Koh Tao, which means “Turtle Island” in Thai, is a small paradise of an island set in the midst of the Gulf of Thailand. Koh Tao is one of Thailand’s best places to learn to dive. World Famous among backpackers for cheap diving and long beaches – You will Find Koh Tao offers far more than just diving, a whole range of activities to keep everyone soaking up the atmosphere of Ko Tao.
These days Koh Tao has rock climbing, snorkeling, great restaurants and dozens of other options fill the days. Of course the beaches are still great for lounging and worshipping the sun, the nights are perfect for cold beers and silly conversations.
With relatively few currents, a gentle tide and dive sites that are very close to shore – SCUBA diving on Koh Tao, Thailand is perfect for the beginning diver.
The Abundance of marine life and the beauty of the coral reefs surrounding the island have lead Koh Tao to become the best dive site in Thailand for begining divers. Many dive sites surround Koh Tao, most within close proximity to the island. The water is an average temperature of 28 degrees Celsius with few currents. Dive site depths range from 10 – 30 meters making diving enjoyable for all levels of divers. Back to Top
Chumphon Pinnacle – Widely considered Koh Tao’s premier dive site, Chumphon Pinnacle is also one of the island’s most challenging with occasionally strong currents. Ranging from depths of 12m to 32m, the site is a group of massive rocks arranged in a rough oval and running north to south. The site plays host to a wide variety of pelagics as well as reef fish. Barracuda, Mackerel, grouper, and tuna circle Chumphon year-round, and in certain seasons whale shark sightings occur.
Southwest Pinnacle – a series of rock formations ranging from 4m to 30m and is another of Koh Tao’s top sites. The top of the pinnacles are covered with a carpet of anemones in brilliant greens, pinks and blues with their cavalcade of pink anemone fish. Home to large schools of snapper, yellowtail barracuda, as well as fusiliers and a few large groupers can be seen here as well, along with scribbled filefish and masked porcupine fish.
Sail Rock – A single rock that protrudes from the water between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand. The main pinnacle rises out of the water and plunges to a depth of 40 plus meters. Probably the most exciting feature of this site is the vertical chimney which starts around 9 meters and goes down to about 16 meters. The rock is riddled with small holes which makes a perfect habitat for white eyed and yellow margin moray eels, and the large anemones that cover it are filled with anemone fish and shrimp. Back to Top
Shark Island – Possibly Koh Tao’s most varied site, Shark Island is a small uninhabited island just to the southeast of Koh Tao. Sloping gently from the surface down to 24m. White eyed moray eels, blue spotted fantail rays, porcupine and puffer fish, and a variety of reef fish are almost guaranteed in the beautiful shallow coral garden.
Green Rock – Fascinating rock formations create small caves and swim-throughs at Green Rock, which ranges in depth from 4m to 28m. Nudibranchs are often present, as are morays, harlequin sweet lips and blue ringed angelfish. Look out for "the minefield", where scores of yellow margin and Titan triggerfish have made their nests Back to Top
White Rock – Say hello to Trevor! White Rock, consisting of two groups of rock separated by a narrow channel of sand (depths from 9m to 24m), is home to Koh Tao’s single most notorious fish: Trevor the Trigger. A Titan triggerfish that has been the boss of the site for years, Trevor occasionally takes exception to divers disturbing his rest.
Hin Wong Pinnacle – On the east side of Koh Tao lies Hin Wong, a large and very varied site ranging from depths of 10m to 32m. Although visibility here is unpredictable, Hin Wong is covered in lacy sea fans and curly wire coral, as well as filefish, snapper, coral grouper and other reef fish.
Twins – Do you remember when your instructor told you to look for the small things? Twins is the ideal place to take that advice. Two groups of rocks at depths from 10m to 18m. Your divemaster or instructor may show you the haunts of grouper, stingrays, you might also see anemone shrimp, morays, flatworms and pipefish, as well as cleaner wrasse at their never-ending work.
