Koh Tao

Koh Tao is built around the water. Sairee Beach on the west coast is the long main strand, about 2km of soft sand with shallow, calm water and sunsets over the gulf. Elsewhere the island breaks into small coves: Aow Leuk and Tanote Bay on the east coast for snorkelling straight off the sand, Shark Bay and Freedom Beach in the south, and the sandbar joining the three islets of Koh Nang Yuan just offshore. The sea stays around 29°C all year.

Most of the beaches are small, and some are reached down steep tracks. The calmest, clearest months run from about February to September. From October to December the northeast monsoon brings rain and rough water to the east coast.

Most of the eating happens in Sairee village and around the pier at Mae Haad. Simple Thai kitchens serve curries, stir-fries and fruit shakes, and a long run of casual places cook for divers: breakfast cafés, pizza, burgers and beach restaurants with tables on the sand. A few small night stalls sell grilled skewers and pancakes.

The food is pleasant and inexpensive, but much of it is cooked to suit foreign tastes. Nothing here is the island's own, and there is no market culture worth planning around. Come for the water and treat meals as easy refuelling.

Koh Tao has almost no sights in the usual sense. There are a couple of small temples, and the island's history as a place of political exile in the 1930s leaves little a visitor can see. People come for the sea, not for heritage.

Evenings centre on the southern end of Sairee Beach, where bars put cushions and low tables on the sand, fire-dancers perform after dark and music carries on until the early hours. The crowd is mostly young divers and backpackers, and on busy nights there are organised bar crawls and themed beach parties.

It is a cheerful, informal scene rather than a serious one. There are no proper clubs, the rest of the island goes quiet early, and in the rainy months late in the year things thin out. Elsewhere, around Chalok Baan Kao and the eastern bays, evenings end with dinner.

Underwater is the island's real landscape. Shallow coral gardens ring the coast, and dive boats go out to granite pinnacles such as Chumphon Pinnacle and Sail Rock, where schools of barracuda and trevally gather and whale sharks pass now and then. It is one of the busiest places in the world to learn to dive, with calm, warm sites suited to beginners. Snorkelling from the eastern bays and Koh Nang Yuan is easy.

On land the island is hilly and wooded, with huge granite boulders. Short, steep trails lead to viewpoints over the bays, and there is bouldering, rock climbing and kayaking along the coast. Visibility is best from about March to September.

Koh Nang Yuan, the islet trio off the northwest coast, is the classic short outing, though it is more a beach than a place to explore. For a proper day away, the ferry reaches Koh Phangan in about an hour and Koh Samui in about two, both with towns, temples and markets. Ferry schedules and rough seas in the monsoon limit how freely you can come and go. The mainland at Chumphon is mainly a transit point. Most visitors simply stay on the island.

Families who come do well with older children who can swim and snorkel. The shallow, calm water at the northern end of Sairee and in bays such as Aow Leuk and Shark Bay is gentle, and many dive schools teach children's courses. Thai staff are warm with kids.

It is hard work with toddlers, though. There are no attractions made for children, many bays are reached down steep, rough tracks, the roads are busy with inexperienced scooter riders, and serious medical care means a boat to a larger island. Stay near Sairee or Chalok Baan Kao, where the beach is on the doorstep.

The island is small, and the stretch from Sairee to Mae Haad pier is an easy walk along the beach and a narrow village lane. Beyond that it gets harder. There are no buses, just shared pickup-truck taxis and longtail boats, and the roads to the east coast bays are steep, rutted and often unpaved. Scooter hire is everywhere, but accidents on these hills are common, so it is no place to learn to ride. Getting to Koh Tao means a ferry from the mainland at Chumphon or from Koh Samui, so plan for a long travel day.

Shopping is limited to beachwear, sarongs, souvenir T-shirts and the dive shops along Sairee and around the pier. Nobody comes to Koh Tao to shop. Anything important is easier to buy before arriving.

Koh Tao is a budget island by world standards. Simple bungalows, Thai meals and beer cost little, and the dive courses are among the cheapest anywhere for the quality of teaching, which is why so many people come here to learn. Everything has to come in by boat, so groceries, Western food and imported drinks cost more than on the mainland, and the hillside resorts with pools and views are priced at the international level. Accommodation is often cheaper if you book through a dive school.

There are no theatres, concert venues or traditional performance on the island. Live entertainment comes down to fire-dancing on the beach and the odd acoustic set in a bar.

The restorative side of Koh Tao is simple: a Thai massage under a beach shelter, a yoga class above the bays, and long days with nothing scheduled. A few hillside resorts have proper spas, and there are small yoga and wellness retreats inland.

The pace depends on where you stay. Sairee is busy and loud at night, while the eastern bays and the southern coves around Chalok Baan Kao feel slower and far quieter. There is no bathing tradition beyond the sea, so it suits people who unwind by swimming and resting more than anyone looking for a real spa stay.