5 Things to do in Koh Tao – Thailand – TREKwithBECK

Koh Tao is a small island off the coast of mainland Thailand. This is one of my favourite islands in all of Thailand! Although it is a very touristy place, when you are on the island it doesn’t feel like it – especially if you get to the beaches before 10am. The whole island has a very laid back vibe, and most of the main destinations are in walking distance.

I spent 3 days on this island and it wasn’t nearly enough time. If I were to go back, I would spent at least 4-5 full days here. I loved this island because it had a lot to see, but really nice beaches for simply relaxing. That might be considered a lot of time for other travellers but for me I would love to spend 5 days exploring the island at a slow pace.

Enough chit chat, here are my 5 favourite things I did with my time on Koh Tao.

How to get there?

Getting to Koh Tao is fairly simple, however there aren’t any airports on the island so you will need to catch a ferry. There are a few ways you can book the ferry, through 12go Asia (this is how I booked), directly at the pier or through your accommodation. The ferry leaves from Surat Thani and the main ferry company is Lomprayah.

The trip will cost around $40 AUD and take roughly 4 hours. This does include a land transfer from the Lomprayah office in Surat Thani to the pier. The seas can get rough, so I recommend sea sickness tablets if you are prone to getting ill. I have also received notice that there is a night ferry that leaves at 9.30pm arriving at 6am.

The best way to get around Koh Tao is by renting a scooter. The roads are hilly and windy, so I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who isn’t confident on a scooter. You can also catch taxi cars around the island, this does add up over time through. A short 15min taxi ride can cost you around 300 baht, per person. These taxis are Utes converted into tuktuks, and can easily be hailed down on the road.

If you are extremely fit, you can also walk to the major points on the island. Expect to walk anywhere between 1-4hrs one way though.

Things to do

I have pros and cons about taking boat trip to Koh Nang Yuan, but I do think it is worth visiting once. Koh Nang Yuan is a small island about 15 minutes by boat from Koh Tao. This island is extremely popular with tourists, which does take away from its beauty, as everyone is on top of each other. It has a tiny beach, where you can go snorkelling or swimming, and a beautiful viewpoint. The viewpoint was definitely the highlight of the island! However, in saying this, because it gets so busy, I was waiting 20mins to get to the top – sweating bullets. The climb itself is only about 20mins, but you will need to wait.

If you want to try and see this island without tourists, I would recommend either staying on the island – the accommodation is expensive. OR booking a private trip to take you as soon as it opens, or later in the evening. From about 10-1pm is when the boat trips arrive and flood the island with tourists.

You also can’t take any plastic onto the island, so make sure to keep your water bottles on the boat!

When on an island, go beach hopping! The beauty of Koh Tao is because of its size, it’s very easy to beach hop several beaches in one day (some of them you can even walk between). I would recommend having a scooter if you want to do this activity, as it will make getting around easier and cheaper. There are many beautiful beaches on the island but my favourites are Mango Bay, Freedom Beach and Shark Bay.

If you book an island boat tour, you will most likely visit a lot of beaches from the water. This was one way I saw a lot of the island with such a short amount of time. If you want to have the beaches to yourself, I would head down around 9-10am. I did notice the crowds don’t tend to pick up on the Thai islands until about 11am.

Koh Tao is renown for its incredible scuba diving and snorkelling! If you are looking to get a PADI diving course, this is a place I would recommend doing it. There are plenty of companies on the island that offer this course, I unfortuneately don’t have any recommendations so you will have to do your own research!

If you aren’t interested in scuba diving, you can go snorkelling. Koh Tao has plenty of bays with shallow reef and clear water, making it a great place to snorkel not too far off shore. Koh Tao is named “turtle island” and this is because it is extremely easy to spot turtles in multiple bays on the island! In fact I saw one of the biggest sea turtles I have ever seen in my life a short distance off the shoreline. If you want to see some reef sharks, head over to Shark Bay early in the morning and follow around the rocks on the shore.

Visibility in the water will greatly depend on the weather and tides!

Photo by Richard Segal on Pexels.com

This was a highlight of the island for me, this viewpoint gives a spectacular look over the island of Koh Tao. I completed this hike around 9am, and pretty much had the viewpoint all to myself. The climb up is only about 20mins from the entry point where you will have to pay 100 baht (this includes entry to Freedom Beach). The climb is fairly easy, with a few steep sections and rock scrambling. I believe it can be completed by anyone with any fitness level, your hiking time just might vary!

This is just one of the many viewpoints on the island, you can also check out Mango viewpoint, Love Koh Tao viewpoint and Tanote viewpoint. I unfortunately ran out of time to see these!

There are plenty of beach front bars and restaurants on Koh Tao, so make sure to head down to one of them to catch the sunset! The best spots do get busy, so I would head down about 30 minutes to an hour before sunset to secure a spot. I went to the Whitening Restaurant for one night, which had a great cocktail list and beautiful food. It is a little on the pricey side (for Thailand standards), but I do recommend it! You can also make a reservation if you want to secure a good spot.

Another free option is head to 7-11 for some drink and snacks, then walk down to Sairee Beach. There are parts of the beach the restaurants don’t own where you can sit and energy the sunset by yourself.

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