We started on the east coast on the Islands of Ko Samui and Ko Tao where we spent hours snorkelling amongst hundreds of brightly coloured fish. Rupert thought about paying for a scuba-dive where the high point is seeing a shark, but after he met 12 black-tipped sharks whilst snorkelling in the bay, he was happy to save his money.
"SHARKS" I had visions of 'jaws' circling about in the bay where I'd just been swimming, and 12 of them! Oh Oh The next time I snorkelled I was nervous, the fish were beautiful and the coral formations amazing but I didn't even wan't to touch a fish let alone swim with a shark.
In the end, whilst snorkelling with Rupert, I did see a shark, actually 6 sharks. All thoughts of man eating monstors disappeared, they we're only 1.5 metres long and really quite cute. Actually, if you think about it, we we're the monstors and not them as the next day we ate one of their relations for dinner! (a sad ending but he did taste good)
Then we moved on to the west coast to Ko Pee Pee. Ko Pee Pee is like the Jesolo of Italy or the Blackpool of Britain. The beach is full, the bars are full and everyone's having a good time. After quiet Ko Tao it was a shock but we soon recovered and hired a long-tail boat to tour us around the island (to all the best snorkel spots). This time we didn't encounter sharks but thousands of different fish, it was like swimming in a huge tropical aquarium, Unbelievable!
With only a few days left we moved on to Ao Nang and lazed about on the beaches. One beach was secluded, quiet and seemed perfect. Until a group of nudists appeared. Being typically British, I was shocked. It's not that I've got anything against nudity itself, it can be beautiful. But when a group of 50 year olds are playing about like children, digging holes in the sand with their bums in the air and their 'bits' dangling about, it does put you off your dinner. But I feel at home now, in Britishly pudish New Zealand.
