Koh Tao was not on our radar for this trip. From Ko Samui we had expected to return to the mainland and head south. We knew of Koh Tao because our good friends Andrea and Mark from Happy Days Travel Blog were supposed to go there to look after a hotel for a few months but got in the way and it never happened. We hadnt realised how close Koh Tao was to Ko Samui so we got in touch with Frank and at Sairee View Resort and they had a room available. That led to a quick change of plans and another booking with Lomprayah ferries. The catamaran called in at Ko Pha Ngan on the way but soon enough we were introducing ourselves to our new hosts as they collected us from the ferry pier.
The island was surprisingly busy considering our experience in other places. Its a haven for backpackers looking for some beautiful island life and apparently one of the best places to learn to dive. Our resort was a few kilometres out of town up a pretty challenging hill, especially after an evening out. Despite this, we loved staying there and it gets top marks and views,
plus it has a pool when things get too hot and sticky. Of course, being away from the nightlife means it is very quiet but that suits us perfectly. Its only a 20 minute walk down to Sairee beach where numerous restaurants front onto the sand. On Franks we thoroughly enjoyed Family Kitchen which served amazing Thai food at a very price. The sunset view on their terrace was amazing, but that would be similar from any of the bars and eateries there. We did have some sundowner mojitos which were fabulous.
We only had three nights there, so that left just two days to explore as much as we could. We had a very strenuous hike on our first full day. It was truly exhausting despite only being around 7km each way. We walked along the road to Ao Hin Wong beach. On the map it looked so simple, but a steady rise from sea level up to 140m (according to Strava ) followed by a descent of the same number of metres in less than a kilometre left us with no illusions as to what the return trek was going to be like! The views were
nice though, and as we reached the beach we were met by the sight of a busy port where dive and go on a regular basis. We clambered over the rocks and boardwalks getting an excellent view of the tropical fish in the clear waters. There is a lovely beach too, and its free to sit there. We did indulge in some fresh watermelon juice and Russ changed and snorkelled while Trish relaxed, no doubt mindful of the uphill section of the return walk that awaited us! Hills are not really a great problem if you take them slowly and steadily, but throw in a handful of very unfriendly dogs snarling and showing their teeth, and you soon wish you were that little bit fitter and able to quicken the pace to get away from them!!! We emerged unscathed though and rewarded ourselves with a wonderful massaman curry in the imaginatively named Pork Leg Restaurant! Back on the main road we bumped into Frank as he was returning to the resort after doing some chores in town and he saved us from the final ascent back to our room.
is so often the case with organised trips, it started with being collected by a mystery driver who then collected others before depositing us in an office where paperwork had to before we could get onto a boat. It was a bit frustrating especially as we then had to wait about half an hour sat on the boat for some stragglers to arrive. We spent around half an hour on the water getting to Nang Yung island, which is actually three islands connected by sandbars. We had a bit of a wander around on the boardwalks but decided against climbing up to the viewpoint, settling instead for some time on the beach and some incredible snorkel experiences. The variety of fish was amazing in both size and colour.
