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, 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.
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, 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.
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. Nearly everything sits in the mid-range band, with Bamboo and Freedom the cheap ones.
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.
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, 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 13 Best Beaches in Koh Tao, Ranked
Freedom Beach is the best all-round beach on Koh Tao, Sairee is the one for sunset and nightlife, and Koh Nang Yuan's sandbar is the one for the view. For turtles and reef sharks, Shark Bay. Thirteen beaches and bays, with the gate fees and the easiest way down to each.
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.