleasant ankle wading soon transforms in a waist-deep treck across - I didn't change into my swimsuit yet and I get soaked! It's a cool experience though and as we get to the other side there are some large boulders in the sun perfect to start drying our clothes and drop off our bags for a first snorkelling foray in the shallows. With everyone wading across it's a bit murky but our guide excitedly waves us further out: there are a couple of baby reef sharks swimming around! They are still small, maybe 60cm long and we get to follow them for a bit, admiring the characteristic black-tipped fins. No danger from them, although we don't venture too much further out - some adults could be nearby!
We have a couple of hours on the archipel, and we decide to do some exploring on land as well. Picking up our bags, we follow the shore on a scenic board walkway amongst a jumble of giant light-grey boulders, to a viewpoint across to Koh Tao. From there, steep stairs rise through the forest, presumably to another viewpoint? We set out, soon slowing down as the path climbs straight up. After five minutes, legs burning, we turn a corner to reveal a final set of steps... and a queue for the viewpoint. Until now we'd managed to avoid most of the Instagram Photo-op spots - it's not really our jam - but having already done most of the climb we don't want to give up so close now. The queue isn't too slow and we steadily inch closer, finishing up with a bit of parkour to climb on top of the boulders. Fun to do in flip-flops and as everyone else before us, we struggle a bit before finding our balance.
At the top, there is indeed a magnificent view over the archipel, with clear lines of sight to the sandy bridges between the islands. Flat-topped boulders provide the perfect platforms for posing in front of it, and a couple of local guides are there to take pictures of every group - hence the queue. It's all very friendly though and they don't charge, or rush anybody. They're also obviously well-practiced, giving us a few instructions on different poses so we get varied shots at the end. Unfortunately we're far from models (and obviously less well-versed in posing than some of the couples before and after us who could be preparing magasine covers for all we know) but it will be a nice souvenir. Photos done, we clamber and slide back down to the beach, with some time to spare for another quick snorkel around. There are a few tropical fish of varying sizes around, and we get a first taste of what to expect for the next stops, but the beach is busy and once refreshed we head back towards the boat, taking a few more pictures along the way. Onwards!
At this point the standard itinerary should take us round to the other side of Koh Tao, but the wind hasn't abated and our flat-bottomed, top-heavy boat isn't made for waves so we stay on the calmer seas and head south past Mae Haad towards the more sheltered of the snorkelling spots, hoping that the wind will calm down in the afternoon. On the way, we get a Thai lunchbox with chicken and rice - the meat is quite spicy by our western standards but luckily kept separate from the rice so I can balance it out. We wash it down with tea, biscuits and some tropical fruits while we glide past a series of picturesque coves and small secret beaches dotted along the coast, before stopping at one of the bigger ones.
It's time to test out the slide and one by one the more adventurous of us climb up to the rooftop and hop on. It's a short ride with an unexpected bump-up at the end (to help make sure everyone clears the boat maybe?) which has the unfortunate effect of launching every single one of us in bottom first, with a very undignified splash. Ah well, it's not like anyone is filming - wait, no, our guide is, with his GoPro! Luckily we can't host videos on this blog. Once everyone is in, he packs in the camera and sets off in search of turtles: there's apparently good chances of seeing them here. He leads us on a wide circuit around the boat - no turtles but plenty of tropical fish of all shapes and colors: black and white striped coralfish, lemon-yellow butterfly fish, tiny electric blue shoals, my favourites, rainbow-coloured parrotfish, and many more I can't identify. As with our other tour on Nusa Penida, our guide swims around taking pictures of us all - he's a much less good photographer however and at the end of the day we leave with a slew of ridiculous rather than flattering shots.
After an hour in the water, we climb back onboard for a short hop across to the next spot - Chalok Bay where we went just yesterday. The boat stops much further out from the shore however, by the boulders where the water is still clear and undisturbed, and we get another hour of swimming amongst the fish. Still no turtles although we do know those were the right spots - pictures from the next day’s expedition show them clear as day! It seems we are just a bit unlucky with the bigger marine wildlife. Our captain gamely tries to push on to Shark Bay where we could potentially have spotted some whale sharks, but no luck: it’s on the windward side of the island and the weather hasn’t improved. After two terrifying minutes of trying to stabilise the boat on what seem like giant waves he gives up and turns around, back to friendlier waters. To make up for the reduced number of diving spots, on the way back we stop at one of the secret beaches for some more snorkelling and a quick visit ashore. More fish and a giant swing braced between two coconut palms which sends you up a couple of meters above the water. We head back to Mae Haad a bit early, but having still seen a veritable aquarium of fauna.
Now, it’s time to talk about the coral. I aim to keep these posts focused on the positives - I’m known for slight over-indulgence in moaning if I don’t watch myself, and the trip has been an amazing experience so far. But it would feel irresponsible to skirt this particular topic. Prior to now, I had had little to no experience with coral reefs outside of through beautiful pictures - you know the ones, with all the colours, the anemones and a cute Nemo clownfish in the foreground. So I was expecting something a bit like that. Instead, what we saw on both our snorkelling ventures (and my subsequent swims around Koh Tao) was a cemetery of broken, bleached coral, covered in a veil of green algae. In a handful of occasions I have spotted what I think was live coral - but only as tiny spots in that sea of green-grey, rather than a full structure. On our snorkelling tour, our guide could only point out one anemone, and a couple of bright blue and yellow blooms (the size of my pinky fingernail) which he assured us was coral - that’s all for an entire day of swimming around renowned reefs.
Koh Tao has suffered from several coral extinction events in recent years - successive bleaching due to rising water temperatures, and destruction wrought by hurricanes and ever-stronger monsoon storms. The Thai government and the island are trying to preserve their reefs and there are a number of conservation efforts ongoing, from building artificial reef supports to cleaning up the ocean floor and rehousing broken corals. But from what I saw, I get the impression that currently 99% of the coral is dead. I truly hope it regrows - but with climate change on the path it is now, and what only seem like token efforts to manage it from governments around the world, I am struggling to believe such a sensitive ecosystem can recover from the state I have witnessed it in. Other coral ecosystems are still live - our Australian mate onboard reassured us that the Great Barrier Reef was still in much, much better shape - but for how long? For an organism that has gifted us a large portion of inhabited islands across the globe, not to mention the striking beauty of the reefs in their original glory, it feels like we’re being very ungrateful not to fight more for its survival.
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