Nang Yuan Pinnacle and Cave – Koh Nang Yuan lies northeast off the coast of Koh Tao. Nang Yuan Pinnacle, is a small granite pinnacle that rises out of the water from depths of about 20-24m. Whip coral, soft coral and sea fans are common and blue spotted stingrays Back to Top
Fishermen used to come here to shelter from storms or take a break from their weary travels. Just before the turn of the century the King of Thailand paid a visit to Koh Tao & laid his mark upon Jor Por Rock on the southern end of Sairee Beach.
From the early 1930’s Koh Tao became a prisoner colony used to house political prisoners, until 1947 when the then Thai Prime Minister pardoned all the prisoners on the island. So the island became abandoned again but only for a short time as later that same year a couple of Fishermen set sail on their boat for Koh Tao from Koh Phangan. They claimed for themselves a healthy chunk of land, Sairee Beach, and after bringing their families over began to cultivate the soil. Koh Tao’s first family had arrived!
They harvested coconuts, grew veggies & fished & gradually began to trade with their nearest neighbour Koh Phangan, and by so doing brought over more workers & steadily the Koh Tao population grew.Back to the top
As the population steadily grew, and the first backpackers finally arrived in the early 80’s; Due to its natural beauty above and below the water, Koh Tao was hailed as a paradise. Word quickly spread about the undiscovered island and it became a popular destination. The local business expanded to meet the needs of the new clientele and today you can find almost anything you need.
From Bangkok, you can get bus & ferry combination tickets to Koh Tao (via Chumphon) with Lomprayah (www.lomprayah.com ) for around 850 Baht. These depart Bangkok at 7pm. Arrive in Chumphon at 5am. Alternatively, if your schedule is tight and your budget is right, you can can fly to Koh Samui with Bangkok Airways (www.bangkokair.com ) and get the Lomprayah fast ferry across to Koh Tao.
We recommend the Lomprayah ferry or Seatran service from Koh Samui (450-550 Baht) via Koh Phangan (150-250 Baht). The movie and air-conditioning help you cool and entertained and maybe even keep your mind off your post Full Moon party hangover!
There are several ferry companies that operate daily services direct to Koh Tao from Chumphon. We recommend the Lomprayah Catamaran or the Seatran Ferry or the Songserm Ferry and Koh Tao Cruiser for around 550 Baht.
The night boat leaves Surat Thani at 11pm, takes 9 hours and costs around 400 baht. A pretty basic means of travel! Be warned. BASIC.Back to the top
You can fly to Koh Samui from many airports, including Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Phuket, with Bangkok Airways and get the Lomprayah fast ferry or the Seatran Ferry across to Koh Tao.
The great thing about Ko Tao is that because it is just a small island, you can travel around the whole place by boat in less than an hour. Which means then that whenever the weather is bad & blustery & there are big seas you can always find a suitable calm area where the visibility hasn’t been too disturbed, to dive at throughout the year.
In addition, because Koh Tao is just a small landmass the growing rain clouds that form often don’t unleash their rains until they are over the larger landmasses of neighboring Koh Samui & Koh Phangan or the mainland.
These can be months of sunshine, flat seas & swimming off the beach on Koh Tao.. The water on the west coast of the island is fairly flat and calm but visibility can be a little temperamental with the after effects of monsoon seas and the run-off from Surat Thani province. February tends to be even better.Back to the top
Gets hot! April gets really hot! But the water is fine and almost everyday is guaranteed sunshine. And gorgeous sunsets! Ko tao can get some good tropical style thunderstorms at this time of year especially at dusk but they’re usually on the mainland, which can make for quite a spectacle sitting on the beach in Koh Tao while looking at the thunderbolts of lightening on the mainland. Water clarity is best at this time of year. This is one of the times that Whale Sharks have been known to come.
The wind turns at this time of year & the west coast of the island experiences a fresh cooling breeze & occasional days of relatively big waves. Afternoon storms are typical especially in August but they don’t last long & weather is still generally pretty sunny throughout the day. Koh Tao Diving is best on the East side of the island where it is flat calm, crystal clear & teeming with marine life.
