Ko Samet

I know it's been awhile - but I've been relaxing on the beautiful white, powdery, sandy beaches of Ko Samet. It is a small island about 2 hours south of my home city - Sri Racha. Once I got to Ban Phe, I then took a 45 minute boat ride over to the small island. I must've gotten the last boat over, as it was around 7 pm and they loaded more than I ever thought would be possible onto the boat. It seemed like I was on the 7-Eleven supply boat, and the men were throwing beer bottle boxes down from the top of a truck to men standing and catching them on the boat bottom. Then it also seemed that some lady was moving to the island, because she pulled up after the supply truck was done, and started throwing her boxes to the men. She loaded up furniture, carpets, dogs, grandparents, and even her motorcycle - which they had to pull out a plank for. I got photos of this in my kodak album - which I shared with everyone.

Friends from the program -- Allie and Liz -- took a boat from a different pier, so I met up with them once I got onto the island, around 8:00 pm. They met Duncan, a British boy who was traveling throughout SE Asia.. and he found Naga Bungalows for us... best deal, we think, on the island! Allie, Liz and I shared one bungalow, one king size bed, and shared washrooms for all the bungalow.

In addition to long lazy days on the beach, lots of swimming (the water is very warm), and late nights, we also went scuba diving and kayaking! Because we three were at all different levels of diving, and I hadn't actually been diving since 2004, we had to start with the review course. I must dive within the next 6 months or I'll have to take the review course again... but no worries there. Anyway, we had booked our dive trip with Ploy Diving from an independent agent in the main part of the island, who took a deposit from us. They were to pick us up from Naga at 10 am in the next morning, but never showed. Instead, a guy from Samet Resorts showed up, and we stopped him, asking him if he was there for us. He said, no but that they had diving operations too, and better, and so took us on a nice chartered boat to the other side of the island - Ao Prao - to Ao Prao resorts. There we met Mong and Tum - our diving instructors. Who knows whatever happened to Ploy, but it worked out either way, and they only had us pay the remaining part of the fee (which was significantly less for me because I'm certified). We still don't know why Samet Resorts ever even showed up at Naga and why Ploy didn't, but we got to dive nonetheless and got free boat rides and an included lunch at the 5 star resort of Ao Prao. Because the visibility was not that great, they allowed us to first do the review course in the pool, and then we had lunch, and they took us back to our part of the island. They picked us up the next morning, in hopes of a better tide and visibility, and we went diving to a coral reef close to the shore. The visibility was still only about 3 m, which is not good, and there wasn't too much to see. However, I was just as happy with the fact that I got my review course done and I got to go diving, in whatever circumstances. Next time will be better, and I can go deep diving in better waters. The visibility is out of our control anyway. It was Allie's first time diving - so she was very nervous, but afterwards, she couldn't stop smiling. There are some awesome and famous diving sights down further south, which no doubt I will go visit at a later date.

After 5 days, we left the beautiful island, as the rainy season really started to hit. Allie and I took the ferry back to ban phe, then an open trailer from Ban phe to Rayong and then a public bus back to my city - Sri Racha.

I will definitely be back, as it is a great weekender island. In fact, it is very popular among Bangkokians for weekend trips - a lot of families and couples. So, for anyone coming to visit - we will definitely go back. Next time, I would like to do a hike down to the southern tip of Ko Samet.

Divers

Beautiful Ao Prao Beach

Lunch on Koh Samet