Ko Tao

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View of Shark Bay, a snorkeler's paradise on the island's south side.

Ko Tao (also often Koh Tao, Thai: เกาะเต่า, lit. "Turtle Island") is an island in Thailand located near the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand. It covers an area of about 21 km². Administratively it forms a tambon within the district (Amphoe) Ko Pha Ngan of Surat Thani Province. As of 2006 it's official population number in 1382^[1]. The main settlement is Ban Mae Hat.

The economy of the island is almost exclusively centered around tourism, especially scuba diving.

Ko Tao was named by its first settlers for the island's turtle-like geographic shape. Coincidentally, the island is an important breeding ground for Hawksbill turtles and Green turtles. Development of tourism has negatively impacted the health of these grounds but a breeding program organised in 2004 by the Royal Thai Navy and KT-DOC, a coalition of local scuba diving centres has reintroduced hundreds of juvenile turtles to the island's ecosystem^[2].

1 History
2 Tourism
- 2.1 List of diving sites
3 Transportation
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

Initially the island was not inhabited, there was only the occasional fisherman from the neighboring islands, looking for shelter in a storm or just taking a break before continuing his tiresome journey.

On June 18, 1899 King Chulalongkorn visited Ko Tao and left as evidences his monogram on a huge boulder at Jor Por Ror bay next to Sairee Beach. This place is still worshiped today.

In 1933 the island started to be used as a political prison. In 1947 Khuang Abhaiwongse, prime minister at that time, pleaded and received a royal pardon for all prisoners on the island. Everybody was taken to the shore of Surat Thani and Ko Tao was abandoned again.

In the same year Khun Uaem and his brother Khun Oh reached Ko Tao from the neighboring Ko Phangan by trying out their traditional sail boat, for that time a quite long and dangerous journey. Even though the island was still under royal patronage, it did not stop these pioneers claiming themselves a good part of the land on today's Sairee beach. Having brought their families over, they began to cultivate and harvest the excellent soil, forming the first generation of the present-day community. They lived a simple and tough life harvesting coconuts, fishing and growing vegetables, which were also traded with Ko Phangan. Despite the difficulties in reaching the island, the population grew steadily.

In the 1980s the first travelers discovered Ko Tao and their special backpacker network quickly made it widely known and a popular destination. As a consequence, bigger, faster and safer boats were used to allow easier access to Ko Tao. In the 1990s the island finally became known as a diving site.

The island is well known for scuba diving and snorkeling, and also offers some hiking. The most popular place for tourists is Sairee on the West coast, which has a white sandy beach of 1.7 km interrupted only by a few huge boulders. Resorts are scattered with varying density, however, along the many small bays of the island.

Ko Tao is less developed than Ko Samui and Ko Pha Ngan, but has become increasingly popular especially with the mid-20's backpacker crowd in search of relatively inexpensive scuba diving certification.

Sairee-Beach

The main street at Ko Tao.

Bungalows on the beach at Ko Tao.

The view of the famous 'Buddha Rock' from 'Viewpoint' on the south side of the island.

Blue Spotted Stingray photographed in the waters around Ko Tao.

As of December 2005, Ko Tao had about 150 resorts offering accommodation and approximately 50 bars/clubs. Most of the resorts are still bungalow-style, not hotel/resort style. Accommodation prices are lower than nearby Ko Samui. Most dive shops offer scuba diving PADI certification classes as well as hostel/bungalow accommodation. Accommodation rates are generally significantly reduced upon registering for scuba classes. PADI open water certification classes typically cost around 9000-9800 Baht and last 3-4 days.

Diving conditions vary from excellent to fair depending on the time of year and weather conditions, but March and April are usually excellent with weekly Whale shark sightings.

As of 2007 there is a trend to more upmarket resorts which do not concentrate singularly on diving. Free WIFI is provided in increasing numbers and even the first sailing charter company on Ko Tao has opened.

Koh Tao is increasingly becoming a mecca for game fishermen on a budget. Marlin/sailfish season is from December until March though a few stick around all year. Prices for boat fishing start at 1,400 baht. As well as billfish, other species are targeted. These include king mackerel, cobia, baracuda, trevally and snapper.

Name	Max. depth	Visibility	Average depth	Level	Features	Marine life
Red Rock (Shark Island)	28m	5-30m	15m	Open water +	Huge boulders and rock formations, stunning soft corals. drift diving for the experienced.	Resident turtle, great barracuda, titan triggerfish and clown triggerfish
Hin Wong Pinnacle	40m	15-20m	17m	Open water +	Tabletop rock formation covered with a variety of hard and soft corals.	Hawksbill turtle, snapper, sweetlips, porcupine pufferfish, juvenile boxfish
Mango Bay	16m	5-20m	10m	Beginner +	Only accessible by boat and a perfect dive site for first timers with a sandy bottom and shallow reef	Small reef fish, puffer, moray eels
White rock	20m	10-30m	12m	Open water +	A wide band of coral reef with an impressive diversity of hard and soft corals.	Wrasse, butterfly fish, angel fish, moray, clown fish and riggerfish.
Nang Yuan Pinnacle	19m	10-30m	10m	Open water +	A large boulder with swim-through arches and to the west a large cave to explore.	Giant whiptail ray, moray, pipefish, crabs, titan triggerfish and reef shark.
Twins	22m	10-25m	12m	Open water +	Two groups of granite rocks covered in corals and sponges, divided by sandy patches and a backdrop of colorful coral garden.	Blue spotted ray, juvenile blue-ringed angelfish, six-barred angelfish, clownfish, corpionfish and pink anemone.
Green rock	28m	10-30m	16m	Open water+	A maze of swim-throughs, canyons, caverns and caves created by giant boulders.	Yellow-margin and titan triggerfish, giant trevalies, cobias and stingrays, occasional reef shark sightings.
Japanese gardens	14m	10-15m	10m	Beginner +	Hundreds of hard and soft coral formations creating the impression of an oriental garden.	Abundance of small coral fish and a variety of nudibranchs.
Chumphon pinnacle	45m	5-30m	24m	Experienced diver	Four granite pinnacle carpeted with anemones.	Whale shark (seasonal), giant grouper, barracuda, bullshark, bat fish and tuna.
South west pinnacle	33m	10-30m	20m	Advanced +	A collection of pinnacles with a unique topo-graphical arrangement, giant fan corals.	Whale shark (seasonal), giant grouper, barracuda, occasional leopard shark.
Sail rock	45m	15-35m	30m	All level	Huge rock chimmey with an amazing vertical swim-through that ascends from 18m to 8m. Amongst the gulf of Thailand first diving sites	Large pelagics, king mackerel, kingfish, tuna, whale shark and manta.

With few exceptions, almost all roads on Ko Tao are dirt roads and generally are in poor shape. However, new roads are being paved at a quick rate. 95% of all traffic on the island is motorbike, with mopeds and dirt bikes being the main mode of transport. Mopeds can be rented for around 200 Baht per day. Motor bike accidents are the most common injury on the island. Poor roads, sand, reckless taxi drivers and drunkenness are all a factor. It is generally known that motorbike repairs are a better business than renting motorbikes. Inspect your motorbike completely before driving away.

Ko Tao is serviced by ferry services from Surat Thani (4 to 9 hours) (only night boats), Chumphon (1.5 to 3 hours), Ko Samui (4 hours) and Ko Pha Ngan (2.5 hours). All ferries dock at Ban Mae Haad.

Ko Tao has no airport.