Location: Koh Tao, Thailand

OKAY. My actual last day in Koh Tao! Ethan and Nina bet whether I would extend my stay again… sorry I lost someone a buck! I decided to tackle the one big thing I hadn’t yet done: Tanote Bay.

I had sort of avoided it (despite it being widely recommended) because a few separate times I was warned that the road was not for beginner scooterists… and uhhh yep they were right! It was very steep and twisty turny in a way that meant I had to basically pump the breaks and very gracefully and not awkwardly at all waddle my bike all the way down the hill. I arrived on a busy but soft sandy beach with big green hills rising on either side and boulders towering above the greenery near the top. Huge rocks polka-dotted the bay which was almost entirely blanketed in a thick coral reef. I’d heard the snorkelling would be good here but a whole reef?! One giant rock in the middle of the bay had a climbing rope on it, and people were diving happily into the water from its flat top.

There were almost as many fish in the reef as I saw at some of the dive spots, which was a lovely surprise! Unfortunately you could tell people were not as respectful of the reef and were touching and handling bits they shouldn’t be. I often find myself looking at tourists with a bit of a scowl before remembering that I am also a tourist who likely does things that are cringe or dumb. You don’t know what you don’t know I guess!

I loved playing with the Christmas tree worms, and seeing the little colourful rainbow fish swim towards me when I paused my doggy paddling. I laid in the sun for awhile but the sand was so hot even in the shade I finally decided to find a coffee shop to cool off. Halfway up the steep hill I passed right by a place called Horizon that had me hard breaking and slowly rolling backwards down the hill to the parking lot. Even from the street I could tell it was exactly what I was looking for.

A sprawling view of Tanote Bay and the Gulf of Thailand beyond had me ordering multiple iced lattes in the shade, reading my book and writing. I could have spent the entire afternoon with my feet up on the railing. The old bartender / barista / cook / waiter rushed around, smiling the entire time even as the place got busier and busier. The more people that walked in the bigger he smiled, though he did eventually call backup to help him out!

I scooted back towards town, set to meet Ethan and Nina for dinner at Duck 995, which they hadn’t tried yet! We ended up visiting for a long time over dinner, and then walked in the warm breeze along the waterfront in search of ice cream. We parted ways at the end of the walk and I was actually pretty sad because I think I could have happily spent a lot more time in their easy-going company.

I decided to give the health massage place another try (unclear exactly why but maybe that it was right on the beach and I could hear the crashing waves from the chair) but this time for a foot massage instead of a torturous back massage. Even if it’s super intense that’s gotta feel good for the feet right? Right? Turns out I wasn’t totally wrong and 90% of it was amazing.

So just like 10% torture.

It’s really bittersweet to be leaving Koh Tao, so on my final scoot back to the hostel I took the long way around, relishing in the sights and sounds and really looking forward to the day I can come back.

Sav