May 23rd, 2006 - Ko Tao

Ko Tao is a small island further into the ocean that Ko Samui and neighboring Ko Phagnan (which we passed by). As with all of the islands in Southern Thailand, Ko Tao is plush with greenery and mountains with beautfiul rock formations and beaches scattered about. We walked from the ferry to SaiRee beach where all of the dive shops congregate. After settling into a place affiliated with a diving company, they changed they're dive time to 10:00 am and with our plans to leave on a night boat/bus to Bangkok we couldn't even go with them. Instead we were left last minute finding another dive operator who was going out at the initial time of 7:45 am. Since they're are probably more dive companies than dive sites, we didn't have a problem and started getting excited about our first dive as certified open water divers.
The next morning we took a pick up truck taxi - literally two benches facing each other in the back of a pick up truck, up and over a mountain to a bay on the calm side of the island; Hin Wong Bay. From there it was less than fifteen minutes until Shark Island and another 30 minutes back to the harbor where we dove for the second dive. This compared to our 2.5 hour boat times to Ko Phi Phi from Ao Nang was quite a rushed adventure, but the diving was equally stunning, complete with Moray eel and a whole bunch of Christmas tree worms (little colorful fan worms that collapse when they detect danger. All in all, a great morning and good weather! We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then it was straight to the ferry for a ride to Chumphon where we immediately catch a night bus to Bangkok for arrival tomorrow morning!