Feb. 1-4, 2013 - Koh Toa, Thailand

Feb. 1 - 4, 2013 - Koh Tao, Thailand

Ill have to steal Alenes photos bc I didnt wanna take me camera on the beach.

Feb 1st:
We arrived at the Chumpon bus station around 4:45am and bought ferry tickets to Koh Tao.  We were short about 200Baht for the fare and a VERY nice in line next to us paid the difference.  The nearest ATM was 1km away and we weren't sure how many ferry tickets were left.  Thanks to her we managed to get seats on the next boat.  Thanks!!!

At 6:30 a bus transferred us to the boat dock and then the ferry set out on its 2 hour journey to Koh Tao. When we landed at the island we hopped on the shuttle to Big Blue Dive shop/resort.  We didnt have a reservation but we were hoping they had room for us to sleep and to dive in the next few days.  They were full for the afternoon diving that day but open for the next 2 AND we grabbed their last available room.  Perfect.

We signed up for 2 afternoon dives the next day and the full day dive trip on Sunday.  The full day included breakfast, lunch, non-alcoholic drinks, and 3 dives.  The room had 2 beds, its own bathroom and balcony and air conditioning! Score!  However, when we checked in there was no power and the room hadn't been cleaned yet so we had to wait a couple hours. After that we walked through town a bit.  That night we just had dinner at a local restaurant and went out to some of the bars on the beaches.  All along the beach there were fire dancers.  Guys swinging, throwing, and dancing with flaming balls, patons, chains, etc.  It was awesome to watch them.  They could do some really amazing things with the fire.  There were also some newbies and it was funny to watch them move slower and with more caution and occasionally drop the flaming utensils.  A good night out with some fun stories.

What I have learned:
Italians dont use Hola.


Feb. 2nd:
Lazy morning.  Headed to the dive shop around 12pm for our 2 afternoon dives.  The first dive was at SPSPSPSP caves.   They hadnt visited this dive site in a while due to the bad weather/water conditions.  Today probably wasnt a good weather day to visit either but we jumped in anyways.  The boat could not drop us off at the dive site due to rocks so we had to swim above the water to get there.  It was probably a good 20 minute swim in waves that were white capping.  This was tough enough, it was made worse by the fact that the fins were beginning to give both Alene and I blisters.  Hers where on her ankles, mine on my little toes.  Once we got to the dive site we descended to 18m and really couldn't see much due to bad visibility.  After a long dive we ascended and then had to start our long swim back.  I couldn't even see the boat when we got started.  It was allllll the way around the huge rock we have Scuba'd around.  This is where the blisters got to hurting a lot.  When u are actually in the water you dont have to kick too much.  But swimming to the boat we had to kick A LOT and the fins just kept digging into my toes.  Alene and I looked at each at one point on the swim back and we both knew we were thinking the same thing.  WHY THE HECK ARE WE DOING THIS!  We wanted to dive not swim for an hour.
Fortunately, the next site, white rock, made up for the first. It was a beautiful site with great viability.  And very little above water swimming.  YAY!  So many fish and coral.  We even got followed by a trigger fish for a little bit.  Thats slightly scary because they are known for chasing divers out of their territory and for biting it necessary.  One of the dive masters in another group actually did get attacked and had teeth marks in her fin!

Feb. 3rd:

Up early for our full day trip!  We arrived at the dive shop at 6:30am and were on the boat by 7am.  They almost forgot us though!  We somehow got missed on the list to be on the trip for the day.  But we got it all worked out and joined the rest of the group.  We had breakfast on the boat.  Eggs and bacon!  It took about 2 hours to get to Sail Rock, the site for our first 2 dives.  We set up our equipment and met our dive master for the dives.  The visibility at Sail Rock was bad again.  That was a downer because it is supposed to be THE best place in the gulf of Thailand.  I kept running into Alene because I was trying to just stay close enough to see our dive master.  If I stayed behind her I couldnt see him.  We managed through the two dives without losing each other though and did get to see a little bit.  Just wish the water had been clearer.  This was also supposed to be our best chance to see the whale sharks in the Thailand area.  No luck there either.

We had lunch on the way to the last dive site, the SW Pinnacle.  This site was AMAZING.  Thousands and thousands of fish and coral everywhere.  We saw eels and porcupine fish and corbia.  Everywhere you looked you could see bright colored fish and coral covering the rocks.  Ahhhh, now this is why I love diving.   We had a late night out to celebrate a great day of diving.

However, after 5 dives my blisters are really starting to hurt! We had to stop for band aids and iodine.

Feb. 4th:

We had to be up early to pack and check out of the hotel at 10am.  We went for a late breakfast and decided to see about going to another beach for the day to relax.  At the boat taxi station we ran into one of the guys we had met the first night out and another random guy that wanted to visit Nangyuan.  Its a tiny, privately owned island that has a thin sand bar connecting the two main parts.  We had passed by it on our way to Koh Tao.  All four of us shared the boat taxi over to Nangyuan for the afternoon.  It was a 100Baht ride and 100Baht entrance fee onto the island.  It was worth it.  When we first arrived Alene and I just laid on the beach for a while, taking in the sun and water.  The guys dropped their stuff off for us to watch and hiked up to the viewpoint, the high spot on the island.  When they got back they reported that it was a must do.  It took about 20 minutes to reach the top.  The path circled about half around the island and then stairs began climbing up.  They were right, the view was spectacular! What a beautiful place.  I need to own an island that I can charge people $3 to come on to for a day.  We hiked back down and again just laid on the beach.

When it started to rain we headed back to Koh Tao.  No joke, as soon as the boat started moving it started pouring rain on us.  All of us were soaked.  One poor guy had JUST arrived to the island when the rain started and he opted to get in our boat and go straight back without even setting foot on Nangyuan.  The two guys Oliver and Phillip joined us for a late lunch and some tv watching on the beach for a while.  Then headed off to their own evening destinations.

We then set out on a mission to find a shower.  Success!  Right next to the place we dropped off our bags was a spa offering hot showers. Wahoo!  Another $3 and I got to take a nice fancy shower. Shampoo, soap, and giant towel included.  The only towel I brought with me is 1 foot by 2 foot, it does the job but I cant wrap myself up in it.  Having a giant towel is now a luxury!

After showers we did dinner and then killed time on the internet until it was time to depart for the night boat.

At the night boat we were given assigned beds.  There we 40 something beds in one big room on the boat and no space in between the beds.  It was just one mat right next to the other and one long row on each side of the boat.  Tight quarters.  Good thing we arent huge people!

I fell asleep quickly after leaving the dock and woke around 1am to some serious pain in my foot.  The pain was accompanied by 2 oozy toes, swelling and redness.  It kept me awake the rest of the boat ride.  It always kept me a bit worried about possible infection.
I have started taking Ibuprofen for the pain.

What I have learned:
Paying $3 for a Thai spa shower is well worth it.  The bottom was layered with smooth river stones and a big slice of tree stump was place directly under the shower head.  I took more expensive showers in the KOAs back home and had worse experiences.