Ko Tao: You Know You're in a Scuba Town When...

We boarded our catamaran ferry headed north to Ko Tao early in the morning, hoping to have most of a day on Ko Tao instead of in transit. Before we left, we took a few early morning pictures at Lamai Beach.

Once on the ferry, we found ourselves in the midst of tourist Asian invasion day-trippers. Apparently, most backpackers take the afternoon ferry to avoid the crowds of loud, picture taking snorkelers headed to Ko Tao and Ko Nang Yuen for the day. Either way, we arrived around 11 am, found a place to stay in Sairee Beach and headed down to the beach to check things out.

Ko Tao is a very mellow beach town with the laid back feel often associated with (but rarely found in) blockbuster movies. The beach itself is lined with restaurants and bars containing a mix of lounge chairs, hammocks, low table with adjoining floor cushions, and bamboo tables all on sand covered porches looking out onto the beach and the ocean. All the shops and restaurants are operated by a hodge podge collection of local Thais, backpackers that never made it home, and die-hard divers that need money to keep up their expensive taste in recreational activities. Beachgoers on Sairee alternate between the too-hot sun, the tree shaded patches of sand, and the thigh high water that is too shallow to swim in, but perfect for sitting on the sandy bottom. The shallow waters host a small reef about 100 feet off the shore, great for an afternoon snorkel session. All in all, we could easily see how backpackers get stuck here and make the all too smooth transition to “locals.”

Ko Tao is a known across the world as a scuba town in which is the best place to get certified. And it’s true, in three days and for about a quarter of the price you would pay in California, you can get certified. And tons of people do! We were amused by the little things that made this island different from the others we have been to and those things that contribute to the scuba vibe it has. You know you are in a scuba town when:
• All the guest houses have adjoining scuba shops and school, in addition to discounted rooms for divers
• The beach is empty until about 11 am, when all the dive boats return from the morning dives
• A dry bag is a fashionably acceptable purse or “man satchel”
• You drink, eat, and party with dive buddies and instructors
• There is a discrete lack of tourist operators, owing to the fact the 99% of people come here just to dive
• All the swimming pools on the island have dive classes in them 24/7

Our first day on Ko Tao consisted largely of beach lounging. We had lunch on one of the beachfront porches in low slung chairs before making our dive arrangements for the following day and retiring to our day at the beach. The dive shop operating told us that we should dive the afternoon session, because the mornings are full of beginners and check out dives in shallow water. So we went with it.

The afternoon on the beach led to the bar associated with Ban’s, and just in time: as soon as we had ordered beers, it started to rain. We watched as the brunt of the storm came across the ocean in the form of a literal wall of water. It quickly became so windy that half full bottles of liquor were falling off the open shelves in the bar! In the midst of all this madness, we met a few Americans and Canadians that were getting scuba certified at Ban’s. We joined them for dinner two doors down, and got soaked in the 100 meter dash through the ankle deep water that covered the streets. We had a blast, and spent the rest of the night chatting, drinking, and dancing with the Canadians Adam and Laura. Let’s just say we were happy with our decision to dive in the afternoon the next day!