Koh Tao has sunny days, calm flat seas & superb diving. Water & Air temperature drops a little as we enter the ‘winter’ months but still tropical. Average daytime air & water temperature 30 degrees. Heaps of fish & not so many divers- Quiet season!Back to the top
Koh Tao doesn’t suffer from your usual movie monsoon madness, as it isn’t relentless rain for days on end. A typical monsoon usually consists of a couple of weeks of impressively hard rain & wind. The visibility gets stirred up & the swell is unpleasant. The journey to Koh Tao at this time of the year is definitely going to be bouncy.
The are three ways to do this. The frist choice, and most comfortable is to the Lomprayah catamaran to Chumphon and then a taxi or minibus from there. The ferry is 2 hours and the taxi ride is almost 4 hours. Best choice for comfort and time. Worst choice for budget.
The second choice is the Seatran Ferry to Surat Thani and then minibus or Taxi from there to Khao Lak. Ferry ride – about 4 hours. Taxi ride – 3 hours.
The last choice is for the budget traveler with a strong back and small budget. Take the night boat from Koh Tao to Surat Thani. Take public bus to Khao Lak. Ferry – 9 hours. Public bus -3-6 hours. Back to the top
Some of the marine life you may experience on your visit to Koh Tao include:Whale Sharks – the largest shark in the world, wander the waters of Koh Tao every year in search of food. These fish can reach 16 meters in length and engulf plankton by the ton with their huge gaping mouths. An exhilarating experience to dive with a such an enormous fish.
Black Tip Reef Sharks – like all sharks, are amazing hunters. They have all the five senses of an human, plus one more – electrosensitivity. This sixth sense enables them to detect the heartbeat and muscle movement of their prey hiding in the sand or coral.
Cleaner Wrasse – clean the ectoparasites off other fish. They advertise their cleaning station with their bright coloured bodies and a little dance. At times there may be four or five fish patiently waiting in line to be cleaned.
Sea Cucumbers – are slow moving animals that vacuum the sand for food. Their defence when attacked by fish is to eviscerate their guts. The fish are satisfied to eat while the cucumber slinks away and regenerates it’s insides.
Sea Stars – are deadly hunters that pry open their prey with their powerful arms. Once open they stick their stomach out through their mouths, into the shell and begin digesting their prey while still in it’s home.
A clownfish family may consist of two adults and one or two juveniles living in the same anemone. These fish rarely ever leave the protection of the anemone. In fact, if the female clownfish dies, the male clownfish will not leave the anemone in search of a new mate. He simply changes sex and takes over the role of the female. One of the juvenile fish steps up and takes up the role of the male.Back to the top
The Longnose Butterfly fish has a black spot at the tail end of its body called a false eye spot. This eye spot confuses attacking predators, causing them to go for the wrong end of the fish. This form of camouflage allows the butterfly fish to dart off in the other direction, hopefully with its tail in tact. Better its tail than its head.
Koh Tao is a great place to learn SCUBA Diving. Once you have got the basics down it’s time to visit the best dive sites in Thailand! The Similan Islands are famous around the world for great diving. The best way to see the Similan Islands is on a liveaboard
Whether it’s our incredible safety standards, our service or the deep commitment to the environment and community – you will see that we Wicked does things differently. We do them Right! Back to the top
The best way to dive and see the SIMILAN ISLANDS is on a LIVEABOARD trip. Rated among the top 10 dive spots in the world, the SIMILANS will show you a wide variety of jagged boulder sites, sloping reefs full of colors and marine life, white sandy bottoms and visibility that will make you smile long after you leave. Wicked diving provides you with the best options and widest range for Dive Liveaboards in the region.
For those that want to experience the underwater world, or expand on their current knowledge and certifications, at Wicked Diving we offer a full spectrum of courses, specialties, and training for both PADI and SSI.Our experienced staff can make your stay in Khao Lak more rewarding with courses that range from Discover Scuba Diving and Open Water divers to Our Intesive Divemaster Training or the SSI Instructor Crossovers and More. Click here to see more information on what is right for you, and how to get started!
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