A Note From Paradise! (part 2 of 7): Lovely Tanote Bay on Koh Tao

…The island’s population, as you would suspect from a beautiful tropical island with crystal clear water, is concentrated around the beaches. The center of the island is lush, rocky, and hilly. Infrastructure is still pretty basic but 75% of the island now has 24-hour electricity. Many of the beaches are only accessible by 4 wheel drives along one of the few overland roads, and if by chance you are venturing onto one of these ‘roads,’ you better hang on….The roads are unpaved, have huge ruts, and are probably about as steep as the hills of San Francisco… and unless you get lucky enough to sit inside the cab of the pick-up-truck taxi, you’re sitting in the back, with just your neighbor to hold on to.

Before arriving, I researched different islands, different cities, different beaches…With my love for the water, being on the beach was a must. I wanted a place rather remote but not totally isolated. I wanted a little bit of variety in the daily goings-on, but not much necessary. I wanted a place where my money could be comfortably stretched out for a month. I wanted to stay far away from the party-going, music-blaring, back-packer scene (very common throughout Asia and if I ended up near a place like this, I would need a vacation after my vacation to catch up on lost sleep). I wanted a quiet beach, but with enough people around to have someone to talk to. With how amazing the snorkeling is purported to be here in Thailand, I definitely wanted to experience swimming with the colorful coral and the endless schools of tropical fish....Koh Tao fit all of the above criteria…perfectly.

Of the ten or so different beaches around the island…some with only one isolated accommodation on the beach versus others packed with numerous back-packer targeted audiences…I found just the right one, Ao Tanote, or as we would say in English, Tanote Bay.

I arrived here at Ao Tanote on July 6th. Today is July 18th. At this moment, I am on my little deck of my little bungalow, swinging in my little hammock, looking out at the beautiful sights of this bay...I see the sparkling blue ocean, the shiny white sand beach, the swaying palm trees, a few dive boats anchored in the bay…. The ocean breeze is tickling my face and is a welcomed gift to balance out the heat of the glorious sunshine. My bungalow sits up nestled into the hillside, about a one minute walk down an artistically curved path to the beach. I’d say it takes me about 10 minutes, if that, to walk from one end of the beach to the other. (Albeit, ‘beach walking’ speed.) Proud boulders sit like bookends at each end, extending out from the beach along the seashore until they disappear around the curve of the island.

There are 5 different accommodation options on this beach, all sporting relatively similar little bungalow style accommodation, two dive schools, and a little massage shack on the beach (as I mentioned in my previous entry, an hour long massage from the cute local boy will cost you a whooping $9…I’ve had one almost everyday)….and that’s it. No town. No shops. No dance clubs. Each place has its own quaint little beachside restaurant, which allows for a nice variety when going out for dinner each night…which if I splurge and buy the ‘expensive items,’ will cost me about $10.

So what do I do each day you might ask? Well, let me tell you! …in my next entry…