Koh Tao retains feel of earlier age

In the Gulf of Thailand's warm blue waters lies Koh Tao, an island of sandy beaches, rocky coastlines and emerald hills - and one of increasingly few places in Thailand where you can still find seclusion, isolation and peace, and see how life was before tourists began visiting.

That said, over the past 25 years tourism has well and truly replaced fishing and coconut plantations as the main industry on this 21sqkm isle. The result is a booming economy for the Koh Tao community but this has come at a price.

Koh Tao looks quite developed in parts. Locals tell me that turtles don't lay their eggs on Koh Tao's longest beach, Sairee. In fact, you're lucky to see a turtle at all at any of Koh Tao's 20-odd dive sites - a shame in a place with a name meaning "Turtle Island".

But this relatively unvisited island can provide the perfect balance of a remote Thai island experience with enough activities and facilities to keep most people happy.

Koh Tao has built a solid reputation as a scuba-diving destination in Thailand. There are enough dive schools to bamboozle anyone arriving on the island.

The western side of the island is the most developed. Sairee beach is lined with bungalow accommodation, restaurants and bars, some pumping with loud music and fire displays of an evening.

But it's easy to find a quiet spot along the beach if you want to enjoy the sunset in peace and it's an island ritual to watch the sun go down over the calm lapping waters and colourful long-tail boats moored at the beach.

Koh Tao is the smallest and least-visited island in the Chumphon Archipelago, which includes the tourist favourite Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, home of the infamous Full Moon parties. It first began attracting visitors in the early 1980s and locals tell me it had a hippie vibe back then - no electricity or telecommunications, and a real escape from the developed world.

And while Koh Tao has moved with the times, some parts of the island, particularly on the eastern side, still retain this feel and attract travellers who really want to cut themselves off from the rest of the world.

Koh Tao can cater for most whims, from a rustic island experience to some tropical luxury. It has a wide variety of accommodation and you can stay in a secluded beach hut that is only accessible by boat, or base yourself among the backpackers in the middle of Sairee village to enjoy the bars and restaurants. You won't struggle to find accommodation with wi-fi and 24-hour electricity. We want the best of both worlds and happen upon a private villa in the quiet outskirts of Sairee village, about a 10-minute walk from the beach. It is a perfect choice for a first visit to Koh Tao.

Chalisa Villa owner Belynda Suva, a Canadian who has lived in Koh Tao for 16 years, is a wonderful host. A dive instructor herself, she recommends day trips and dive schools, books tickets for us and even takes us to her favourite Thai lunch spot. Her input ensures we make the best of our time in Koh Tao.

Our first stop is Roctopus to book our scuba dives. Roctopus is a small, friendly dive school and the crew puts an emphasis on small groups on its dive trips.

Our dives are enjoyable with plenty of marine life - fish, stingrays, moray eels and barracuda among them - and coral. Whale sharks also visit the island from March to May, and from September to October.

If you prefer snorkelling, it's possible to get a local to take you around the island in a long-tail boat to check out the lesser-known and less-accessible snorkelling spots.

Again, we follow Belynda's recommendation and spend the day circumnavigating the island with Roland, who has been diving and snorkelling around Koh Tao for 25 years.

We stop at several snorkelling spots and for lunch in the secluded Hin Wong Bay, and swim with black-tipped reef sharks in Shark Bay, among coral gardens in lagoons and dive down into huge schools of tropical fish. We sail past quaint wooden bungalows peeking out of the lush vegetation and impressive rock formations that loom over us as we pass in our wooden boat.

The day is marred only by the sight of piles of rubbish, mainly plastic bottles, accumulated on the seabed. Given the importance of the underwater world to life on Koh Tao, it seems there should be a greater effort to remove this rubbish if we can't stop it ending up there in the first place.

Just off the north-western tip of Koh Tao lies Koh Nang Yuan, a stunning trio of islands connected by a sandbar. A dive resort monopolises the islands but it's easy to visit for a day trip or a few hours.

Many people get a water taxi from Sairee beach. Never ones to take the easy option, we decide on the more taxing but enjoyable alternative of kayaking the kilometre to get there.

Kayaks can be rented on Sairee beach and we pay 400 baht ($13) for a double kayak for a half-day. We're asked for our passports as a security deposit and, while this seems to be a common practice on Koh Tao, it seems to us very unwise, so the kayak owner agrees to take a 2000 baht deposit instead.

It's an easy and leisurely paddle over to the island, apart from crossing the boat channel where we hurry along to avoid the speed boats.

The snorkelling is beautiful in Nang Yuan and the water is crystal clear.

The sandbar is, unfortunately, covered in deckchairs and umbrellas (150 baht for two chairs and shade) but if you look the other way there's a spectacular view of the lagoons and the tall, vegetation-covered islands.

It's a pleasant way to spend the afternoon, though next time I would go to Nang Yuan early in the morning or in the late afternoon, when the tour boat crowds are not there. Then perhaps it wouldn't feel like we're sharing this piece of paradise with a small city.

Other ways to pass the time on Koh Tao are stand-up paddle- boarding (particularly pleasurable at sunset; 250 baht for an hour) and a massage (usually 300 baht for an hour).

Being a fan of Thai cuisine and knowing that Western food is often a poor choice in Asia, we follow Belynda's recommendations and go to local haunts. For cheap, decent Thai food, Krua Thai and Su Chilli hit the spot for my favourite, papaya salad and sticky rice - a bargain at only 80 baht, with freshly cut coconut juice for 50 baht.

For a more special dining experience, we visit Barracuda and enjoy a seafood platter, which is delicious and ridiculously cheap by Australian standards at 445 baht per person. A bottle of average Italian white wine is less of a bargain at 990 baht.

For a sunset beer or cocktail, we love the relaxed ambience of Fizz and Lotus on Sairee beach, where you can get a Singha beer for the equivalent of less than $2 during the sunset happy hour.

Getting to and from Koh Tao is probably the most arduous task you'll face during a visit to the island.

If time is on your side and you're on a budget, the bus and ferry combination is a good option. It costs 1050 baht and takes about nine hours from Bangkok to Koh Tao.

I fly from Bangkok to Koh Samui with Bangkok Airways - a one-way fare generally costs 3000-4500 baht and takes about an hour. From Koh Samui, we travel on the Seatran ferry to Koh Tao which costs 600 baht and takes two-and-a-half hours.

There's also a ferry from Koh Tao to Surat Thani, from where you can catch a flight to Bangkok with AirAsia.

Whichever way you get there, it's worth the trip to spend time on this tiny island of Thai bliss.