I've been here on the island of Koh Phanang for 4 days. It was a short hop on the ferry from Koh Samui then a walk up the main street of Haad Rin to my pad.

Phanang is a world of difference from Samui. The island is much smaller, less commercial and catering largely for backpackers, rather than families as Samui does. Apparently, the island didn't even have electricity until 1973. They only got it when someone went on a one person crusade to Bangkok to demand it and since then, had a temple built in their honour!

The beaches around the island are beautiful. I've been around to several of them, with golden sands and warm, clear sea - the sunsets are incredible and I have the photos to prove it!

I'd been reliably informed that some of the best dive sites in the world are close to here, so I booked a 2 dive trip to Sail Rock, a famous scuba diving site which is situated between here and Koh Tao. It was an early start as we travelled by van to the North of the island, then met with other divers and sped out at incredible speed on a boat to the outcrop.

My dive leader was a German guy who'd lived here for 10 years or so. The others were either English or Irish. The boat was moored close to Sail Rock, and we dived down to 25 metre depths on each of the 2 dives. There were huge shoals of fish wherever I looked, including Barracuda, Snappers. I also saw Giant Moray Eels, sea snakes and box fish...sadly, no Reef Sharks though - apparently they are seen around there, but maybe the sea was too choppy. Believe me, it was!

It was great to dive again as I haven't done so since I took my PADI course in Sharm. After a quick refresher, it was like driving a car and I was confident in what I was doing.

Koh Phanang is famous for it's beach parties - they take place every night, with the world famous Full Moon Parties once a month. Last night was the Black Moon Party (they don't waste time on commercial opportunities) which went on until sunrise. Every night is party night on the beach at Haad Rin, with flame throwers and acrobatics. Of course, it's also Chinese New Year, so the fireworks were going off as well last night.

Tomorrow I'm off back to Samui for 3 days, before the last leg of my Thailand trip to Phi Phi.

A special mention to Ben and Kim. Congrats on the fantastic news I got when I woke up today!

Bye for now...