Koh Tao
THAILAND
You Can't Go Back
By LYNDI
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Ending a six-month long backpacking trip on a tropical island is an easy decision – but in Thailand, narrowing it down to which island can be a much more difficult process. The country is blessed with a dozen gorgeous islands – all offering something a bit different.
Koh Tao won out for a couple reasons – 1) in August the Gulf of Thailand has better weather than the Andaman Sea side, 2) it wasn’t Koh Phangan that attracts 18 year old frat boys during the full moon like moths to a flame, and 3) when I went in 2004 it provided incredible and affordable diving and peacefulness.
But you can’t go back.
The Koh Tao of 7 years ago might as well be the Koh Tao of the middle ages. Gone are the days of the sleepy, one road villages, the $5/nt beach huts, and the laid-back island vibe. Today Koh Tao – or more specifically Sairee Beach – is a full-on resort town where the entire beach is lined with fine dining options, four and five star hotels, and what must be the highest dive-shop-to-human-population ratio in the world. I was absolutely floored that the island could have changed so much in so little time.
After a nearly 24 hour venture from Khao San Road in Bangkok, Aaron and I arrived at Mae Haad Beach (the “capital” of the island where all boats dock) and accepted a ride from a hostel in Chalok Bay at the southern end of the island. Chalok promised to be less crowded, a bit of an older crowd, and still offer great diving, so it seemed like a good starting point.
We arrived at Sunshine Beach resort only to find that it was sold out. Bummed that our “guaranteed” bed wasn’t available – but delighted in the free taxi ride to the beach – we headed south and stopped in at every dive shop and hotel to see what availability was like. And it was like… nonexistent. We started having flashbacks to our experience in Malaysia and decided we should just take the first thing we found available.
Luckily, JP Resort had a little bungalow right up the hill that we were able to nab. While we waited for them to clean it out for us, we watched a line of backpackers walking around with growing desperation – many had to head a mile or so inland to find a place. So we considered ourselves very lucky to get a good place without reservations – even if the 40 steps up to our room was a killer.
The plan was to spend our last 10 days on Koh Tao diving, swimming, exploring, and relaxing. All of this was accomplished… but for a much more significant sum than I expected. The sleepy island that I’d left in 2004 with such fond memories had become a thriving metropolis – and prices to reflect that.
Diving, however, remained an exceptional value at a little less than US$30 per dive. But the island’s popularity also affected the diving. Overfishing has decimated Thailand’s fish and shark population – leaving limited underwater wildlife for viewing. In fact, Aaron and I originally signed on for a six dive package, but after four sub-par dives where we were met by many small, orange clownfish and not much else – we closed our tab.
Now before I go on sounding like a Debbie Downer rehashing the good ol’ days, I will point out that Koh Tao was great. I just expected it to be how I left it – and those days are long gone. We moved up to Sairee Beach after a few days to experience a different part of the island and were met with innumerable restaurants, bars, fire dancing shows, dive shops, 7-11s, motorcycle rentals, etc.
The island can be whatever you want it to be – Aaron and I were there to relax, enjoy the sun and stunningly clear blue waters, and soak up some island life. The vast majority, however, are there to get dive certified in three days, get rip-roaring drunk at a Full Moon Party, and then continue their one-month Around the World trip.
And so we spent a little more money than we anticipated. Who cares? We were finishing our travels abroad and were headed home broke like any good traveler should.
So we lived it up – staying in a nice place with air conditioning, enjoying cocktails in coconut shells (or buckets…), and watching fiery orange suns setting behind the Gulf of Thailand.
We’d made it to a place that most only dream about – and I’m not just talking about Thailand – I’m talking about the trip we’d undertaken. As the sun set on our last night on Koh Tao, we sipped our $10 bucket of thai whiskey, red bull and coke (surprisingly delicious), enjoyed the fire dancers, and celebrated the end of the trip of a lifetime.
