Day 31 - Snorkel tour of Koh Tao

At about 8:30am we met up with the tour group and hopped on a catamaran with about 15 other people.  The tour took us to Shark Bay, Mango Bay, Aow Leuk Bay, Tanote Bay and Nangyuan Island and included lunch!

Paparazzi Shots from our Captain

 

Pics from the boat

At Shark Bay we unfortunately didn't see any black-tip sharks, but later in the morning at Mango Bay I did have a 2 meter black-tip shark cruise underneath me...which both scared and thrilled me!  Apparently black-tip sharks don't usually bother with humans but have been known to nibble on people's ankles if wading in deeper water.

At Aow Leuk Bay we were lucky enough to see about 2,000 medium sized silver fish schooling just outside of the bay which was just amazing!  After lunch we visited Tanote Bay and again were impressed by the number and variety of fish...but never did see the elusive Clownfish!

At about 2pm we landed at Nangyuan island, and we were sternly warned that if we were to bring any plastic bottles onto the island we would be charged 200 baht per bottle.  Apparently they have had a big problem with tourists drinking out of bottles and tossing them from the peak of Nangyuan - that was sad to hear... I found it hard to believe that people would want to ruin such a beautiful place!

Gorgeous beach on both sides with plenty of fish to see

View from the top of Nangyuan

Boat ride back to Koh Tao

Dinner was at the hotel and exhausted, we turned in for the night.

Day 30 - Loving Koh Tao

The first thing I did when we woke up was check the weather - it was finally not raining!
We rented some snorkel gear and decided to take ourselves over to Jansom Bay, a small beach located on the property of a resort called Charm Churee.  It was a good 30 minute walk from our hotel but was worth it when we had paid our 200 baht entrance fee...it was gorgeous and thankfully had sun-beds with umbrellas (much needed).

Instagram'd photo of our view at lunch

Charm Churee Villas behind me

Nangyuan island 

After our beach time we walked back to our hotel and got ready for dinner at MOOV Restaurant!  We had beef sliders, raw veggies with pesto hummus and Thai-style ribs, all a relief from the never-ending Thai food we had been having.  Two mojitos later we tromped back to Mae Head, the main road in Koh Tao, but there was not much happening so we called it an early night.

Day 29 Koh Tao & the Rain

We slept about 13 hours and when we woke up it was still raining.  Koh Tao is definitely more on the undeveloped side as far as Thailand islands go; one main paved road and the rest were dirt roads.  We walked along the beach towards the main pier/ferry area and after being disappointed that the highly rated MOOV tapas restaurant was closed, we breakfasted with the locals and some Premier League soccer.

I decided to treat myself to a mani/pedi (for $10 USD) and had to stop myself from giggling when my therapist kept referring to her reading glasses while painting my nails.  Even with the reading glasses, it was definitely not the best paint job but it was sorely needed!

As it was still raining we spent the rest of the afternoon reading and watching TV/movies from our collection of Sex in the City, Glee, The Sopranos and Shameless.

Day 28 - Travel to Koh Tao

After sleeping in the gorgeous Phi Phi Natural Resort I was surprised and a little dismayed to wake up in the tiny hostel bed at 10:30am with a size-able hangover.

There was some confusion when I couldn't find my shoes (they were locked up in the main hostel area for the night) we caught a bumpy cab to the ferry terminal, where we waited and had lunch, feeling sick sick sick.  What we didn't know is that the stomach churning ferry would be stopping twice before arriving on the island of Koh Tao, once at party-central Koh Phagnan and the small isle of Nangyuan, right next to Koh Tao.

The saving grace of the day was that there was actually someone waiting at the ferry terminal with a sign with our names on it - HURRAY!  I think one of the worst parts of traveling is when you first arrive, confused and tired (and hungover), there are all these people shouting at you and offering you taxis/rides...etc.

We checked in and after changing into our bathing suits we high-tailed it down to the beach.  Only minutes after Ty had jumped in it started raining really hard so I hid out with my book at the nearby restaurant, making friends with the local cats.

Ty making friends in the rainy ocean

Koh Tao Regal Resort pool

It kept raining and after dinner we went to much needed bed.

Day 27 - Fun times in Koh Samui with friends!

I was actually fairly excited to leave Phi Phi because we had already seen both sides of the island, snorkeled, done the nightlife and wore ourselves out at the Natacha Hotel (about $15 USD/night - bare bones!).

We retraced our steps and rode a ferry to Krabi, took a Greyhound bus to Surat Thani and were waiting at the Koh Samui dock when we bumped into the couple we had met on Phi Phi at the Natural Resort!  I was really happy that they were going to Samui too and we made plans to meet for dinner and a little adventure out on the town.  We were taking a page from another couples' books and had not booked any accommodations as we were only in Samui for one night, then ferrying over to Koh Tao the next day, whereas our friends were staying at a pricey resort.

