Ko Tao

After a few hours wait in Surat Thani we boarded our overnight ferry to Ko Tao. Not exactly sure what we were expecting but a floor of the boat with long mattresses down each side and pillows with numbers 1-100 probably wasn't it! Still, slept surprisingly well and woke at 7am to find the ship docking on a postcard-perfect island.

We hadn't decided on our accomodation so spent a while looking at brochures various touts ran up to us with, before heading to Ko Tao Resort and landing completely on our feet.  The place is gorgeous! Cute bungalows (although no air-con), a nice hotel and an infinity pool slightly above a white powder-sand beach with warm turquoise water.  And the damage....GBP20 a night!

Shark infested paradise

Spent the first and third days lying by the pool, relaxing and eating far too much (Fiona actually managed to have pineapple pancakes at all three meals one day!).

The middle day was spent snorkelling at 6 different sites around the island.

We decided to go in a traditional longboat with just us and a guide, rather than on one of the bigger organised trips.  Definitely a good idea as we stayed one step ahead of the big groups and saw far more before all the people scared the fish away. We saw lots of fantastic coral, including some in bright reds and blues which disappeared entirely into the rocks when we swam near. Also three sharks (about a metre long each), lots of beautiful tropical fish and even a submerged tuk-tuk! It wasn't quite paradise as it poured most of the day but as we were mostly in the water and have plenty of time left to get a tan we didn't really care.

Must admit it's crossed our minds whether we could just stay here til the equity on the house runs out.....

Looking forward to a full night of sleep tonight as one night on a boat followed by two where we watched the rugby between 2 and 4am has started to take it's toll!