Jessie finally had some time off, so we decided to head south for a mini vacation (otherwise known as a long weekend). We started our journey on Thursday night (taking an overnight train) and arrived in Koh Tao (otherwise known as paradise) on Friday morning.

I’ve been diving “on” Koh Tao before, but have never spent time on the island. It’s a small island. We arrived in Chumphon at 5:00am on Friday morning, hopped in a van and headed for the pier in time to catch the 6:45a boat to Koh Tao.

We stayed at Ban’s Diving Resort. They have 4 pools (which they also use for diving). Our room was in the mountains (up the hill). It wasn’t enough that we had a golf cart that could take us up there, but there were still a ton of stairs to climb. I guess we’re getting our daily exercise on.

After checking in and settling in (we also booked things (like my dive exercising and our snorkeling tour)) we headed out to do some snorkeling (I didn’t bring my GoPro, but it was still fun. And then snacks time (I mean…let’s eat). The first day was already perfect. So let’s hope this an indicator for the rest of our trip.

I went on a diving day-trip (it’s such a hassle having to carry my own gear and not straying far from the island). I think I’ve been spoiled by liveaboards. We also went on a full-day snorkeling tour to Koh Nang Yuan and around Koh Tao. It was an amazing tour operated by Oxygen Tours.

I got to eat at almost all the restaurants on my list: the French Market, Barracuda, Gemini. The only place we didn’t quite make it to was 995 Duck. We even managed to find some Southern Thai food (which was almost near impossible to do – strangely enough).

Overall, I’d totally come back to Koh Tao. And as much as I find day dives cumbersome, I’d probably still do it again. OMG, the island is full of so many newbie divers…and freelance dive leads (this was not my most favorite part). It’s absolutely gorgeous on the island (I even like the small size). It’s very chill. We even made some new friends and strangely, went to bed early almost every night.

The trip ended in Chumphon with a boozy slushie bucket filled with candies.