After doing seven dives in three days, I was exhausted.  Not only that but my feet were rebelling after walking miles in flip flops or barefoot on hot sand.  So I took a much needed day of rest, and just hung out on the beach.

I got dinner on one of restaurants on the beach

I can’t decide if it was a tribute, or barbaric to eat a fish for dinner after having spent days swimming with them, but I went with it anyway.

The next day, for my last day on the island, I had hoped to join another dive shop’s trip to Sail Rock, the best dive site in the Gulf of Thailand, but they were totally full.  They offered another option but it wasn’t as interesting.  Not only that, but it left at 6 am, so I skipped it and decided to explore Ko Tao itself.  There’s no public transportation on the island so I tried to rent a bicycle but couldn’t find one.  I had considered renting a scooter but had heard some horror stories about them.  Scooter accidents are the number one injury for tourists in Thailand, and I’d seen proof of that myself.  There were quite a few people hobbling around all bandaged up. Not only that, but the shops themselves were known for exorbitant charges for the smallest of scratches.  Plus, when they’re holding your passport, you don’t have much leverage to negotiate.  As a sort of last resort, I decided to take a longtail to Nang Yuan, a small island nearby.  I’m so glad I did.  The trip only took about 15 minutes or so, and costs 300 baht ($6) plus a 100 baht entrance fee.

When you arrive, they check your bag for plastic bottles and make you leave them behind, at the entrance.  The island itself is made up of three teardrops of land connected by little spits of land.  The only way to get around is by foot, and there is a restaurant and bar, as well as an odd little gift shop.

And to add to my Thai bathroom series, these:

They might be the funniest bathroom signs I’ve seen yet!  There were a lot of Asian in full length bathing costumes?  Wet suits?  I don’t even know what you call them.  They are definitely not getting skin cancer, in any case.  I also saw people wearing full face mask snorkels, which was really weird.  They looked like something from a horror movie.

After hanging out for a bit, I hiked up to the viewpoint.

For my last dinner on the island, I went back for more of that delicious peanut curry, and some snap peas with shrimp which were really good as well.

That night I caught a night ferry to Surat Thani on my way to Ko Lanta.  I’ve taken a lot of overnight ferries before, but this was the first time I had a bed.  The weirdest thing was that there was no sign explaining where the beds were.  Since my bed was close to the door, I ended up asking people to see their tickets and directing traffic.  I should’ve been collected tips.  🙂

The weather was pretty crazy and the boat was really rocking and rolling but I fell asleep pretty quickly. I actually slept decently well, considering.