Polaroid of the week: Lazy beach days in Koh Tao, Thailand

Last Updated on October 9, 2024

I’ve arrived in Thailand and it’s so good to be back here! I only interrupted my island hopping mission briefly for a quick visit to Bangkok before I moved on to the islands in the Gulf of Thailand.

I finally visited Koh Tao, an island that has been high on my ‘Thai islands I need to go to‘ list for years. I have to admit that during my last Asia stint, I was a bit lukewarm on Thai islands; I just didn’t happen to visit one that I truly loved, and other countries in South East Asia just happened to be more beautiful islands (at least in my opinion), plus I was spoiled having spent so much time in the Caribbean prior to my first trip to Asia.

However, I had high hopes for Koh Tao, the smallest one of the three famous islands in the Gulf of Thailand (the other two being Koh Phangan and Koh Samui), and it did not disappoint. Admittedly, I wasn’t wowed by any of the beaches but I could’ve guessed that, coming from the Philippines where I visited some of the best beaches I’ve ever been to (I mean.. Look at these photos!) and any beach in the world would’ve had a hard time to impress me after the jaw-droppingly gorgeous beaches of Boracay, El Nido or Siquijor.

That said, I still loved my time on Koh Tao and the island’s beaches certainly don’t suck, as you can see in the photo above or in this one here.

Koh Nuan Yang, pictured, is the most famous landmark of Koh Tao, and appears on most of the postcards of the island, even though it is actually not on Koh Tao itself, but a short boat ride from its shores. You can get there by taxi boat, which are probably the most common form of transportation in Koh Tao, bringing tourists to and from the small beaches and bays on the island that are easiest to get to by boat, and to Koh Nuan Yang, visited by almost everyone who goes to Koh Tao at least once because of its excellent snorkeling conditions.

Koh Tao was the perfect place to kick back for a few days, and I typed away in one of the many beach bars right on the beach until I would go for a dip in the ocean whenever I needed a break, and later finish my work day with a beer in hand while watching the sunset.

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