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lissy_goes_thailand
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Koh Tao 14th-17th April: The diving island

Argitaratu: 20.04.2019

Since transportation in our residential area on Koh Samui was also poor in the morning, we were comfortably driven to the pier with the hotel shuttle. We started late with the cheap ferry of the company 'Songserm' towards the small sister island Koh Tao. First too hot, then too cold, without legroom and delayed, we sailed for 3 hours over the sea.

The ferry
The ferry

It didn't get any better when I convinced Lisa to start a cost-saving 2 km walk in the heat with a backpack - but the main thing was we saved €3 ;) To avoid starving, we fortified ourselves beforehand in a nice plastic chair restaurant with friendly staff (note: sarcasm). The ordeal continued when we arrived at our beautiful resort 'Seashell': the receptionist couldn't find our booking until it was noticed that Lisa had booked for June instead of April :( Since we wouldn't get the money back and luckily they still had a bungalow, Lisa accepted the hefty surcharge and we could finally go to the room.

Our room was in the bottom right
Our room was in the bottom right
Great beds
Great beds

When the Wi-Fi also caused problems and the mood turned sour, we wanted to cheer ourselves up with the ocean. But we couldn't go swimming due to the low tide and the numerous boats...

The beach
The beach

It got better when we booked our snorkeling tour in the evening (Koh Tao is THE diving island with numerous providers) and had dinner in a burger restaurant recommended by the travel guide. The sweet potato fries and the meat were great, but I ruined the taste with a blue cheese I ordered (yuck)...

Burger time
Burger time
In the burger bar
In the burger bar

We were finally released from this day at 11 pm ;) The next day was all about relaxing. After 10 hours of sleep, we had a cozy breakfast on the beach.

Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast

Lisa went back to sleep and I swam a few laps in the resort pool. After another hour on the beach, where I got my first nasty sunburn, we had sweet potato fries for lunch again. Then I motivated Lisa to go shopping on the unfortunately overpriced island.

The shopping street
The shopping street

I found nice souvenirs, a hippie sunglasses, and a metal straw (which I always carry with me to produce less waste with my shakes). We watched the sunset sitting on beanbags and sipping shakes (mango-coconut-banana) in a beach bar.

As always great
As always great

Beach bar
Beach bar
In the beach bar
In the beach bar

We topped it all off with a coconut oil massage overlooking the sea (this time even with a facial and head massage!).

The massage looked inconspicuous from the outside
The massage looked inconspicuous from the outside


With a view of the dark sea
With a view of the dark sea

We wanted to save money on dinner, which ended with my coconut noodles not tasting like anything and Lisa getting a new dish created for her: 'Penne with fried fat and garlic shells' (she wanted aglio e olio)...
Not so great...
Not so great...


On the next morning, a pickup truck (this time we were really sitting on the loading area) picked us up for our snorkeling trip.

Our pickup
Our pickup
On the pickup
On the pickup

We went out to sea from the 'Oxygen' provider's base with about 100 people.

Our boat
Our boat

The nice and crazy guides informed us about the 5 dive spots we would visit.

Instructions
Instructions
The spots
The spots

The first stop was the island 'Nang Yung', where we had 2 hours of time. We actually wanted to go to the viewpoint first, but after a sweaty climb where we had to wait at a mosquito hotspot, we went back down.

The path to the viewpoint
The path to the viewpoint

Just 3 meters from the coast, an unexpected underwater paradise with corals and various colorful fish began!! When I was further out, Lisa suddenly started waving wildly, just like one of the guides - I thought I had forgotten the time (time flies) and had to go back to shore. Instead, the guide had spotted a shark, which I missed successfully with my swim back (reef shark, about 2 meters long) :(( Back on the ship, there was a small lunch in a plastic bowl, tasty cookies, and fruits. At the next stop, Mango Bay, we were allowed to jump into the water from the upper deck of the boat :)

About 3m
About 3m
Everyone snorkeling
Everyone snorkeling
Selfie
Selfie

Otherwise, it wasn't that special there. In the next 2 bays, I got a new snorkeling mask that finally sealed properly, and I could snorkel for longer than 2 minutes at a time. We saw small colorful corals, huge schools of fish, and anemones (unfortunately no Nemo...). The most beautiful fish for me were the parrotfish and the bannerfish.
Parrotfish
Parrotfish
Bannerfish
Bannerfish

In the last spot, Shark Bay, a small shark and a large sea turtle were actually sighted, but once again I was completely elsewhere...although I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time, the snorkeling trip was totally worth it: the feeling of weightlessness, the tingling of the corals, the close contact with many fish, and the sunlight falling into the sea were definitely worth it.

At 5 pm, we were brought back to the hotel by pickup truck. We had delicious shrimp noodles for dinner at a typical Thai restaurant.

Delicious shrimp noodles
Delicious shrimp noodles
Typical ambiance
Typical ambiance

We enjoyed the last evening on the island with an ice cream and bought Lisa a slightly overpriced pair of pants (the islands are very expensive!) that she couldn't get out of her head for 2 days. Unfortunately, we couldn't share our experiences because the hotel's Wi-Fi wasn't working... (it's annoying when you depend on it).

By the way, on this evening I also learned a little bit about the Thai language (yes, no, thank you, and hello, I'm quite good at now). I hadn't heard the word that the travel guide recommends as goodbye anywhere, so I asked about it. Unfortunately, I had already said it to people many times and always received strange looks: apparently it means something like 'Goodbye forever'... From now on, I should just say bye bye ;)

So bye bye!

Erantzun