After our travelling mishaps yesterday, we’re still a bit worried that there will be another issue - maybe the ferry won’t be running too? We’re due to meet a transfer van at 9:30am but we head out of our hotel an hour early, snacking on the remainders of the food we bought at the supermarket yesterday. We’re right next to the train station, our pick-up point (after all we were supposed to arrive there) and we get there in two minutes after crossing the tracks on a scarily rusted bridge - we can see right through the many holes in the metal walkway! There’s already plenty of bustle and other travellers headed to the island and we’re soon bundled up in a minivan heading towards the ferry terminal.
Everything is working as intended but it’s an exercise in patience as rather than the straightforward ferry journey we were anticipating we go through a van, a coach, and several thirty minutes waiting periods in between before even making it close to a boat. Even the sea leg of the journey is broken up: the first half of our trip is in a rather small rickety passenger boat open to the elements - luckily the sea is very calm and it’s only a couple of hours to Kho Pha Ngan where we finally board a proper ferry for the last hour. It’s a bit of a confusing organisation as from the start there was at least a hundred of us heading to Koh Tao - we’d have thought that justified a direct boat. At least there’s some very pretty views already along the way, especially at the starting ferry terminal.
Nevertheless, we get there albeit roughly an hour later than anticipated, and after a bit more faffing and waiting get driven to our hotel in a dedicated car. Koh Tao is a small island and for the moment, it’s very quiet - we suspect that other tourists may either be having the same difficulties as us to reach it, or have chosen to spend the festive period in the neighbouring famous party hotspots of Koh Pha Ngan or Koh Samui. Koh Tao is meant to be a snorkelling paradise, which is why we chose it. After quite a nice experience in Nusa Penida (despite missing the manta rays) we’re keen to see some more fish!
Our hotel is a collection of wooden bungalows at the quiet end of the main beach town of Mae Haad, less than ten minutes walk from the pier. It comes with three pretty pools, its own private stretch of beach and a restaurant overlooking the sea where we have breakfast included - lovely. Our room also hosts a collection of ants (the risks of fairly permeable wooden walls) but the staff sort that out once we ask and all in all it’s a nice space. I was hoping to get a dip in the sea but we got in past four o’clock and the sun sets early, so for the moment we just try out the pools, which are very scenic with large natural rocks (some more of the round granite boulders we saw in Penang) and even some statues. The mosquitoes are very aggressive here however so we only really stay for a swim and run back away to our room as soon as we’re out of the water.
Doused in repellent, we venture back out for a bit of exploring and some dinner. We walk along the main road, parallel to the seafront, which starts as little more than a sandy path near our resort and stays pedestrian / motorcycles only until the pier. It’s lined with little convenience shops, quirky bars and restaurants for all tastes - from burgers to a rasta bar to Thai and even a French cocktail place - and tourist shops selling boat tours, ferry tickets and laundry services (we actually need that last one). Everything feels very quiet for a Thursday night but the atmosphere is pleasantly relaxed rather than eerie. There’s quite a few local residents around, having a drink and a chat, and everyone seems in good spirits - it must be nice to see tourists come back after the pandemic as that is rather obviously the island’s main industry.
Once past the pier, we sneak a peek at Sairee beach just north of it - the main stretch of sand this side of the island. In the sunset, it’s quite glorious: pristine golden sand, coconut palms waving in the breeze, gently lapping waves and even a giant stone turtle emerging from the sea. We soak in the beauty for a little while before heading back to the road for a typical Thai dinner - our first real meal in the country! Pranee’s kitchen serves cheap and delicious pad see ew (broad noodles with vegetables), chicken cashew and morning glory (it’s a vegetable and absolutely delicious). They’re obviously used to tourists because there’s hardly any chilli in the food - perfect for sensitive little me.
Full and happy, we head back to the beach in the hope of enjoying the view with a drink, but at 9pm everything seems to already be packing up, despite our research insisting that Mae Haad does have a party strip. We’re probably just in the wrong area - more exploring to do tomorrow! In the meantime we're delighted we made it to the island - we can already tell it was worth the journey.
That was the sort of adventurous journey one expects - nice read! Hope you very much enjoy the island. It looks lovely!