Wow Thailand is crazy - I think that it has hit us harder this time around (our 4th time here!) as we have so many other places directly to compare it to… On the downside, the Thai islands really are built for tourists and every other person is English. So we planned 10 days on the Thai islands just to chill before we finish off the rest of South-East Asia. Dave also planned to do his diving course in Koh Tao, which is basically built around diving.

We flew into Koh Samui from Penang, which was a bit of a luxury compared to getting a train or bus up north. However we got some cheap-ish flights and to get a visa longer than 15 days you have to fly into the country. As soon as we arrived at Koh Samui airport, you get a resort-like feel to the place - the whole airport is outdoors, built in a traditional Thai format and surprisingly open plan for an airport. We just had one night in Koh Samui as it's so developed…and expensive! It was still nice to relax in our very swanky hotel room and adjacent swimming pool - the luxury was noted after plenty of basic rooms over the past weeks.

The next day we booked a boat to Koh Tao and were welcomed by a very friendly Jacko from Roctopus, the dive centre Dave had booked a course with. He gave us a tour of the island, on a motorbike with a sidecart for our luggage and then dropped us off at the dive centre to get us set up for our diving. Our accommodation, which was included in Dave's diving course, was in a great location - right by the beach. Koh Tao is a really awesome place - not too developed yet from tourism, and truly peaceful. There weren't many people there when we were there which helped with the chilled feel. When not diving, we enjoyed relaxing on the beach, having drinks on the beach to watch the sunset and I had the most amazing massage… The hours just flew by.

Dave's dive course was pretty intense, crammed into just under 3 days. This meant plenty of early starts and late finishes but he liked it that way… There was only one other person on his course so they picked up the skills really quickly and even managed to do an extra dive as part of the course - 5 in total. I did 2 dives on one day - it was a change for me having to set up my kit on a rocky boat but I got the hang of it and really enjoyed my dives. The dive guide was awesome too, which helped! I saw crocodile fish, file fish, sea cucumber and sea snakes as well as doing a swim through inside some rock, which I had never done before and, was cool. And Dave saw goby shrimp, a blue-spotted stingray, moray eels, trigger fish and groupers. The dive centre also let me join Dave's last 2 dives as part of his course - it was so good getting to do the dives with Dave and spot things together under the water. We saw another moray eel, blue-spotted stingray, barracuda and dancing shrimp - and we also got to do another swim through! All good fun…

On the last day of Dave's course, Roctopus made a video of us doing the last 2 dives and we met at a bar in the evening to watch it together. The video was so funny - showing us do stupid stuff under water like taking our masks off to wear sunglasses, playing human volleyball and doing flips. It was a great end to our time with Roctopus and we enjoyed a good, few drinks with the guys. We then headed to another beach bar and partied the night away, drinking one too many buckets!

After 5 days on Koh Tao, we took a boat to Koh Phanagn where we had both been before and were looking forward to returning to. Our first few days were spent in a resort near to Thong Sala, the local village on the island. There wasn't much to do apart from relax by the beach, swing on hammocks, have a Chang by the beach bar and generally chill out. It was so good to recharge the batteries and generally do nothing! And then there was the half moon party… We weren't sure whether to go, worried it would be full of 'brits abroad' but our resort organized a pre-party at the beach bar and were also sorting out taxis. So we kind of found ourselves there, covered in body paint which the resort had also provided. To our surprise, we had an awesome night out - the venue is set in the jungle and purpose built for the parties and we had loads of fun!

After a few days of chill time, we decided to move closer to the action and went to Haad Rin, where the full moon parties are held. Unfortunately the dates of our stay didn't coincide with a full moon party. However we enjoyed chilling on the beach and one night, a couple of drinks turned into a very late night partying on the beach. This place is set up for parties and one bar had organized an amazing fire show, followed by a random balloon game, arm wrestling and then fire limbo. It was crazy seeing all the locals selling buckets on the beach and also betting drunk tourists to games of Connect 4 (they NEVER lose!)

It was great to experience the Thai islands again and throw ourselves into the backpacker lifestyle of drinking buckets, followed by just chilling in the day. However after a few days of it, we're now looking forward to experiencing new places and absorbing some more culture.