The bus ride wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but Lomprayah’s overnight bus plus ferry inclusion really can’t be beat. We woke up to the bus lights being turned on and an intercom announcement just after 5am. “Dear passengers, we are now arriving in Chumphon. Please gather your belongings make sure to collect your luggage. Check-in for the ferry will be at the end of the dock.”
The ferry is always scheduled to leave at 7am, but I’ve heard the overnight bus consistently arrives between 5am and 6am, so we had some time to kill. Joey made me a coffee and had a tea for himself and we relaxed and watched the sun peer out over the dock where our chariot awaited…and by chariot I mean ferry.
We started boarding the ferry around 7am, but didn’t depart until around 8am. We were happy to board early and wait as the top deck aka the “sun deck” was the first to fill up and we got ourselves a nice little love seat. The ferry was full of passengers going to the three main islands, but because the departure point was Chumphon, the first stop was the northernmost island, Koh Tao! The ride took just over an hour and once we arrived, we headed off the ferry to an overcrowded dock of our ferrymates and droves of others waiting to board our boat (either to Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, or back to the mainland).
There are dozens of locals waiting your arrival with signs for taxis and guesthouses, but we already had a room booked and knew we wanted to rent a scooter for three days here, and knew exactly where we wanted to rent from. There’s a scooter rental just south of Mae Haad and within easy walking distance even if you, for some reason, are traveling with a rolling bag. The scooter shop is called RPM, which stands for Red Power Motor (not revolutions per minute), and is open from 8am-6pm daily.
We heard from numerous people here that this is the one and only shop to trust in Koh Tao. They do hold your passport (unless you want to fork over a 5,000 baht deposit), which we’ve avoided up until this point, but we’ve heard horror stories of other shops finding you bike in the middle of the night and scratching it, or even stealing it, to hold you liable…no thank you.
We actually like to choose rough looking bikes. As tempting as it might be to get the brand new shiny one, please do yourselves a favor and never pick it. Your not taking it home forever to love and cherish. The shop owner knows he or she just bought this one, so if you return it with even the tiniest scratch it’ll stick out like a sore thumb and you’ll have to answer for it. Our criteria for scooter selection are as follows: working lights [brake, headlight, and blinkers], good tires, good breaks, and that’s it. We want one that has scratches and maybe has even been dropped a few times…not that we’ll drop it, but if the body work is in rough shape, we have nothing to worry about…just take pictures beforehand! And don’t be nervous about functionality of breaks, etc. just check everything with a quick test drive before you agree to anything.
After we chose our ride for the next three days, we drove to our hotel. We chose not to stay on Mae Haad or Sairee, which are the two main beaches, so we knew we’d need a scooter. If you stay on one of the two aforementioned beaches, you can probably get by without renting one (the roads here in Koh Tao aren’t great, but I’ve never trusted someone more than Joey behind the handlebars of a motorcycle…even if it’s a huge Indian in Sturgis, South Dakota). We’re staying on the southeast side of the island overlooking one of the most (if not the most) beautiful bays on the entire island, Ao Leuk. The bay is a beautiful blue green and our private bungalow has an amazing terrace with unobstructed views!
We heard some noises coming from the bathroom and they sounded familiar, so Joey went to see where and what they were coming from. Turns out we were sharing our bungalow with two pretty big Tokay Geckos! Luckily they’re pretty nice lizards and only want to get the bugs, so we were on the same team. We let them be, because after all, we’re sharing their home, not the other way around.
After settling in, we headed to the main beach, Sairee. Once there, we walked around for a bit and decided to get a small lunch at Fizz Beachlounge. This little place is situated right on Sairee Beach and early in the afternoon is much quieter than once the fire dancers start nearby in the evening…they also have some of the most comfortable neon green bean bag chairs we’ve ever sat on. We had fresh soft shell crab and vegetable spring rolls, and we couldn’t get up for quite some time.
After we managed to get out of these amazing chairs (the views were equally amazing), Joey walked around to ask a few different locals about prices to charter a personal longtail boat around the island for our snorkeling trip tomorrow. Once coming to a consensus about price and what we felt was fair, we rode south to Freedom Beach (50 baht per person) to hike a pretty challenging trail up to the stunning John-Suwan Viewpoint, which is an additional 50 baht per person (we enjoyed the beach and the trail, which was 100 baht per person…only about $3 USD).
The descent is usually a bit more challenging that the ascent, so once we got back to the trailhead, we were both dripping sweat and in much need of a quick dip. Freedom Beach is one of the nicest beaches on the entire island in our opinion. It wasn’t overcrowded like some others can be, and there are very few boats around to disturb the crystal clear water.
After we enjoyed a quick, but refreshing swim at beautiful Freedom Beach, we went back to our bungalow to change and head off to the next viewpoint, the Love Koh Tao Viewpoint. This little viewpoint is part of a private resort, so you have to purchase something for access, but it can be anything really. We decided to share a Chang beer and enjoy the stunning views overlooking beautiful Ao Tanot Bay. There are also really cool signs that you can sit under and more comfy chairs!
After enjoying our Chang, and the views even more, we headed back to Sairee Beach to hang out on the beach and spend some time swinging.
We planned to go to Barracuda Restaurant for a unique dinner, but we were about 30 minutes early (they open at 6pm) and were fully booked for the night. We asked if we could be squeezed in right at 6pm and they said they could make it happen! Lucky us, because the pan-fried barracuda filet with local prawns, garlic roast potatoes, buttered spinach and a creamy tomato & Thai basil sauce was phenomenal.
We slept on a bus last night and had a ridiculously early morning with an action packed day, so after this delicious meal, we decided to call it a night and head back to our bungalow to rest up. After all, tomorrow we plan to have a full day of snorkeling all around Koh Tao on a private longtail boat, so stay posted!