Snorkeling on Koh Tao,

Koh Tao offers some spectacular snorkeling sites very close to the island. You don’t even need to take a boat to enjoy snorkeling though some of the best sites for snorkeling only can be reached by boat.

Rent mask, snorkel and fins in any of the many shops around Koh Tao for about 100-150 Baht for a set per person and swim out from any point and you will have a great snorkeling experience. Areas that we highly recommend is off Ban’s Diving on Sairee beach (be careful when swimming out, the tide is sometimes a bit low and it’s easy to cut yourself). Best is to swim out in the little channel just 50 meters to the left of the resort.

Other areas are outside Big Blue Diving further north of Sairee Beach. The most popular beach to snorkel off is Rocky Bay. Swim out some 150-200 meters preferably late afternoon and you have a pretty good chance of seing Blacktip reef sharks. Last time we went out we saw 5 or more sharks – some only 5 meters away from us!

To reach beautiful snorkeling spots such as Mango Bay, Koh Nangyuan, Aow Leuk and Hin Wong, you can rent a taxi boat from pretty much anywhere on Sairee Beach for about 1000 Baht/day.