So You Want to Live on a Small, Tropical Island?
Breaking down the costs so you can turn this dream into reality.
As you may recall from my previous post, I spent three months living on Koh Tao, a small tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand. I was working on my Divemaster Training, hanging out on the beach with friends, and eating my weight in delicious Thai food.
In this edition, I’ll be breaking down the real costs of living on a small island in Thailand, including the cost of getting there and back.
Also as mentioned in my previous post, I came in $880 CAD under budget for my travels in Vietnam and the Philippines. Did I come in under budget again? Keep reading to find out!
Koh Tao
Koh Tao is a beautiful, tiny, tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a world-renowned mecca for diving, boasting beautiful coral reefs and affordable diving prices!
Getting to Koh Tao
On top of my budget allocated for my time on Koh Tao, I have another budget set for time in Thailand spent outside of Koh Tao; this cost breakdown comes from that budget. As always, these are in CAD.
✈Flight to BKK from Hanoi: $131.54
🚅Train from Bangkok to Surat Thani: $38.18
🚢Bus & Ferry from Surat Thani to Koh Tao: $40.77
Taking my first sleeper train was such a cool experience! I boarded late in the evening, curled up in my cozy cot, and let the rocking of the train lull me to sleep. Nine hours later, I woke up in Surat Thani, refreshed and ready for the (very rough, yikes) boat trip to Koh Tao.
I should note—I accidentally took the longer route via Surat Thani. Turns out, going via Chumphon is shorter. But I would’ve had to wake up at 4 AM, so I was grateful for the extra sleep!
…Then reverse it to get off the island! On the way out, I took the ferry to Chumphon and the train south to Malaysia instead of heading back north.
Living on Koh Tao
Originally, I guessed that I would spend 2 months living on Koh Tao working on my Divemaster Training… But I quickly fell in love with the island and its people, and opted to spend an extra month there, doing more diving and making money doing it too! That’s right, your girl got her first job abroad! 🤩
I was on Koh Tao Nov 28, 2024 - Feb 20, 2025, a total of 84 days.
Here is the breakdown of my living costs on Koh Tao during that time (in CAD):
🏨Accommodations: $1,875.00
Still cheaper than 1 month’s rent for my apartment back home 😅
🧗🏽♀️Activities (tours, lookout entry fees, etc): $208.43
🍲Food: $1,548.50
💲Other Living Expenses: $545.65
⛴Other Transportation: $8.30
🛍Shopping: $93.31
💧Water: $16.88
There are a few categories I’d like to expand on:
Food
Much like in Bangkok, I had a bit of sticker price shock at the cost of food on Koh Tao. However, I quickly realized that the authentic Thai restaurants are always serving up cheap eats, whereas the “western” and beachfront restaurants slap a premium on their food. So if you want to stay in a reasonable food budget, find and frequent these inexpensive Thai Restaurants. It’s really easy to wrack-up a high food bill if you’re not careful!
What I didn’t expect was how expensive groceries were compared to eating out. Unlike back home, it was actually cheaper to dine at restaurants than cook for myself. As someone who really dislikes cooking, I wasn’t mad about it.
One meal, however, was always eaten at home: breakfast. Every morning, I made my own cup of (instant) coffee and poured myself a bowl of cornflakes. I cherished the quiet moments on my patio where I would eat/drink my breakfast, mentally prepare for the day ahead, or use this time to talk to friends and family back home as it’s some of the few hours of the day where our waking hours overlap.
Also, brunch places on the island are very expensive, so it was a no-brainer.
Other Living Expenses
This category includes stuff like housewares, laundry, and the many massages I got on the beach (they’re a necessity, ok!!).
One major cost was bank fees. Thailand (annoyingly) still runs on cash, so I had to take out money regularly from an ATM. The maximum I could withdraw at a time was 10,000 THB (~$420 CAD) and each transaction incurred an additional cost of 220 THB (~$9.30 CAD). It’s a necessary evil, I guess, but a big cost for this leg of my trip.
Water
There is some debate online whether the water is safe to drink in Thailand. Some sources say yes, but many of the locals do not drink the water. So I erred on the side of caution and drank purified water. If you’re just passing through, it’s likely you’re buying water bottle after water bottle from 7-11... but that sucks both for your wallet and especially for the environment. Thankfully, there is a great alternative: delivery water! Think those giant Culligan bottles. I had a refillable water bottle delivered to me whenever I needed, and it was sooooo inexpensive. Keep this in mind if you’re ever going to settle down somewhere abroad for a longer period of time. 😁
All About That Scuba
There were additional costs for my Divemaster training and some scuba gear, but I left those out to keep this budget realistic for most readers.
🧜🏼♀️However, if you are as scuba obsessed as I am, HMU and we can chat all about it! 😅
As mentioned above, I spent my last month on the island working. Now when I say I made peanuts 🥜, I’m almost not exaggerating. To make myself feel better about this meagre salary, my mom and I would convert my income to Pad Thais.
“How many Pad Thais did you make today?,” she would ask. “Eight,” I would usually answer.
At least it helped cover some of my extra diving courses!
Did I Stay Under Budget?
I initially budgeted $3,500 for my time on Koh Tao. Excluding scuba-related costs, my time in Koh Tao came out to: $4,296.18.
Therefore, I went $796.18 over budget.
However:
I budgeted for 2 months on the island, and stayed for 3.
I had an $880 cushion from previous budget savings, which covered my extra expenses.
So, all-in-all, I think I did very well with my expenses on Koh Tao! I largely owe this success to keeping my spending in check by going to cheaper food places, and drinking very little alcohol and coffee.
What’s Next?
Next up: Malaysia—a country I never planned to visit! And then… a quick return to Thailand, because I just can’t stay away.
Until next time! 👋🏼