We split a cab with L & L, our new travel buddies, and after wandering a bit found the Backpackers Hostel, which had only been open for a few months.   It was absolutely meant to be; we were walking down the street with our bags and randomly struck up a conversation with a traveler who had been staying there for 2 weeks.  We booked ourselves two beds in the 10 bed dorm and got ready for a night out!
In high spirits we got after it...we had dinner at a fairly nice restaurant, then drinks at Solo Bar, a bit of a walk to Ice bar (-7 celsius temperature), then grabbed some buckets (no Red-bull!) at a small place across the street from the Green Mango club.  Once the Green Mango got busy (around midnight) we wandered over and danced, danced, danced.  We all took a turn on the small scaffolding/stage that was there - Ty even did a front flip off of the stage and... nearly landed it.  

Solo bar - spendy

Green Mango - empty at 9, packed at 12

Cheap-bucket buddies

Interesting scenery in front of this cabaret (sexpat central)

Ice bar finery

                      

                                                             Crazy skilled Magician

All ice!

Before making our somewhat drunken way home we came across Burger King (which I hadn't had in ages) and had a snack there.  L & L grabbed a cab and took off for their resort and Ty and I used my HTC phones GPS to find our way back to the Backpackers hostel at about 2:30am...yikes!

Day 26 Ko Phi Phi - Tonsai Pier madness

After a late night out only one thing could cure us...Thai pancakes!

We decided to have a beach day on our own and wandered down the beach with our thin hotel towels, Chinese sunscreen and water.  I fell on some slippery rocks trying to get to the more secluded part of the beach (it was just a scrape) so I decided to park myself on a patch of sand while Tyler wandered, but he came back fast enough - the mosquitos were relentless!

I am actually wearing a strapless swimsuit - don't worry!

Sun going down on Tonsai Beach

We had a standard dinner of fried rice and pad thai at a local place and then decided to check out the Banana Bar, a rooftop bar we had visited the night before with friends from the snorkel tour.  It had great music, music videos on at least 3 screens, beer pong, darts and served a mean mojito.  

Banana Bar - quite the party place!

Infamous buckets being sold on the street - usually have Asian Red bull added to them

We had read (and told) that despite it being illegal with huge ramifications if you get caught, the drug culture is still very much alive in Thailand.  Some of the bars on the beach on Phi Phi pay a certain amount of money to the police to be able to sell recreational drugs to tourists...and we definitely witnessed the results - people seemed to be having a magical time.  
We even bumped into a bar that had a Muay Thai boxing ring in it; you could get a bucket for free if you got into the ring and boxed.  A lot of the servers there (Thai women in their late 30's and 40's) had black eyes and were wearing bandages on their faces and hands.  That's when we were told that if other women tourists won't fight you, you fight the servers!

What A Place!

Day 25 - Tonsai Pier and Maya Bay

After a few gorgeous (but spendy) nights at the resort it was time to explore the other side of the island and get a taste of the nightlife.  We packed up our bags and went down to the beach and the pool for a quick dip before our ferry.

Our cabin at Phi Phi Natural Resort

Taking the two minute walk to the beach

View from the lobby

After a bit of a cluster-f getting on multiple boats of different sizes (and hauling our luggage in 30+degree weather) we were back on solid ground and had to check into the Natacha hotel fast so we could sign up for the afternoon snorkel trip.

Fav new snack: a chocolate pancake!

Our afternoon/evening snorkel tour of Koh Phi Phi island included Monkey Beach, a view of the Viking Caves, Maya Beach (from the movie "The Beach") and the highlight...an evening snorkel session with bioluminescent plankton!

                            

We snorkeled up to Monkey beach

We were warned not to approach them as they bite!

Gorgeous cliffs all around us

This guy wasn't as aggressive

These two were jumping on the tree and baring their teeth if you came close...yikes!

                                                                     Scavenging...sad.

The monkey on the right was just a baby!

View leading up to the Viking Caves

Viking Caves - about 5 locals live there to protect the area, using solar panels for electricity

After a bit of a rough swim and crawl over coral/rocks we arrived at the famous Maya Bay, via the not-so-famous back way.  Apparently the cast and crew of "The Beach" did quite a number on this beach, bringing in palm trees and changing everything - and then left a big mess behind.

Apparently they stopped the overnight camping due to damage to the island

This is where they filmed the bit on the Marijuana fields

Our group - 2 Swedes, 2 Americans, 4 Canadians and 4 Brits!

After reading reviews online I was glad we decided to do the afternoon visit to the beach, apparently during the day this beach is mobbed with people (about 20 different tours visit here throughout the day).  By the time we arrived there was just one boat left and we had the beach to ourselves!

After several tries...

After a few more...

As the sun was setting

The wind had come up while we were enjoying the beach so we hurried back to the boat for dinner; a freshly caught and cooked fish and fried rice!  It was already quite dark and I think most of us were ready to head for home but when we saw the plankton light up from our boat's motor we willingly jumped back in!

It was a great experience floating out there and watching the plankton react to our movements; I even forgot about the sea lice (which we had also encountered earlier in the day).

We were back at the hotel by 9:30pm and made plans to meet up with the other Canadians and the Brits at a bar for a drink.  It was quite a dead scene when we arrived; the drummer was warming up (thud, thud, thud...etc) but we had a good time with our new friends and even stayed out quite late once the party got going!