KOH TAO

Koh Tao is a small island of about 21 square kilometers in the Gulf of Thialand. It has no airport so it can be reached from either Chumphon or Koh Samui by boat. Initially the island was inhabited. Later it was used a a political prison. Tourism started in the eighties of the 20th century and has never stopped growing since. However, the island has still many quiet beaches and bays and is a real tropical paradise. The island has 3 main villages: Mae Haad, where all boats arrive, Sairee Beach and Chalok Baan Kao.

Diving is the most important activity with many beautiful sites around the island. Although there is a large school of diving schools, my favorite one is DIVE POINT  at Mae Haad. They have a large boat with all material on the boat and only dive with small groups. So instead of first distributing the material, they can leave immediately in the morning while putting the material in place during the journey to the dive site. This means that very often they are the first one at the dive site and the other boats only arrive when the divers with DIVEPOINT have already finished their first dive.

There are many places to stay at Koh Tao, from small huts to more elaborate resorts. My preferred resort is the Sensi Paradise Resort at Mae Haad. It is a Thai style resort  with beautiful wooden cottages and a very good restaurant right on the beach.