I'm going try to make this one short and sweet since I'd much rather be soaking up the sun on the white sand under a coconut palm then sitting in an internet cafe.
I arrived on Koh Tao at around 10am a couple days ago, and it has been absolute paradise since I stepped foot on the island. White sand, transparent light green water, coconut palms, green mountains--the whole nine yards. This place looks like the island screen savers that come preloaded on Windows; please google it. I'm traveling solo for the first time, as Emily wanted to do a yoga retreat on Koh Phangan (the next island over) and i wanted to get my PADI diving certification on Koh Tao. The first day/night i decided I wanted to go somewhere more secluded and relaxed than the main beach--Sairee beach--so i settled in Chalok bay on the Southeast side of the island. Deciding on a place to settle for the day took me no less than 3 hours, walking up and down steep hills with my big bag...it was exhausting, but I was determined to find a place that felt just right. It ended up being well worth it, as the place I found may have been the most quaint, relaxing, beautiful place I've ever been. I felt like the bay was all mine, with very few others around, and my hotel room was huge, decent, and right on the beach for $10. The bay was full of fish, crab, coral reef, and long tail wooden boats, and surrounded by steep, green mountains. I ran into a guy from the Czech republic that i had met on the boat over to Koh Tao, and ended up having lunch and hanging out with him and his two friends for a few hours. I then went on an adventure to find a bay that was swim-able...this entailed walking along the rocky beach, climbing rocks to get to the next bay, and walking gingerly over sharp coral when I couldn't climb the rocks that separated one bay from the next. The trek was fun, interesting, and exhausting...I felt like i was hiking around my own private island searching for shipwreck treasure or something. [You're probably thinking, you're on the beach, can't you swim anywhere? No, most of the bays are full of coral and are very shallow so you can only lay in the water]. My venture was relatively successful...I found a bay that went to about 4 feet deep with less coral, and was able to at least get my head wet and walk around the crystal clear water a bit. It was here that I also met an English girl, probably about 30, that I ended up hiking around with for the next couple of hours. We hiked up to this viewpoint on a penisula that separates two bays as I had been told that it was an awesome sunset spot. After an absurdly steep 45 minute uphill climb on a narrow, hardly groomed dirt path, we reached the top, and wow was it ever worth the hike. Maybe the most scenic peak I've ever been on, you could see shark bay on one side, and Chalok bay on the other, with the sun setting to the west over the peniusla on the west side of Chalok bay...words or pictures can't explain how surreal the view was. Anyways, we hiked down after sunset, went back to the hotel (we were coincidentally staying at the same place), grabbed a beer and some dinner, and I called it a night really early (around 9pm) because I was so so tired--both from the overnight bus which dropped me in Champoun at 4am before catching the 8am boat to Koh Tao, and from hiking around all day.
The next morning I woke up really early, barely missing sunrise, and grabbed some breakfast at the beachside restaurant at the hotel...then I relaxed on the beach for a couple hours, reading the economist and taking advantage of the sub-100 degree weather that only exists before 9am. I then decided I'd check out and head to Sairee beach to see what all the hype was about, and to look into several dive schools. I got a ride to Sairee from a 12year old on a motorbike, which was sketchy at best, but I made it to Sairee in one piece and started my search for the perfect dive school. If you know me well, you know that I have to check out every single available option before I buy anything, and choosing a place to dive was no different. I walked Mae Haad bay and Sairee beach for no less than 4 hours, talking to dive instructors at about 6 different places, and trying to find an accomodation that felt right. Carrying my 30lb pack and small bag made this an incredibly tiring feat, and by the end of it I really thought I might faint from heat exhaustion and dehydration...at least I'd faint on the most beautiful beach in the world. I finally decided on Coral Grand, a place at the very north end of Sairee beach. The instructors were super laid back, weren't pushy about getting you into their school and weren't trying to convince you that there school was any better than all the rest--in fact, one of the guys basically said that they're all pretty much the same, so just go with the one that feels right. I think that's what sold me--that, and the fact that it was far enough from the hustle bustle bar/restaurant area to be super relaxing, but close enough that you could easily walk to the happening nightlife area if you wanted. So far, it has turned out to be a great decision. I hung out on the beach right in front of the hotel soaking up the sun for hours yesterday, and then went out and checked out a few beach bars 15 minutes [walking] away with a late 20s dutch lady that I had met on the beach earlier. It was a great time...all the bars are literally right on the beach--as in, you sit on pads on the beach and they bring you drinks--and one bar in particular had guys doing the crazy flame throwing, fire ring tossing, whatever you call it. It was pretty amazing, really. We called it a night around midnight, and I retreated to my awesome beachside bungalow for a great night of sleep.
Today I start my first day of PADI open water training. It's a four day course, and if I complete it, I'll be PADI certified and can scuba dive anywhere in the world up to 18 meters. I'll be doing the course with Aaron, a friend that I met in Chiang Mai that also went to Poly...he's arriving on Koh Tao today. It should be a great experience.
I have a bunch of pictures to post from the temples and from the past couple of days on Koh Tao, but I'm anxious to get to the beach so I think they'll have to wait until later. Hope all is well in CA.
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