First of all, let me tell you how ready I am for a tropical vacation. I have never been ANYWHERE tropical. Not Cabo for Spring Break, or Hawaii on a family vacation. Nowhere. The sunniest place I have ever been is San Diego, California, and I was around 6 years old at the time so my memory of it is virtually non-existent. The entire reason I decided to start my trip in Thailand was to visit the islands. I know I sound super basic right now, but I just want to sip a fruity, rum drink out of a damn coconut while lounging in a hammock next to the ocean. Does that make me a tourist? I hope not.
Ko Tao, means Turtle Island, which is adorable, but sadly not the reason for my visit. Apparently, this island is the second best place in the world to get scuba certified. Since I was a lazy college student with commitment issues when it came to going to class, I forwent taking scuba my senior year which I am now regretting. Scuba certification is expensive! I had originally planned to take lessons prior to leaving, but 1. it’s going to be winter in Seattle from now until I leave and 2. my intuition says that the certification just might be cheaper in Thailand than it is in America. If not, at least the currency exchange will be in my favor and I will get a slight discount by completing it upon arrival. I knew absolutely nothing else about Ko Tao when I added it to my itinerary, so I decided to see what I was signing myself up for. After reading a bunch of blog posts warning me that it is a chaotic, overcrowded stop along the backpacker trail (rated Asia’s Number 1 Island on TripAdvisor two years in a row), I knew that diving would be the highlight of my stay. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am a bit of an introvert. Big crowds, not my thing. Loud parties, raves, EDM music…no thanks. You will not find me at any of the Full Moon Parties, unless I am sitting in the corner silently judging everyone for the sole purpose of writing a post about it. I am more of a find an empty beach, lay out and read a book for the entire day kinda gal. Why do people feel the need to interrupt my serenity?
However, over the last year tourist numbers have seen a dip due to the murder of two white, middle-class backpackers on the island this time last year. As usual, the media blew the entire situation out of proportion and scared people off. I say, good riddance (about the media, not the murders). More rum for me.
