Koh Tao: Snorkel Trip
Koh Tao is the world’s dive kindergarten (and university), but for pristine snorkelling stick to the Red Sea.
Mind, you might just come across a whale shark. It happened when John cancelled his first trip so that we could go and buy him a wetsuit. The group spent the entire dive at 5m, tracking a majestic whale shark for over half an hour…
All the snorkel boats, some dive boats and even the odd speed ferry from Koh Samui land at Koh Nangyuan, but it isn’t worth it. The place is overrun and in dire need of a clean-up. Snorkellers aren’t allowed to bring their fins, and with the bag in tow I couldn’t get out to look at the Japanese Garden. Everybody who steps ashore pays a 100 baht landing fee—which is steep even by international standards and makes me wonder where the money goes. Not towards cleaning up the drifting fishing nets and plastic bags, that’s for sure.
Mind, the viewpoint is worth the climb (and the queues). And I didn’t need to fork out 50 baht for a shower as the rain lashed down while we were waiting on the pier.
Denni