Tourism Indochina: Welcome to Koh Rong

Tourism Indochina: Welcome to Koh Rong

Koh Rong is an Island off the coast of Sihanoukville.

Sihanoukville (Krong Preah Seihanu), formerly Kompong Som and familiarly just Snookyville or even Snooky is a seaside town featuring Cambodia's best-known beaches.

In a land with thousands of years of history, Sihanoukville is a colourful but tragic upstart. A mere fifty years ago, a French-Cambodian construction carved a camp out of the jungle and started building the first deep-sea port of a newly independent Cambodia. Named Sihanoukville in 1964 after the ruling prince of Cambodia, the booming port and its golden beaches soon drew Cambodia's jetsetting elite, spawning the first Angkor Beer brewery and the modernist seven-story Independence Hotel which, claim locals, even played host to Jacqueline Kennedy on her whirlwind tour of Cambodia in 1967.

Alas, the party came to an abrupt end in 1970 when Sihanouk was deposed in a coup and Cambodia descended into civil war. The town – renamed Kompong Som – soon fell on hard times: the victorious Khmer Rouge used the Independence Hotel for target practice and, when they made the mistake of hijacking an American container ship, the port was bombed by the U.S. Air Force. Even after Pol Pot's regime was driven from power, the bumpy highway to the capital was long notorious for banditry and the beaches stayed empty.

Peace returned in 1993 following the historic elections organized by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia ( UNTAC) and in the ensuing ten years Sihanoukville has been busy picking up the pieces. First visited only by a few intrepid backpackers, guidebooks still talk of walls pockmarked by bullets, but any signs of war are hard to spot in today's Sihanoukville, whose new symbol seems to be the construction site. After 30 years of housing only ghosts, the Independence Hotel is up and running again, more and more Khmers and expats have settled down to run bars and restaurants, and the knowledge of what the New York Times dubbed "Asia's next trendsetting beach" is starting to spread.

Since Snooky is a relatively new city (1950) and did grow along with the steady growth of the tourists, all the negative elements came along. It is not safe (even for men) to walk alone on the beach after 9pm, there are plenty of glue sniffing kids and a lot of Java (Methamphetamine) smoking girls and boys and probably the worst Tuk Tuk Mafia (all with price agreements. But the worst are the relatively old Foreigners spending a lot of time there during the cold winter months together with an 40 or even younger girl, but not talking to her at all. And of course these guys they start drinking beer at 9am and don't stop unil 10pm........ Your best bet for a relaxing holiday is OTRES beach to the east or then to one of these guest houses on the Islands. Then you can still enjoy it.

Come back to talk about Koh Rong...

Koh Rong can be reached by a ferry ride from Sihanoukville. The ferry itself is pretty basic and there are no proper seats on any of the ferries. There are benches on either side of the ferry, leaving the middle portion to be used for luggage, though some enterprising travellers use the area to stretch out and catch a quick snooze. Make sure you carry a hat and sunglasses for the ride, and use sunscreen if required. The ferries usually leave in the morning to the island from Sihanoukville, and do a return trip in the afternoon, so it will be sunny. As of now, water is not sold on the ferry and neither are snacks or other drinks. It may be a good idea to carry some with you, especially if you are travelling with children. There is a small toilet on board the ferry which seems to be clean and in decent working condition.

To board and disembark from the ferry you will need to walk on an average sized plank of wood connecting the pier to the ferry. The process is not very efficient and can be a little scary the first time you try it, so bear this in mind if you have any foot injuries, have special needs etc.

Currently, ferries run to two opposite sides of the island.

1) The Dive Shop and Monkey Island ferries leave Sihanoukville at around 12 pm or so and reach the island in the afternoon. There is also a return ferry running at 10 am from the island to Sihanoukville as of February 2012. This ferry will not take you to Sok-San bungalows, which is on the other side of the island.

2) Similarly, Sok-San bungalows run a ferry service which leaves Sihanoukville at 9 am or so, but this ferry will not take you to the side of the island where Monkey Island bungalows, Treehouse bungalows, Paradise bungalows, Pura Vida, etc. are situated.

Make sure that you are absolutely certain that the ferry you are booked to take will drop you off at your destination. There have been instances of resort owners refusing to let guests take boats to the other side of the island (Sok-San to Monkey Island etc.), and insisting that you stay on their beach.

All services cost $15 return (lately, most of the bigger boats started charging 20$ with return). However, if you find that you have ended up at a different place from where you landed on the island, you can still catch a ride on any of the return ferries if they have room. You will be charged $10 for a single trip from the island to Sihanoukville.

Also note that all ferry tickets include a ride to and from the main town area in Sihanoukville, so you should not have to pay extra for the same.

There are no roads on the island yet so the only way to get around is on foot. The walking man of Koh Rong (an Israeli guy called Gil) has marked trails that lead from the beach closest to Monkey Island and Paradise Bungalows to other beaches but most of the island is still thick jungle. Gil knows the hidden trails of the island very well and offers trecking tours from 1 to 4 days (cost ca. 10 USD per day per person and is wortj every dollar). The only other option is to hire a local fishing boat to take you around the Island.

With 23 white sand beaches to choose from Koh Rong has plenty to see and do. For the adventurous there's plenty of trekking to be done through the relatively untouched jungle. Diving and snorkelling is excellent both off the beach and at sites nearby. But above all the best attraction is the phosphorescent water which sparkles when disturbed like twinkling stars. Best seen in around 4 feet of water and on a dark part of the beach. Because Koh Rong has minimal development and light pollution the conditions are perfect for the phosphorescent plankton and it can be seen every single night.

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