Ko Tao
— — the island the divers built.
Not only on a wall.
“A small island in Thailand's Gulf, twenty-one square kilometres of granite and palm above one of the densest fringing reefs in Southeast Asia. The name translates as Turtle Island. More divers are certified here each year than almost anywhere else on Earth, and the bay at Chalok Baan Kao still empties when the whale sharks pass through.
Ko Tao, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Ko Tao is a small granite island in the Gulf of Thailand, part of Surat Thani Province, measuring about 21 square kilometres. It lies roughly 70 kilometres east of the mainland port at Chumphon and 60 kilometres north of Koh Phangan, reached by catamaran ferry across the gulf. The name translates from Thai as Turtle Island, a reference to the green and hawksbill turtles that historically nested on its beaches. The permanent population is around 2,000, with seasonal staffing of the island's diving and resort economy adding several thousand more.
Ko Tao is the second-most-popular open-water dive certification site in the world after Cairns, with around fifty dive schools operating from its three main bays. The fringing reef supports more than two hundred species of hard and soft coral and is a regular crossing point for whale sharks, which appear most often between March and May and again in September. Sail Rock, an hour by boat to the south, rises from a sandy bottom to within a metre of the surface and is the most-visited single dive site in the gulf.
Access is by catamaran ferry, most commonly the morning service from Chumphon, a passage of around two hours, or the longer route up from Koh Samui via Koh Phangan. The island has no airport. The main pier at Mae Haad sits on the western side, and a single ring road links the three bays of Sairee, Mae Haad, and Chalok Baan Kao. The dry season runs roughly from January to April, with the southwest monsoon settling in from October through December and bringing the gulf's strongest swell.