Of course it’s hard work to get certified in anything!  Well, that’s what we told ourselves before embarking for a few days’ R&R on the other side of Koh Tao.  On the east coast there are several bays which have far less development than fancy Sairee Beach.  We chose one called Tanote Bay, renowned for its snorkeling and relatively low-key atmosphere.  We scored a bungalow on the beach (!) for only $12 per night.  Since we purchased our own masks and snorkels, this was all we needed to have a relaxing snorkeling rest.

Our Beach Bungalow

As you can see, the scenery was amazing.  We were totally relaxed here, especially since we didn’t have reliable internet, and just lounged around, ate, and took photos most of the time.  Some highlights included the best green curry in Thailand, amazing snorkeling among schools of parrotfish and other coral munching fishes, tiny puppies, and walking along the beach.  The only downside is the hundreds of remarkably loud barking geckos.  One of them managed to get into our bungalow and keep us awake all night one night!

View From The Bungalow

Idyllic

Cute Puppy

Pretty bedraggled mother..

We also chose to do our first beach dive, with Calypso Divers, to see what the other side of Koh Tao held in store for us.  It was a fabulous dive – we saw our first pipefish, first turtle, an awesome eel just sitting out in the open (usually they are inside the coral except their mouth), and some conchs in the process of laying eggs.  Cool!

The last day we were in our bungalow we decided to head over to Shark Bay.  This bay supposedly has black-tip reef sharks (not human-eating) that you can snorkel with.  It was quite an ordeal getting there, we had to take a taxi, walk 2km, then scramble over rocks for another km till we made it to the bay.  Unfortunately a resort owned all the beach front property so there wasn’t really anywhere we could go besides right on the beach.  And the visibility was so low we didn’t see anything much (definitely no sharks.)  It is still a stunning bay, as you can see from this restaurant view.

View of Shark Bay

We loved our nice relaxing break from everything before we headed back to Bangkok!