Koh Tao, Thailand

After several days of sailing, relaxing, and enjoying the American atmosphere on the Mango Moon with Lisa and Frank, hopping back into the crazy jumble of Southeast Asian life was a bit of a culture shock. Add to that the purchase of our third camera, and it made for a bit of a depressing mood. However, an hour-long taxi ride, a one hour flight, and an 8-hour overnight ferry took us out of our gloom and into the Thai paradise that is Koh Tao Island.

After unpackaging our new camera, this elephant walked by. It made for a good test-subject.

The overnight ferry that we took to Koh Tao

Luckily, we are traveling during the 'low season,' so only about 75% of the beds were filled. Apparently, the ferry is quite uncomfortable when hundreds of people are sardined together.

Koh Tao, meaning "Turtle Island," is a gorgeous, lush island landscape surrounded by massive corral reefs. It is a haven for both sun-worshipers and divers alike. Not wanting to miss out on any of the action, we decided to partake in all Koh Tao had to offer.

The main street of Koh Tao

The main beach

The view from lunch -- what a hard life.

At night the bars all featured local fire-dancers on the beach

Koh Tao cocktail hour

We both received our beginner's dive certification in the freezing cold waters of the Puget Sound a few Decembers ago. In contrast, the bathtub-warm waters of Koh Tao offered a perfect setting to earn our "Advanced Diver" certifications. At one point, diving to a depth of over 90 feet, our dive computers still registered water temperatures of 86º! Though these temperatures felt fantastic, this season's unusually warm waters are reeking havoc on the local marine life, and will possibly cause irreversible damage to the local coral due to bleaching. We hope that's not the case, because Koh Tao's marine parks are too beautiful to be lost.

During our dives, we saw just about every fish featured in the movie "Finding Nemo," including Panda Clown Fish and Hawksbill Turtles. There were also aggressive Trigger Fish that attack divers who enter their territory. Luckily we were unscathed, but a guy that we were diving with had a chunk bitten out of his shin! The only thing we didn't see was a whale shark, which we hope we can find in Malaysia or Indonesia.

Besides diving, Koh Tao offered plenty of leisure time. On a typical day, we would wake up at about 6:30 AM to go out for a couple of dives. We would return by lunch, leaving plenty of time to walk the beaches, hike, throw the Frisbee around, and enjoy the sun.

On our last day, having completed the diving course, we took a taxi boat to a small island called Koh Nangyuan. This private island featured a pristine white beach, turquoise waters, and a great hill to hike.

Taking the long-tail boat taxi to Koh Nangyuan

Forever young. You need to be for the hike ahead...

A view from the top! As you might notice, we were just a little bit sweaty...

Koh Tao was a very hard place to leave. The friendly locals, entertaining divemasters, delicious food, and beautiful surroundings kept beckoning us to stay one more day, but eventually we had to leave; afterall: the show must go on. But don't feel too sorry for us, our next destination is Koh Phi Phi, yet another beautiful Thai island!