Day 95: Snorkelling in Koh Tao

Claire: Koh Tao is renowned for its scuba diving due to its clear waters and amazing corals. I'd have loved to have learnt and in the back of my mind it was always the plan but we'd underestimated the timings and you need at least 4 days to even get the certificate for basic level. Sooo we decided to stick to snorkelling for this trip. 

We woke up for sunrise and stayed awake, yay! Determined to find snorkelling today we headed out early with a clear route planned. Our first stop on the bike was Mango Viewpoint, which like most viewpoints / beaches / sights in Koh Tao there's an entry charge! By now we've paid to enter about 4 places, and at 100baht pp each time that's 800baht (£18) in just 2 days on entry fees. Crikey. The view was indeed very lovely though, I'll give them that.

To get down to Mango Bay we drove down the craziest roads yet. I'm not sure the dirt paths are even classified as roads but there was a few sections where I demanded to get off the bike and walk! We arrived slowly and safely to the bay, to be greeted by another ticket entry. Dammit! 

We ended up walking through this boutique resort which was very lovely and it led us to a little platform by the ocean. It wasn't quite the sandy beach shore we'd had in mind after the 1hr expedition but it was actually very peaceful and they had some comfy sun loungers we could use. Turns out it was also the best snorkelling place!!!!!!!!

Knackered from all our tropical fish encounters we're gonna chill this eve before our early (5:15am) start tomorrow.

Gav's day 95 takeaway

• This was our last day in Koh Tao and although until now we've found the island hard work at times, today was amazing! Loved the challenging dirt paths on the bike. Loved the snorkelling spot we found (before it got busy). And loved the burger place we found for lunch.
• Good times.