Koh Tao in Thailand, a well-known and beautiful island! It is a popular destination and for good reason. Besides the beautiful divingspots and being able to get your PADI at a low price, you will find cool viewpoints, beautiful beaches and delicious food. Besides, it owes its popularity to its fine location as it fits into many different travel itineraries. Are you also going to Koh Tao? Then read all about the best beaches, viewpoints, where to eat and where to stay on Koh Tao here.
General information on Thailand
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Sightseeing Koh Tao
How to get to the island of Koh Tao in Thailand
Tours on Koh Tao, Thailand
Accommodation on Koh Tao, Thailand
Is Koh Tao safe?
Things to do on Koh Tao, Thailand
1. Go beach hopping and discover Koh Tao's most beautiful beaches
2. Go diving on Koh Tao
3. Opt for a snorkelling tour or go snorkelling yourself!
4. Visit Koh Nang Yuan
5. Go to the John Suwan viewpoint
6. Enjoy a beautiful sunset
The best restaurants on Koh Tao, Thailand
Map sights Koh Tao
How to get to the island of Koh Tao
You can reach Koh Tao only by boat but with more than 20 million tourists annually, transport to Koh Tao is incredibly well organised.
Boat / Ferries: The islands in the Gulf of Thailand are well connected and boats leave daily from the mainland (Chumphon) and the other islands such as Koh Phangan and Koh Samui to Koh Tao. The boats are comfortable, cheap and fast. We always check departure times and prices of the boats at our hotel and with some local transport companies. This gives you a good overview and ensures you don't overpay. This can sometimes save you dozens of euros!
| Route | Travel time | Price* |
|---|---|---|
| Bangkok to Koh Tao** | 11 hours and 45 min | €34.50 (1250 bath) |
| Chumphon to Koh Tao | 1 h & 45 min | €20.50 (750 bath) |
| Koh Phangan to Koh Tao | 1 hour | €16.50 (600 bath) |
| Koh Samui to Koh Tao | 1.5 hours | €19.25 (700 bath) |
**If you want to go directly to Koh Tao from Bangkok, we recommend buying a combination ticket from Lompreyah. You will then first take a night bus and according to it you take the Ferry to Koh Tao.
Tip: Are you travelling from Bangkok? Then head to Khao San Road. Here you will find Lomprayah's ticket office. This is a well-known organisation that we have travelled with several times.
Tours on Koh Tao, Thailand
Koh Tao is perfect for exploring by motorbike or scooter. Arranging your own transport gives you complete freedom to visit the places below. It's best to arrange this at the port, at one of the various rental companies or at your accommodation.
The island is small and not all roads are unsuitable for scooters. So you can also choose to rent a scooter for just a few days.
Tip: Many of the rental locations have bad reviews from people who say they were ripped off for damages they had not incurred. Always check Tripadvisor or Google reviews first. Additionally, take photos of the scooter when you rent it to show any existing damage. In addition, we recommend that you never give your passport as a deposit.
We booked our scooter through the hotel. This also gave us more security because the hotel is then the contact person. If your hotel cannot arrange it, have a look at Buddha Scooter Hire. It is more expensive (about €8 (THB 300) per day), but then you have insurance.
Accommodation on Koh Tao, Thailand
We recommend staying 3 nights/4 days on the island. If you want to get your PADI, we recommend staying a bit longer.
During our stay on Koh Tao, we stayed at the Matina Mountain resort. An incredibly nice hotel with huge rooms and the quality/price ratio is top compared to other options in the same price range! You are a bit further from the main road so we do recommend renting a scooter.
Double room from €25
Is Koh Tao safe?
Let's start with the fact that we loved Koh Tao. However, there have been some unpleasant events in recent years, including the murder of several backpackers, leading some to refer to it as ”Death Island”. Moreover, the island is known for corruption.
Now this also all sounds and is quite dramatic but we still recommend you visit the island. Just be wary. We are not party people but if you are make sure you don't accept drinks from strangers, avoid drugs and don't drink too much. Sounds logical to many but there are those who let themselves go just a little too much.
We found Koh Toa to be a safe island with a typical backpackers atmosphere, as long as you use your common sense. We did not feel ‘unsafe’ for a single moment.
