im going to try to write this in under 15 mins
GETTING THERE
BUS AND BOAT - from kohsan road (the cheapest option). book through lompraya agency currently 1100THB
night bus departs at 9 pm arriving at Chumpon pier 6am-ish boat takes 1.5 hours. you're there! total duration 10 hours ishflying - fly from Bangkok airport (either of the two) to a neighbouring island called koh samui then a boat to koh tao 1 hour then you're there
this is the most expensive option as flights bkk - koh samui start at 5,000THB about 160 usdor you could fly from bkk to chumpon then take the boat but dont forget the taxi to bkk airport then the wait in the airport then the flight (and the fear of being in a plane crash) then tf from airport to pier then taking the boat
ACCOMODATION
most people stay sairee beach beach front bungalows start at 1000THB very basic and alot of mosquitoes
cheaper aircon doms can be found for about 250thb a night
DIVING?
with tonnes of diving schools on the island id probably advise bans it is diving the biggest dive school in the world
open water course 8.5k thb
advanced open water 9k thb
fundives 1k per dive (discount if you do your open water there)
SNORKELLING
i went to shark bay and saw 2 turtles amazing has reef sharks too but wasnt in luck that day
here's one
photo by me
WHAT TO DO apart from dive?
drinkingat the beach bars, many have live fire shows every night cheapish drinks and 5-10 of the most popular shit pop songs on loop the whole night
THAIBOXING and BJJ
monsoon fight club has the option of both has a 10thplanet bjj gym and many thai boxing classes running each day
after koh tao you can island hop to koh samui or koh pangnan
to summarize its the most difficult island to get to but great to learn to dive and to chill out