On the last leg of our Cambodia visit, we ventured to the beaches to seek some relaxation. We spent three days between Otres Beach, Sihanoukville and Koh Rong Island. We didn’t go to downtown Sihanoukville and stayed near our hotel.
Otres Beach, Sihanoukville
At Otres Beach, we stayed at Tamu Hotel, which you can read our review here. The hotel was a great experience and one of the best attractions here. Our room was comfortable and the staff was very friendly to us. It also sits right on the beach, where there were plenty of day beds, a ready staff to bring anything you need and masseuses who provide one-hour full body massage for $8. The beach was overall very nice, from its pristine turquoise waters and fine white sand. Tamu Hotel’s stretch of beach was very well maintained, as its staff would comb the beaches and pick up trash every morning.
There were some parts of our experience that could be improved. While the hotel’s stretch of beach was very clean, other stretches were littered with trash and pollution. On the most southern part of Otres beach in particular was almost completely covered with trash and even dead animals. There were even some glass shards in the sand so I advise wearing shoes or sandals when walking up and down the beach.
There are locals that offer long-boat rides to nearby islands for snorkeling and fishing for around $10-12 per person. However, based on our experience, I would probably avoid this activity and look for other things to do in the area. Our boat was very late and disorganized, and when we did get picked up, our boat did not look like it was maintained and much of the snorkeling gear was broken. We were hoping that the island’s reefs would be fun to explore, but instead we saw most of the coral reef was bleached white, signaling that they were dying or had died, and there wasn’t much other marine life. It was a very unfortunate sight to see. We did manage to see a beautiful sunset on our way back, but it was still a disappointing experience.
Koh Rong Island
Next, we set off to Koh Rong Island for a short stay at Sok San Beach Resort. It took a boat ride and a truck ride through the island’s jungles to get to the resort. The hotel is right on the beach and we were able to get a room with a nice ocean view. The resort was almost completely empty, as it was the rainy season and very few people stay there. During the peak seasons, this resort can be very busy. Sure enough, it was scattered thunderstorms passed by the island dropping heavy amounts of rain.
The beaches here were very clean and pristine. The waters were nice, warm and very calm. It was also very shallow, so shallow that you could go at least 25 feet into the water without being waist deep. We wanted to go kayaking and snorkeling, but there were somehow not enough kayaks, despite being very few people on the island. So we spent much of our time just swimming and relaxing in the water, walking up and down the beach, and catching crabs. We wanted to lounge in the day beds, but sand flies ruthlessly attacked us despite putting on bug spray. At night, we met some locals who were fishing for squid for a night time treat.
Obviously, three days is not enough time to explore and give a comprehensive description on these location. There are many parts we did not explore and many activities we didn’t do, but it’s a glimpse what these places have to offer. Hopefully, we’ll be back to explore these areas a bit more and give an update in the future.
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