Thai Isles - Beaches, Full Moon Party and Diving
- Angus
- Nov 29, 2017
- 4 min read
So you're thinking of visiting the Thai Isles. Great, but with over hundreds of different islands it can be quite difficult to decide which one to go to. Even if you only look at Ko Samui, Ko Phangan and Ko Tao, three of the most popular ones, you'll still be left wondering which one to go to or how much time to spend on each. Well fret not, we have visited all three of these islands and will be providing you with the lowdown of each.
Ko Samui
Who should go - This island is ideal for families and couples as it is relatively easy to get to and offers a huge range of accommodation. It is also a popular location for people to head to when they are experiencing burnout from work with a wide selection of spa and yoga retreats. The airport makes it an appealing choice and means it's only a one hour flight from Bangkok. The other two islands do not have an airport and can only be reached by ferry services that operate between the mainland and the islands (these are much cheaper however).
Our experience - Unable to afford the flights or lavish resorts at this point (this was just before the bitcoin boom later that month) we took the ferry from the mainland and stayed on the "party side" of the island, Chaweng. We were hoping to find some outdoor activities including kayaking through some of the national parks and caves to some of the untouched beaches only accessible by sea. Unfortunately our impeccable timing meant that we spent the entirety of our stay indoors avoiding torrential rain. One plus side was we were able to attend the nightly pub crawl offered by our hostel, which we used as a warm up for the finale at the Full Moon Party.
Ko Phangan
Who should go - Merrymakers and binge-drinkers, revellers and noise-makers. This island is world-famous for the inception of the original Full Moon Party. But it doesn't stop there. Such a hit this festivity was that now the island offers a range of parties in between full moons including: half moon parties, waterfall parties, jungle parties and pretty much any other excuse to party!
Our experience - We arrived on the 45 min ferry from Ko Samui and immediately reunited with Morgan. On the second day we made our way to Haad Rin where the main party would take place on December 3rd. The Full Moon Party also happened to coincide with Hunter's birthday and Olivia and Clara even planned to surprise him by flying in from Malaysia to join us on this most epic of parties in the world. (Although the hostel receptionist managed to ruin the surprise immediately. Sad times.) I'm not quite sure where or how to begin describing the party so perhaps I will start with the preparation. Swimwear, glow in the dark paint, glowsticks and bright colours was the general attire whilst the drink of choice in Ko Phangan are the buckets, which you can purchase for a mere $4.70 and whose contents comprise half a litre of your poison of choice along with a mixer of your choosing. Mental.
Come 4pm the whole island has congregated on the small beach at Haad Rin, where all the bars are playing different tracks that merge into one piercing cacophony that sounds louder (and worse) than a Boeing 747's engine. After choosing our toxic beverages near our hotel we ventured to the beach where we found some 100,000 people crammed onto the small strip. The night was full of loud music, drinking, fire shows, more drinking, dancing and wishing Hunter a happy birthday at Midnight. We gopro'ed most of the night but having reviewed the content, I best not include any of that madness.
Ko Tao
Who should go - Divers and those keen to learn. PADI and SSI courses are the cheapest in the world on this island due to the proximity of the dive sites to the shore, reducing greatly the cost for petrol.
Our experience - A further hour ferry from Ko Phangan will get you to this diving paradise. The smallest of the three by a huge margin, this island exhibits the most chillest of vibes. Renowned for its diving, with some of the biggest and cheapest outfits in the world, we decided (like many other young travellers) that this would be the place to get our PADI Open Water Licenses. We spent some time researching who to go with and ended up choosing Crystal Dive. Despite being one of the biggest dive companies in the world they still offered a competitive price for the PADI Course (9,000 THB or $280) and free accommodation for everyone diving and anyone staying with a diver. The course took 4 days and included the mandatory theory, 2 pool sessions and 4 open water dives as well as the exam at the end.
On our ocean dives we saw blue spotted stingrays, trigger fish, Patrick Star, Spongebob, parrot fish, blue angelfish, a small manta ray, the entire cast of Finding Nemo and some mermaids despite not the best conditions and visibility. The reef, you could tell, had been degraded by an increase in human activity in the area. We were told that careless mass diving groups from Chinese tour operators were largely at fault. Shame. (Did you know? If you are feeling like helping out in cleaning our oceans, Crystal Dive offer several clean-up dives at a heavily discounted price!)
We also took the opportunity to visit one of the most photographed places in Thailand, Nanyuang island. This was reached by a 10 minute boat ride (300 THB or $10) from Ko Tao and once there a small strip of pristine beach connecting three small islands makes for a great photo from the hilltop. We hand-fed some fish and took the compulsory famous picture of the stunning view.
Farewells
Morgan left us to return home to the UK whilst the rest of us made our way to Bangkok. There we showed the girls around the main sites as well as discovering some new ones like the Golden Mount and Floating Markets. From there we parted ways, we left to Laos whilst Olivia and Clara set off for Cambodia.
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