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Cambodia
Beach
Cambodia Beaches
Sihanoukville
Koh Kong Kep
& Kampot.
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and better developed beaches in the
country. This areas is one of the three major
seeside spots in the country, this are others are
The main
6
Sihanoukville beaches
are, starting from the
north west,
Victoria beach, Independence, Hawaii,
Sokha Beach Resort at
Sihanoukville
is
probably the premier beach resort in this area, with a kilometer long
sandy front and very clean. Interestingly this resort looks very
similar to the former Regent Cha Am
south of Bangkok near Hua Hin.
Serendipity &
Ochheuteal
there are all the bars, discos, restaurants, grills and
barbecues plus cheap Sihanoukville guest house and
hotels.
Otres Beach
is a bit east of of the two above and rather
more prostine, there are not many people around,
its the right place to have a quiet day
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without all this beach vendors and massage women
around. At this Cambodia beaches are plenty of hotels,
resorts and guest houses in the area behind,
from budget level to the luxury level. Many
excellent house have a guesthouse classification
but are much better than a normal guesthouse,
that has something to do with the tax system in
country where guesthouses pay less tax than
hotels and some of them pass this to the
clients. This area is fast
becoming a great holiday destination since the
cost performance relation is perfect. The sandy beaches around this harbor town are
getting already a bit busy and overcrowded, if
one prefer to have it more quiet, more green,
with waterfalls, rivers, Ochheuteal is
becoming a little bit like
Patong beach in
Phuket but is much more relaxed and less
commercialized. If you like action with plenty of
nightlife try Phuket nightlife.
are plenty
but at high season filled up quickly since many people
from Phnom Penh come to the south for a couple of days
whenever possible. The road from the capital
to the harbor and beach city is quite good now (2011),
means it's a 3 hour drive, maybe with some stops along
the way. It's somehow similar to Thailand were
many Bankokians drive down the motorway to Hua Hin at
holidays and weekends. Room prices at Hua Hin double at
that times, luckily until now the Cambodians haven't adapt
to this grid driven mentality to such an extend,
more.
Cambodian
beaches are some of the most romantic in the world, why,
because they are pristine and there is nobody. Even at
Sihanoukville the premier beach destination in the
country it is possible to find total seclusion when
traveling the extra mile. Actually it’s not even a mile,
it’s a 5 minutes drive from
Ochheuteal Beach to Otres beach and you are totally off
the tourist radar. The archipelago in front of
Sihanoukville and a great tropical climate provides
pristine white sandy beaches by the dozen, currently the
islands are mainly the destination for some small ships
on a snorkeling and scuba diving tour.
Fringed with
coniferous trees and some palms here and there plus the
warm blue waters of the South China Sea, are somehow a
setting of a paradise on earth foe the sun seeker of
Europe US and elsewhere.
Tourism is
probably the most important part of the Cambodian
economy, even it is on small scale compared to other
ASEAN nations, but its growing continuously. The
majority of tourists are drawn by the monuments of
Angkor Cambodia but there is definitely more in the
country.
The tropical waters, corals and wildlife in the jungle
of southern Cambodia
is real
great, as a matter of fact because of the regime of the
mad Khmer Rouge fast patches of land have not been
touched since long time because of fear to step into a
mine, on the other hand this kept poachers and other
scum away and nature had time to rebuild.
Many guesthouses have hotel level
but run as
guesthouses since the taxation is lower. In general
almost all hotels and guesthouses are quite new which
assures a good standard. There are some smaller
guesthouses at Sihanoukville downtown which are not good
at all, be careful when booking through internet since
it's easy to get a negative surprise. I stayed
here, an
excellent guesthouse with new and modern rooms,
60 channel satellite TV plus internet, barbecue etc. is Sontepheap
Guest House, Tel. 011 762978 / 016 598050.
All rooms are
with attached bathroom, shower etc. prices start at around $
20,- per night. The walk to the seafront is 5 minutes since
hotels and guesthouses are at the roads behind
Ochheuteal Beach Road. Everything needed is
available and more, including
reliable electricity, internet, and western restaurants as well
as a lot of Asian European food foods prepared with the
western travelers tastes in mind including Khmer seafood, Thai,
Vietnamese, French, Italian, German, Russian,
Indian, Sri Lankan and more coming soon.
For beach travel with a a slim budget,
want to have fun in an
exotic country with very friendly and civilized people
who speak also quite some English Cambodia is an ideal
choice, probably the best option in south east Asia for
this parameters is a Cambodia beach.
