KO TAO 20TH - 29TH JANUARY 2007Ko Tao is a small island, only 21sqkm. It is quieter than many other islands and you get no hassle from people trying to sell you things which is nice. It is very peaceful and the ocean is crystal clear. Ko Tao is growing more popular and you can often hear the sound of a hammer pounding wood as more resorts are built. Diving is the islands major industry because of the particularly good visibility of the surrounding water and plentiful fishy wildlife and coral. It is also the cheapest place in Thailand to get your PADI certification, thus diving is the main reason travellers come to Ko Tao. We arrived on Ko Tao around 11am on the 20th and at the ferry port were greeted with numerous diving touts and taxis. Around the headland of Ko Tao to the north of the pier is the longest, busiest beach which is called 'Hat Sai' and we thought we'd head here and look for accommodation. Hat Sai Ri has a string of dive operations, bungalows, travel agencies, mini-markets, internet cafes and restaurants and its where most travellers choose to stay. Because of this it proved difficult finding a vacant room. On average throughout Thailand we pay 200B-250B per night (3 pounds) on accommodation and as we're on a budget don't like paying over this. The first place we tried were asking 400B which we laughed at and walked away, sure that we would find somewhere more reasonable. Unfortunately the more we looked the more pricey accommodation was getting.. Prices on this island probably averaged at 600B for a basic bungalow, so we swiftly back tracked and booked in at 'Sai Ri Huts' for 400B per night. This was our first eye-opener to the more costly, more touristy and more westernised southern Thai island experience! Eating also seemed more expensive, most restaurants were catering for westerners with a large price tag than what we were use to. I mean it wasn't expensive for a meal in English terms (no-where near) but we are eating out, all meals, everyday, and we didn't want to pay over a pound for a dinner (this may sound cheap-skate but we've been in Asia for a while and it's a shock from the remote places we've been) We did manage to find one cheap local eat with great food for 20B-50B a meal so we ate there every evening bar one whilst on Ko Tao.We stayed on the island for nine days just basically chilling out and taking things slow. The weather was not good at all as we had so much rain and cloud and I was getting increasingly concerned as was only two weeks until my folks arrived for a visit and I really didn't want their holiday to be spoiled with bad weather.We picked one morning without rain and went diving. It was 900B per dive and we opted for two dives (about 23pounds). The water was a bit rough and murkier than hoped but in all we had two good dives.On the 26th it was our one year anniversary together so we went for a gorgeous fish BBQ meal on the beach , it was great, best food we'd had for ages. We went to the supermarket and brought a bottle of Jacobs Creek to take to the restaurant with us but as I haven't drunk for a while, I have become such a lightweight and got, let say, quite tipsy! Two glasses of wine and I was hammered! We stayed at the restaurant for quite a while until I was ready to move on to the bars along the beach front. How pathetic, I need to sort this out!The full moon party on Ko Pha-Ngan was on the 2nd of February so we decided to head there five days before as we knew it would be busy and we wanted a room close-by, so we left Ko Tao on the 29th.