Stop number three was some islands off the east coast of Thailand. We flew into Koh Samui – known as a party island – and spent one night there before ferrying over to Koh Tau, known for its world-class SCUBA diving. Here are a few of our favorite pics from our most “typical” honeymooning days.
We ate dinner on the white sand beach near our hotel in Koh Samui. We walked past a dozen almost identical seafood and cocktail restaurants until we found one that tickled our fancy.
While we ate dinner – fruity cocktails and seafood dishes served inside a carved out pineapple – the sun set, tide came in all the way to our toes, and fireworks went off behind us. An iconic night.
Next day, we had a very rocky ferry ride to Koh Tau, did a SCUBA review, then got late lunch on the beach.
It was New Year’s Eve. We got dinner with some friends from school also on Koh Tau, then took in a fire poi show over street vendor crepes.
New Year day, the dive shop was closed. We walked 45 minutes to a nice beach to get out snorkeling.
White sand, turquoise water, wooden beach chairs and coral just off-shore. Lovely start to the beach day.
We got lunch at the resort restaurant – delicious food with an ocean view!
We tried to get one more snorkel in before sunset. We decided to walk out the boardwalk to some new coral to take in. I stepped off the boardwalk and onto some mossy rocks. Slip! And I was bleeding in the water.
I got a chance to experience Thai medical service. I had bad road rash on my hip and knee and a small slice on my foot. Cleaned up in 20 and antibiotics – 20 minutes and $20. Nice.
The wounds on the knee and hip were shallow and easy – just stung a lot in the salt water. The foot was a little worse and I was instructed to keep it dry and change the dressing every day for 5-7 days. Instead Patrick got me iodine cleaner, superglue and tape, and I went SCUBA diving AMA. I monitored for infection and cleaned and covered it well after every dive, and even worse, had to avoid alcohol because of the antibiotics!
We took a little boat from the beach to our bigger diving boat (not too big – only a max of 15 divers). This is what we got to look at on the way.
Patrick, working with our guide, to strap up his tanks and prep for the first dive of the day.
In the water – we don’t get many pics of us in the water since we don’t have a waterproof camera. Here’s us at the end of our last dive giving the good old “ok”. Sorry for the finger in the picture – the photographer had never used an iPhone before!
Diving buddies after a great diving trip.
A beautiful view and some hot tea to warm us up on a chilly post-dive boat ride back to harbor.
Glamour shot on the trip back.
When we weren’t diving, we were eating at seaside Thai restaurants, sipping fruit shakes, or lounging here – our bungalow patio. Simple and lovely.
The Koh Samui airport boarding area.
After 4 days, we ferried back to Koh Samui and got to a plane back to Bangkok. I didn’t look at the flight info before we left, and ended up at the airport 4 hours early. If you’re going to spend 4 hours in an airport, make it Koh Samui. Open air gate areas, lounge furniture, and a “customer compliments” section with pastries, coffee/tea/cocoa, juices, sandwiches and more. We read while listening to birds chirp in the tropical flower gardens. Awesome.
Just one more stop – 2 days in Bangkok. That will be coming soon! Plus pictures and stories from our Lunar New Year break. Thanks for reading!!