If you like
a companion its also no big deal to find one, but better
do this in Phnom Penh at one of the bars around
Sisowath Quay
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because there are not many suitable ladies here in
the south of the country, the gay scene is rather
hidden.
Here are great
Cambodia beach pictures
For Backpackers this area is also
an ideal playground, guesthouses, food and drinks are rather
cheap, its even a bit less than in Thailand.
Since there are quite a lot of western owned
business around they function as a good
equalizing instrument for getting cheated to
much.
The
environ of a Cambodia beach is sometimes very basic since most roads are not good at all which is not a good
thing and shows a very unprofessional approach form the
city administration, even the tuk tuk drivers wont go to places
such as Otres which is just behind
Ochheuteal because the road is real bad.
There are
so many poor people there why not giving them
some money and have them cleaned the
stretches of sand, they look gorgeous when
maintained at least a little, for location use the map
at right side. |
Sihanoukville
Beach Map
Cambodia beach
Ochheuteal Beach,
Sihanoukville
Sontepheap Guest House
behind
Ochheuteal Beach
Sihanoukville Hotel Dinner BBQ
at Cambodia beach |
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which are totally non developed and usually only
reachable via dirt roads.
Considering
this a good
Koh Kong Beach
is
at
Paklong which
is close to the road coming in from the border.
Jungle and great river cruises are available the small town
Koh Kong could be a good alternative for
Cambodia beaches around Sihanoukville.
With Kep beaches
it's
more or less the same. Kep is another another
seefront town east of Sihanoukville and more
known because of the
Bokor National Park
which is in the vicinity.
If they would do some more development
at the beaches
there could be a real good
Cambodia beach in the
South China Sea also the hinterland of
Sihanoukville and Koh Kong is very
promising with lush forests, often
bamboo with some exotic wildlife left
since many areas were not accessible
during the Khmer Rouge Regime and after
because of the mines. Visiting the
countries beaches is not such a
memorable trip as a trip to Angkor but
lots could be done.
A very good example is Otres Beach just
behind Ochheuteal. Ochheuteal is the
second best developed beach behind Sokha
Beach but Otres Beach which looks better
than Ochheuteal is in a real mess, not
even a tuk tuk drives there because of
the bad road. Since the countries future
is definitely linked to tourism it’s a
puzzle why they don’t do something,
because that needs relatively low
investment with a real leverage for
after.
Plenty of beautiful places are around
with exotic beauty and serenity which
many tourist are after. Exotic
adventures plus breathtaking scenery op
in the hills is also available at Bokor
National Park especially now (end of
2011) since the road has been greatly
improved although many tourists climb up
through the bamboo jungle.
There are various activities and
adventures,
one of the most interesting is dirt
biking, there are motor bike tours out
of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. Some
water sports are offered at the beaches,
if you have enough of the water go
shopping or have something to eat, beach
food is fresh, its prepared on the grill
in front of you, sit down on a chair in
the sand and enjoy the sunset.
The waters of the
South China Sea, fine
sand and a relaxed athmosphere create a
perfect beach life. With warm tropical
water around the islands further out is
also a ideal place for scuba diving and
snorkeling, such watch the underwater
world teeming with
exotic fishes and
corals, there is lots to do get it
started.
Concerning money,
at a Cambodia beach
dollar cash that's the way to
go, no need to change money the US$ is actually
the primary currency and it needs to take enough
small cash with you, if its necessary there are
plenty of banks for money change, they also do
"Western Union with cash in $".
Several scheduled busses run between Phnom Penh
and Sihanoukville about a dozen time per day for
$ 6,- and the best seafront is just 4 bus hours
away from
Phnom Penh.
Taxis vans, minibuses and regular buses are
available at the city and the beaches. Also for
travel to Phnom Penh and Koh Kong,
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there is also a ship route to the Had Lek
- Klang Yai border.
Some
cruise operators out of
Singapore
placed Sihanoukville on their
itineraries.
The
Islands of Cambodia in the
Gulf of Thailand are
mostly uninhabited; sometimes with fishing villages with fewer than 100 people.
One
island, Koh Tang, has only 7
residents and would take the better part of a
day to hike around, so if you are looking for
that island to play
Robinson, or maybe Tom Hanks in Cast Away it
could be done, but it gets boring after a while.
Popular Sihanoukville beaches are the combination
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are not
very developed yet which is positive and
negative. Don't expect a
similar infrastructure like on popular beaches on famous
islands in neighboring Thailand. The country is just starting to
developed a good infrastructure with hotels of
various comfort level slowly emerge,
more.
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