Return to Turtle Island
We decided that after China we would not have time to fit in Laos and do it justice so we decided to catch a cheap domestic flight back to Thailand. Of course, I would be lying if I was to say that this decision had nothing to do with our new found love of diving, and after a quick stop in Bangkok it was back to Koh Tao to do a (very reasonably priced) week’s fun diving with Master Divers, the excellent dive school we did our certification with.
It was very interesting returning to Koh Tao, otherwise known as Turtle Island, in the middle of May. Compared to our previous visit, the Island seemed a lot quieter with empty restaurants, closed shops and cut price accommodation. The weather was also very different with the sunshine interspersed with rain, thunder and cloudy skies. On the catamaran on the way over to the island we were both almost sick the waves were so high. We could well and truly feel the arrival of low season here.
However we were not in Koh Tao for the atmosphere and beaches, we were there to dive! We dived twice a day for a week, in some areas we had dived at before on our courses and some which were new to us, with our favourites being Laem Thian, Hin Wong Pinnacle and White Rock. The quality of the diving remained high and we saw all the usual marine animals and some new ones including a sea snake and sweet lips. What really made our time worthwhile here was that we got to see a turtle, which, despite the name of the island, is apparently an uncommon experience. We also went on an amazing night dive where we saw three octopuses, a barracuda eating a fish and another turtle(!) having a nap. Of course this trip didn’t sate our diving appetite and we left Koh Tao wanting more...











