Koh Tao Day One

Today Levi and I checked into Ban's Dive Resort (photo below - we can't believe it's just $6 a night) , it's located right on the beach of Hat Sae Ri of Koh Tao. In our opinon this is perhaps the most beauitful place we have experienced thus far in life, the sand is blindly white and powdery, the water is clear blue with a sandy bottom about 100 yards. The island juts high into the sky, with tiered bungalows nestled amongst a dense palm forest. The island is small and difficult to get to so it's less crowded and more laid back than other Thailand islands (or so we've heard). Today we walked the beach, relaxed in our modest room, ate an incredible thai dinner for just a couple US dollars, attended a quick divers introduction class, watched the sunset into the horizon and fell into a deep hard sleep while the rest of the island go-ers partied until sunrise.

So far we love almost everything about Koh Tao, but here are a few of our favorites:

Fresh fruit shakes - This is Levi's #1 favorite thing about Koh Tao and Jen likes them as well, Levi typically drinks 3-4 a day in many variations - mango, pineapple, watermelon, etc. It's essentially just blended fresh fruit with ice, but not the kind of fruit you buy at the grocery store, the kind that tastes as if it were freshly plucked from the tree that morning. Race, we think this might be your version of heaven - an island of fresh and plentiful fruit :)

Koh Tao Island Dogs - these are similar to bar dogs, you know when you walk into a pub and there is a resident friendly dog that belongs to someone, should feel out of place but doesn't, sleeps beneath the tables and walks around to get a scratch behind the ear from most patrons, well Koh Tao has their own dogs, except (we think) they belong to no one, there's about 6 of them per 500 yards of the beach and welcome everywhere - in restaurants, in our diving classroom, cuddled on mats on the beach, in stores - you get the point. They so far have been friendly and amusing, especially the one pictured below. This dog spends hours fishing in the surf, he walks around chest deep peering into the clear water, chasing and pouncing on the fish he locates.

Delicious food - each meal we've had so far has been incredible and not just the Thai food - everything from the crepe pancake vendors on the street, to the bags of fresh fruit, to the nightly fresh catch bbqs.

The calm water - our entire stretch of beach is constantly calm, safe, swimable, clear blue and you could easily snorkle 300 yards out without any concern.

So far we've been too exhausted to take many photos but we promise there will be more to come soon. Hope all is well at home, we miss you all.