01 June 2023 , 16:03
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A Brit who swapped the UK for Thailand has turned a real island into a treasure hunt.
In scenes reminiscent of the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, visitors to Ko Tao can explore a beautiful and pristine island community while hunting for hidden booty.
The idea is similar to now popular and widely available escape rooms, which require employees on team building away days and hen party members to solve clues quickly enough to release their key out of there.
Treasure Island Challenge is like that but open hour, lasting six hours and situated on an island that is part of the Chumphon Archipelago on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand.
Andy has set up a fiendish hunt around the island (Treasure Island Challenge)During the day, guests get to solve clues and find the map that will take them across the island, meet friendly locals to help on the quest and stop off at a number of peaceful beaches and coves.
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While the hunt's founder Andy Milne - a retired teacher from Northwich, Cheshire - has been tight-lipped about the exact nature of the clues to avoid spoilers, at least one requires hunters to dive down beneath the sea waves to search for clues among a reef.
Once dried off, participants will be taken to the top of viewpoints to look out across the island and to food vendors selling delicious local delicacies.
Andy Milne found fame at the most recent World Cup (Daily Mirror/Andy Stenning)Andy decided to set up the hunt after years of taking school kids on trips to Thailand, which would typically finish with six days of diving on Ko Tao. Some of his pupils weren't able to take part in the swimming, so the former biology teacher decided to lay on different entertainment for them.
Andy took early retirement in the summer of 2022, so that he could attend the FIFA World Cup in Qatar (finding brief celebrity status along the way) and decided to go full time with the treasure island.
Hunters get to explore Ko Tao island (Treasure Island Challenge)"When you arrive, you get to a pirates den, and then after the introduction, you begin. The start is like a traditional escape room," Andy told The Mirror.
"Customers work out the clues to find their treasure map. Then they will set out in groups of up to 12 for the day.
"They will follow a route through the main town, visit local businesses to find their provisions and transports. The tour takes them to four beaches and view points. They get to snorkel for clues and follow a trail underwater to find a giant sea creature."
The hunt around the island lasts for six hours (Treasure Island Challenge)Down beneath the waves there is a good chance hunters will see black tipped reef sharks and turtles. When racing around the island looking for clues it is easy to catch a glimpse of tree shrews up in the branches.
Getting to the island requires a flight to either Cambodia or Thailand, with the nearest major airport found at Ranong. While they are unlikely to be cheap, the hunt itself costs around £36 per person.