Ahh the good life. We decided to spend the last few days of our long journey sort of staying put in one place, before wrapping up. Koh Tao is generally more backpacker-y than some other islands in Thailand and we thoroughly enjoyed our time here. All the beachy things you can think of: fire shows, diving, reading, yoga, hiking, and so on.
A fire hazard anywhere else, but just another Tuesday night on Koh Tao
We saw this guy chilling on the beach quite often. Not sure if he had an owner or what the deal was. We call him “Spirit of Koh Tao”
Good grub at the local restaurants
The view from a resort we weren’t staying at
Snorkeling
Spent some time with the New Heaven Reef Conservation Program. They run a number of programs, including this Green Turtle nursery
They help to take care of wild sea turtles until they get slightly bigger – about a year old. At that point, they are released back into the ocean
Everyday at 4.30pm, these guys are taken out of their tanks, cleaned, and fed.
That’s them, chowing down their meals
Infections, cuts and bruises are taken care of.
With New Heaven, I signed up for the Ecological Monitoring Program (EMP). This helped to teach divers about underwater surveying for invertebrates, fish, and substrate. A great program to learn a little more about marine ecosystems, and to become a more responsible diver.
Basically, we would lay transect lines (100m) and manually travel the line, while making a note of the different types of invertebrates, fish, and substrate (coral, rock, etc) at pre-specified intervals. This data is collected and submitted to a central repository
“Excuse me Mr Fish, could you spare a moment for a quick survey?”
After the surveys, we would often explore other parts of the reef, and sometimes swim through underwater cave complexes
After a long day learning and diving, this is what you can expect to come back to
Dinner with a view.
Oh, hey, it’s Spirit of Koh Tao!
Thai, spicy, minions!!
Rendezvous point on the island
Ya man
A neat yoga studio, OceanSound Dive and Yoga, with classes 3 times a day. Great to work out those kinks from all that lounging.
Mandatory jump shot. We don’t do this often. But hey, it’s Koh Tao!!
Boats, boats, boats!
A little bit of civilization close to the ferry terminal
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Travel facts
Cumulative cost of travel so far
GBP: 3,702 plus EUR: 1,308 plus RUB: 43,765 plus USD: 508 plus SGD: 1190
*Optional extra: Diving: 219 GBP
Accommodation:
About 8 nights, Simple life resort- 195 GBP
About a week, New heaven dive school – 114 GBP
One night, Tropicana resort – 23 GBP
Spending:
200 SGD, 240 GBP
Diving:
4 Fun dives, Big Blue diving school: 70 GBP
Ecological Monitoring Program, PADI Speciality, New Heaven Dive school: 149 GBP
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