22nd June Koh Tao

Today we are picked up at about 7.45 for our boat trip to Koh tao We have a quick breakfast at Petcherat Marina and then are herded onto our boat for the hour and 20 minute trip to the island. The sea is really rough and we get drenched. Al puts on a snorkel and mask because it is like we are having buckets of salt water thrown into our faces and our eyes are really stinging. I don’t think that I have ever been out when it is so rough. However nobody on board gets seasick.
We arrive at the island and are given snorkels and masks and told where we can go to observe the coral. There are quite a few people here the island is really pretty with a thin strip of sand joining two different islands.
The fish are really colourful and I wish that I had a underwater camera. Lots of different varieties small and big but the prettiest is the parrot fish with greens pinks and purple colours. We then go a short way to be picked up by utes where we sit in the back to be taken to a restaurant for lunch. We are all starving and have green chicken curry and omlette mixed vegetables and a pork dish. All very yummy.
We then go a little way around the island where the water is much calmer and anchor at a place called Lighthouse cove where we are to snorkel for about and hour and a half. The water is really deep and the bottom is covered in what looks like a million white coral trees, very sharp and pointy. Around the rocks is a beautiful garden of colourful coral. Lots of fish and I even saw an eel winding its way in amongst the coral to hide.
Back to the boat where we again battle the sea, this time with just our bathers on. It is really rough and at times I think we are not going to make it back to shore. The boat rolls and pitches and every few seconds we are swamped with water like someone is throwing a bucket over us. We are drenched and its not really funny any more.
We then go to an inlet that is part of Koh Phannang where we are given about 15 minutes to swim. I really just wanted to get back to the marina as I felt like I had been preserved in salt and couldn’t wait to have a shower and wash my hair.
Tonight we just walked around the corner for dinner We had dinner at a restaurant called Mini and the lady that ran it was lovely. The food like much else we have had in KS lacked any spice but was cheap and tasty.. As we were all exhausted it was only about 7pm and we were all ready for bed.