Top Lists
Curated lists of the best hotels, restaurants, temples, beaches, and nightlife across Thailand.
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Best Diving in Koh Tao
Koh Tao's top dive schools and centers — the world's most affordable place to get certified, ranked by real diver ratings across Sairee, Mae Haad and Chalok.
The 10 Best Activities & Tours in Koh Tao, Ranked
This is a dive school list, plain and simple, with seven scuba operators and a heavy cluster along Sairee Beach, broken up only by two viewpoint hikes and one general tour outfit. Big Blue Diving School takes the top spot on sheer weight of reviews, more than any other name here. Ranked by Google rating, with review volume settling the ties.
The 10 Best Beaches in Koh Tao, Ranked
This lot leans heavily east coast, with quiet snorkeling bays like Tanote, Haad Sai Daeng and Ao Hin Wong doing most of the work, plus a couple of walk-in coves on the south side. Ao Leuk takes top spot on sheer weight of reviews, though Sairee is the one for anyone who wants a bar and a sunset rather than solitude. Ranked by Google rating, with review numbers breaking the ties.
The 10 Best Hotels in Koh Tao, Ranked
Diving runs through this whole list, with four of the ten doubling as dive schools and nearly all the rest sitting on or steps from a beach. Assava takes the top spot on both counts, pulling more reviews than any other place here while training divers on site. The rest spread out across Sairee, Sai Daeng and Tanote, and there's one hostel in the mix if you'd rather keep costs down. Ranked by Google rating, with review volume breaking ties.
The 10 Best Nightlife Spots in Koh Tao, Ranked
Beach bars run this list, five of them right on the sand, with a rooftop, a cabaret and a burgers-and-live-music sports bar breaking up the run of sunset drinking. Fishbowl Beach Bar is the one I'd name first, purely on the sheer weight of reviews behind it. Nearly everything sits in the mid-range band, with Bamboo and Freedom the cheap ones, and it's ordered by Google rating with review numbers settling ties.
The 10 Best Restaurants in Koh Tao, Ranked
It's a mid-range crowd here, mostly all-day cafés and brunch spots with a few cheap Thai kitchens holding their own, and only one place actually on the sand at Sairee. I'd point you at 995 Roasted Duck, a budget dinner-only spot that pulls in more reviews than most of the pricier names above it. Ranked by Google rating, with review volume breaking the ties.
The 10 Best Spas & Wellness Spots in Koh Tao, Ranked
This is a massage list more than a spa list, with walk-in studios filling most of the ranking and just one yoga center and one health club breaking the pattern. Infinity Koh Tao tops it on sheer weight of reviews, though the yoga center is the one I'd book ahead. A couple sit in Mae Haad, and most stay open late for post-dive aches.
The 6 Best Markets in Koh Tao, Ranked
Koh Tao has no scheduled night market, just evening food stalls in Mae Haad and along the road to Sairee, so this list is the island's markets and stores for anyone self-catering. Pen Wholesale Supermarket in Mae Haad is the big one and cheaper than the convenience stores, with Pod Fresh Mart and the fruit market close by for fresh produce.