Picture: "View Rock" resort perched on the side of a steep slope on Koh Tao.

The name "Koh Tao" intrigues me because I have a son called Tao, a name I gave him because I liked it. According to the literature, Koh Tao is fantastic for snorkeling and diving because underwater visibility is very good. Ever since we arrived at Koh Samui, Koh Tao has been on our list of our places to visit.

Koh Tao is only a small island but has many anchorages and is crawling with tourists. We anchored at "Ao Hin Wong" bay because it seemed protected from the southwesterly winds. There are two resorts on shore, "Hin Wong" and "View Rock". The first day we tried to tie our dinghy to "Hin Wong's" landing, which was just a boulder, but there were so many tourists that we quickly got out of there and went over to "View Rock" instead. It was a better choice because the dining area had a magnificent view of the bay and the owner, Ting and his staff are very friendly.

Large boulders lined the edge of the water beneath the hills like trimmings on a full skirt, which makes the bay exceptionally attractive. A rocky headland and an area enclosed with a net for snorkeling and diving was just a short distant from where we were anchored. Sometimes there would be as many as eight dive boats and two or three tour boats there. Since we have a choice, we tried not to compete with the human traffic in the water so we did our snorkeling before or after "tourist hours". There were also more rocky areas next to the resorts for swimming and snorkeling. The water was crystal clear. Colorful coral and tropical fish were in abundance. The bay was not as large as some of the ones we visited but it was well used, one could almost call it a cove rather than a bay. Besides tour/dive boats zipping in and out of the area, there were three small yachts that appeared to be anchored indefinitely. It is also a place for fishing boats to shelter. Fishing boats usually tie up alongside each other (called "rafting" up to each other) rather than anchoring independently. One fishing boat would put down its anchor, using a rope not chain, and then seven to nine fishing boats would raft up to it. These boats are used mainly for pulling large nets and about 60 feet long (19 meters) by about 20 feet wide (6 meters) with two to three decks, weighing about 50 ton. One night we had a 40-knot wind and eight fishing boats tied together dragged their single anchor and charged across the bay at great speed passing close to "Shuang Yu". Ted woke up at the first sign of high wind and called me. Nobody seemed to be awake onboard any of the fishing boats. Just as they were about to hit the rocks, someone finally woke up and lights started to come on. In seconds they were all lit up like Christmas trees and powerful diesel motors roared into action. Above the engine noise, people were yelling and shouting. Soon, they separated in smaller groups and three, still rafted together came towards us. Ted stood on deck with all our lights on and waved our spotlight the let them know we were there. At the last minute they saw us in their panic and passed close on our starboard side. The wind continued blowing hard and howling most of the night. Thank heavens that our anchor held - we had 200 feet (about 61 meters) of chain out which helped hold us.

The next morning after the exciting windy night, Ted and I hiked up past the "View Rock" café and resort to the road leading to the main town. It was a narrow paved road with much traffic; motorcycles, four-wheel drive pickups and four-wheelers. The road cut across to the summit of the island and then came straight down to the other side. The hike took more than an hour and we dropped into a bustling touristy town. The children's song "The Bear Went Over the Mountain to see what he could see..." seemed to come to mind. We saw construction sites in number of places. One appeared to be a fancy diving resort. It is amazing how the tourism industry has swallowed a perfectly quiet little island and transformed it into an insanely busy place. After passing all the bars and souvenir shops, we found the beach. It was pretty but it was on the windward side of the island without much protection. We were satisfied with what we saw and hired a taxi back because it looked like a windstorm was forming and we did not want an experience like last night.

We met a young man named Alex, who was from England and had been living on Koh Tao for four months. He is an IT (information technology) guy and instantly Ted and he bonded and were deep in the kind of conversation that makes my mind drift off to somewhere else. We also met a couple, John and Shelly, from Colorado who had rented a Sunsail Charter boat for a week. Although they do not own a yacht, sailing is one of their favorite hobbies. They have chartered yachts all over the world; Croatia, the Caribbean, Greece and so on. They had lost their dinghy on the way from Koh Samui to Koh Tao. It was trailing behind their yacht when some bolts came off where the painter (rope) attaches to the dinghy. We offered them a ride to shore and they invited us aboard for drinks and snacks. They are chefs teaching at Johnson and Wales University, College of Culinary Arts in Colorado. Shelly has a chair and John is a regular professor (called a "lecturer" in non-US countries). We had never met professional chefs before; it was pleasurable to hear about their culinary life and activities.

Ted and I used to have an active social life when we lived in Alaska, so we miss the interaction with people especially when we are cruising alone and not with a rally. We treasured a sense of community there in Ao Hin Wong bay in Koh Tao. It was a memorable week.