Joachim's Travel Blog
Monday, January 26, 2004
After we finished our diving classes (Sarah and I got our open water certifications and Niale is now a certified rescue diver) we headed across the mountain to the other side of the island - the mysterious and seldom-travelled East side of Ko Tao. Everyone in town thought we were crazy to even want to come here, but we've found it to be comfortable and pleasant. And quiet.
I bought a hammock in Mae Hat before I came, and I've tied it up in the front of my mini-bungalow (I save 200 Bhat a night by rejecting modern plumbing, air management and insect barriers). I lie in the hammock and look down on the dark, clear waters of the Gulf of Thailand stretching out to the horizon. The waves break against the rocks below me and the sound of the surf is mesmerizing.
In the morning I go down to the microscopic beach in front of the hotel restaurant and swim a little. Tomorrow I think I'll try snorkeling. The weather is perfect here all the time, the scenery is beautiful and the illegal intoxicants are served at the bar by the management. Life is good on Ko Tao.
The water is very clear at Ko Tao, and very quiet. The waves gently lap the length of Sairee Beach, washing the white sands in a bath of pale iridescent blue. Brightly colored longtail boats, their long propeller shafts pulled out of the water, are tied up near the beach, not far from the little bars under the trees. Further out into the harbor the water darkens and fishing boats are moored above the corals.
Sairee beach is really very pleasant. Our cottages are set back one hundred meters from the beach, which allows us to pay a little less than at the places whose steps get washed by the waves at high tide. But we're also very close to our dive shop, which is good since we've been going there a lot for our scuba diving lessons.
I am now a PADI-certified open water scuba diver! Turns out it was easier than I would have expected and not terribly expensive. After about $200 and four days I got my temporary card. And we were diving for three of those days! I have now gotten up close and personal with some of Ko Tao's undersea wildlife, including beautiful rainbow parrotfish, striking slingjaw wrasse and giant clams. I'm considering taking the advanced open water certification course because I would have to make five more dives - maybe I can see a Whale Shark!
