The South Islands: Part II

Koh Phangan is the island you want to be on for the full moon party, It’s basically a massive party on the beach, with fire shows, music to get your groove on until sunrise and row upon rows of vendors selling all the buckets of whisky you could possibly drink, great right? Well in all honesty the full moon is a bit too overrated, It is westernised, overhyped, overpriced and full of ‘brits abroad’ who come to Thailand just for this specific night and probably a fight. You can actually have better evenings any other occasion you venture onto the beach, or in the town in the reggae bar just playing pool and sinking deep into beanbags. The Full Moon is a party for people who don’t really know how to party, but it is an experience all the same and for me the one saving grace was that we had good people and it being alana’s birthday everyone was on top form. Early in the evening we had food in lazy bar, Alana opened a cardboard box full of presents, individually wrapped in thai newspaper. (Andy and I had been searching all day for gifts and amongst the presents was lots of chocolate, a screaming monkey, bracelets and some coral). Back at our accommodation we painted each other up in glowpaint. As the buckets of whisky emptied the painting became more inspired and artistic, I got very good at drawing crabs on legs and gorilla on chest.

By our last days on Koh Phangan we had randomly acquired Chris the aussie guy, and we three boys took motorbikes on the island’s rollercoaster roads. The girls were far too sensible to join us and decided on a taxi. We reconvened at a snorkeling hotspot; white sand beach (created by Parrot Fish Poop), clear waters and an island you could reach at low tide by walking along a sand mound where the waves met and wrapped around your ankles.

They ran out of dirtbikes..

 Koh Tao

Koh Tao is Phangan’s laid back little brother, renowned for its coral reefs, crystal clear waters and abundance of marine life; it is a diver’s paradise. We explored Koh Tao’s terrestrial highlights on scooter and tried to teach Edith and Sara how to ride one however, much of the road surface on the island is the same consistency as sandcastle mix, some roads would be better defined as streams and some of the hills are so steep you have to make your passenger walk just to get up them, not the best place for a learner to cut their teeth but eventually we found a fairly suitable stretch, it was a very anxious moment as the girls pulled away with a slight wobble like a bird attempting flight for the first time, they soon got the hang of it though.

Straying away from the island’s main beach we found accommodation on stilts situated just off the shore with steps up to a balcony and massive rooms. We rented Kayaks leaving our placid little bay for shark point where the waves got choppy but at dusk you could sometimes spot reef and bull sharks on the hunt, there had even been sightings of Great White Shark in the past. We saw nothing, not even a dorsal fin and with waves lashing over our vessels steering us towards a rocks we decided to turn back. Finding a quiet spot sheltered by mainland with huge smooth boulders that wouldn’t look out of place on the set of The Flintstones. We sunbathed on the boulders and went snorkeling; I saw schools of needlefish that would circle around you and countless other species around the coral and seabed. Some nights we went into the busy main stretch like for the Re:Earth afterparty, the stage was built just above the sea and we danced in the waves. Other evenings we chilled out sipping from perspiring beers, played mini golf and went for a spot of night swimming.

This is the island where our group sadly diminished, we had already lost Shrilaka, Sam and Harry on Pi Pi, escaped from Crazy Chris the Aussie and in the last couple of days Alana and Andi had also departed; one bound for Australia the other returning to the motherland. Our last 24 hours with the remains of our group were spent in rock pools watching crabs fight and drunk dancing in our capacious room, it was Valentines’ Day and the evening was a lot of fun, in a decorative restaurant the four of us sat round a table listing all the things we liked about each other, it was very flattering. By morning the Swedes would leave but I had something to occupy my attentions, becoming an Open Water Diver.