diving and debauchery in the Thai islands

In January I arrived in Bangkok with one night booked in a hostel and no plans. I wanted to travel in Thailand for a bit, so the next question was: do I go north or south? I chose north. Since this was the beginning of my trip and I reasoned that were I to begin on paradise islands I might never leave. Better to do the mountain trekking first, the gritty stuff, before I became a beach bum. This it turns out was a wise decision, for the islands are indeed paradise and difficult to leave.

After an amazing 3 weeks in Burma and a lackluster 4^th of July in Bangkok, Sara and I flew to Surat Thani and then boarded a ferry to the infamous Thai islands. Sara I’ve mentioned was for over 2 years my neighbor in Booklyn, for 5 weeks my fearless travel compatriot, and is and forever will be an Egyptian scorpion-princess. For reals, she’s awesome.

Koh Samui, our first stop, is a huge overdeveloped resort compression chamber. We stayed only one night. Koh Phangan is also very big and oscillates between a culture of nothingness and enormous over-the-top parties.

The Full Moon Party, now world famous, began in 1985 but soon bore offspring: a Half Moon party, a Black Moon (new moon) party, a Jungle Party, an Eden Party, a Boat Party, and the list goes on. I stayed for 3 days and went to the Half Moon Party, a slightly smaller version of the FMP, but a gargantuan neon body painted island rave nonetheless. After these parties there is a mass exodus of hung-over backpackers, and there is nothing to do on the island until the next party. I did manage to catch a few Muay Thai boxing matches though which were quite entertaining.

Koh Tao is the Gulf of Thailand’s goldilocks island. It’s definitely developed – there are paved roads, 7-11’s, a gym, and access to modern medical clinics. There is a ubiquitous party scene found on Sairee beach where gap years flock in multitudes, dancing to Rihanna in Obey caps and tanks. But there’s also so much more. Chalok Bay where I stayed lies along the island’s southern ridge. A much mellower section of the island, Chalok Bay is also home to Babaloo, which is objectively the world’s best beach bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Koh Tao is known first and foremost for scuba diving. There are a ridiculous number of dive schools on the island, and naturally there are many dive sites around the island as well. I did plenty of research about which was the “best” but opinions on the web were quite varied – preferences ranged from huge, modern dive schools to places with more of a Mom and Pop vibe, and everything in between. If you’re ever planning on doing a diving course, take it from me, you’ll want to aim closer to the Mom and Pop, and here’s why. Some might opt for a big school using the logic that it’ll be a more social place, you’ll meet more people, better equipment, etc. But big schools can leave you feeling like you’re on a conveyer belt, like the instructors could care less about you and are just in it for the paycheck. While it’s obvious that teaching you to dive IS their job, dive instructors also tend to be some of the coolest people around (I mean, they abandoned normal society to be dive instructors on an island paradise) so it’s nice to be able to get to know them, get dinner and drinks after diving. And since diving is such a powerful experience especially when you’re just starting out, you want to feel connected with and cared for by your instructor.  All this is meant to convey that, given the option, go with the smaller school. You’ll meet plenty of people, bonding with those you dive with is inevitable, and the extra attention you get from instructors makes it all worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did my Advanced course with Alvaro Diving on Chalok Bay and couldn’t have been happier. I spent 2 weeks diving by day and hanging out with other divers at various eateries and bars in the evening. It was an easy lifestyle to get used to and of all the places I’ve been it was perhaps the most difficult to leave.