Read also: All about Thai SIM cards, calling and internet when travelling
Read also: Thailand | How long is it to fly to Thailand?
Things to do on Koh Tao, Thailand
Koh Tao is often combined with the islands of Koh Samui and koh Phangan. Despite being similar to the other islands in terms of landscape, Koh Tao has unique sights. Below, we share the best with you.
Check out the map at the bottom of this blog so you can create your ideal day layout!
1. Go beach hopping and discover the most beautiful beaches
One of our favourite things to do on Koh Tao is of course enjoying the incredible beaches! The island has some really beautiful beaches, read our blog about the best beaches on Koh Tao.
Can't sit still for long either? Recognisable! Then check out these three cool games that you can easily take anywhere!
As you've probably already realised, we love card games. It is by far the easiest to carry around & therefore perfect while travelling. Because let's face it, unfolding a whole board is not ideal & searching for dice is not very conducive to the atmosphere either.
2. Go diving on Koh Tao
Koh Tao is a very popular place to dive. Not surprisingly, many people get their PADI here. If you walk along the main strip on the island, you will see many different dive shops. In addition, you can also book a dive resort in advance. However, we recommend you stop by the Dutch diving school Impian Divers to go. We had a good talk here and will get our PADI here next time!
3. Opt for a snorkelling tour or go snorkelling yourself!
If diving is not for you or you just love snorkelling, this is the place to be! There are many places where you can snorkel directly from the beach, but we also recommend booking a snorkelling tour. We booked our tour with SangThong Tour. It's a big ship but they really take their time at each spot, snorkelling along and have a good lunch. They also go past the best snorkelling spots, such as Shark Bay (with reef sharks) and visit Koh Nang Yuan.
See all organised trips on Koa Tao
4. Visit Koh Nang Yuan
A trip to Koh Tao is not complete without a visit to Koh Nang Yuan. This paradise beach is definitely worth a visit despite the many tourists. You can do fantastic snorkelling there and it has an iconic viewpoint. As we mentioned above, SangThong Tour will take you there.
We only visited Koh Nang Yuan on the snorkelling tour. Although the island is incredibly beautiful, it gets pretty crowded. With the SangThong Tour, you get about an hour and a half, which was perfect for us. If you want to stay longer, you can also go there yourself by renting a boat or kayak.
5. Head to the John Suwan viewpoint
This is one of our favourite viewpoints, and definitely something not to be missed. We recommend going just after sunrise (this is when we went) or before sunset.
6. Enjoy a beautiful sunset
Our favourite place to watch the sunset was Sairee beach. This is the most popular beach on Koh Tao, with lots of happy-hour bars. However, it is also immediately the longest beach - so you will definitely be able to find a spot for yourself there. Sairee beach is on the right side of the island.
The best restaurants on Koh Tao, Thailand
When you're on the road, you need to eat well! Luckily, there is plenty of choice. From authentic Thai restaurants to trendy vegan restaurants, Koh Tao has something for everyone. Some of our favourite places to eat were:
Dee Dee Thai Food: Absolutely our favourite. We went to eat here a lot! The people are incredibly friendly and the food is top notch! We recommend ordering a complete (long ear fish) here.
The Factory Cafe: Our second favourite. We've sat here several times as well and immediately wrote a couple of blogs for you. The Factory Cafe is completely vegetarian / vegan and the food and coffee are very good!
Ying Yang: This restaurant is very popular and often has queues, and rightly so! Their Thai food is seriously incredible.
Mama Tam (mums): In our opinion, this restaurant is just as good as Ying Yang. Here too, they have delicious Thai food.
Fruit Salad: You'll find this little joint at the junction near the restaurants The brother. We used to get a fruit shake here every day. Absolutely recommended and the lady is incredibly nice.
The Brother: Just in the mood for a good burger and fries? Then stop by The Brother. Here they have lots of western food and they are close to the ‘strip’. Can you go straight to the happy hour bars!
Map sights Koh Tao
We hope this blog helps you plan your trip to Koh Tao! Planning a round trip? Then check out our other Thailand blogs. Did you like our blog? Then don't forget to pin it for later!
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