A DAY AROUND THE ISLAND OF KOH TAO
When you are in Koh Tao its all too easy to get stuck in a cycle of drinking at night, sleep, 7 Eleven toasty and then repeat. Don’t get me wrong its amazing and no matter where I go will be hard to top. But sometimes the only way to avoid joining another bar crawl is to get yourself out of the town and away from all the bad influences. Se we decided to rent a scooter and get away for the day.
HERE YOU COULD SEE A SIDE OF KOH TAO YOU WOULDN’T KNOW EXISTED
JOHN SUWAN VIEWPOINT
There’s rarely a bad view when you are on holiday, even if the weather isn’t up to scratch its still easy to appreciate! John Sawan viewpoint is at the most southern point, around 15 minutes drive from the main town Sairee. From the parking area its an easy 10-15minute walk up and although its not the highest of viewpoints you are able to see coasts on either side of the island.
I LOVE KOH TAO VIEWPOINT
Definitely the quietest viewpoint of all. I love KT is centrally located in the island and has a resto and a bar. Anywhere there are tourists or a chance to make money you can be sure the Thais will have it covered! Not my favourite viewpoint but with the letters and lack of tourists its hard not to enjoy!
MANGO VIEWPOINT
This is for sure my favourite but the weather was less than ideal when we made the trip. Mango viewpoint is probably the most popular and there is a bar and a game of connect 4 if the view bores you. Its an effort to get up. If you are taking a scooter (I don’t recommend walking unless you need the exercise) but just don’t stop until you reach the top. Areas of the road are so steep it makes for getting the bike going again very very difficult.
Gang up at Mango Viewpoint waiting for the storm
We could only stay at hour until the clouds gathered round and having been in SE Asia long enough we knew what was coming and began our decent immedialty but we were all soaked by the time we got to the bikes. Near the top its only dirt tracks, which don’t take kindly the rain and impossible with a scooter. We past plenty of people stuck or off their bike at the side of the road but it was no time to play good Samaritan
Giving Nora an Irish lesson in connect 4
After a brilliant day we heading out for a few drinks to wind down of course
FINAL THOUGHTS
I would highly recommend renting a bike and checking out what else the island has to offer. It doesn’t take long to make your way around the viewpoints and is an ideal way to chill with a mango shake or 2.
Be sure to take some photos or a video of the bike you are renting otherwise you may get stung for damage you might not have been responsible for. The majority of locals are friendly and honest but it only takes one to be a chancer. Mike had a small crash where the brake handle got scratched. He just went and bought a black marker and touched it up, good as new!!
NEXT UP
As per usual we have decided to take part in another pub crawl, this island will be the death of it! Click here to read it.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
23/229
This post is part of The South East Asia Series, for the next article click here.
