Give Sihanoukville three days and spend at least one night offshore. Take the morning ferry to Koh Rong or Koh Rong Samloem and stay over for the glowing plankton after dark. Back on the mainland, take a beach day at Otres, a boat through the mangroves of Ream National Park, and the climb to Wat Leu for the view over the bay. Come between December and March, when the sea is calm.
Sihanoukville is Cambodia's deep-water port, built from 1955 on a peninsula in the Gulf of Thailand. A casino and construction boom has remade the town, so most visitors treat it as a base: for the beaches south of the centre, the Ream mangroves and the ferries out to Koh Rong.
Cambodia's second-largest island has about 43 km of beach on a 61 km coastline, and fast ferries reach it in under an hour. Koh Touch is the busy landing; Long Set and Sok San are quieter.
The quieter sister island. Saracen Bay holds most of the rooms, M'Pai Bay is the fishing village turned backpacker base, and Lazy Beach on the west coast is a 25-minute jungle walk from Saracen.
The long white-sand beach south of town is the mainland's best, split into Otres 1 to the north and Otres 2 beyond. Development has reached the south end, so check what is open before you settle.
Protected since 1993, the park about 18 km from town takes in mangroves, the Prek Toek Sap estuary, reefs and two islands. The river trip toward the sea is the most popular tour and the best chance of seeing wildlife.
The Upper Pagoda sits on the hill above town, about 6 km from the centre, with the widest view in Sihanoukville over the city, the bay and the islands. The park around it makes the climb worthwhile.
The Lower Pagoda is also on a hill, about 3 km from the centre, with a reclining Buddha and a shrine to Lok Yeay Mao, a local deity. It is calmer than Wat Leu.
A white-sand beach northwest of the centre, below the Independence Hotel, which opened in 1963 with interiors designed by Sihanouk himself. It faces west, so it takes the sunset.
A tiered waterfall with a 14-metre drop about 16 km from the centre, and one of the town's main sources of fresh water. Families come to picnic beside it.
The town's central market sells produce, seafood, meat and spices, with clothes and handicrafts in the back aisles. Come early and eat from the stalls: rice noodle soup, grilled meat and coconut sweets.
The small beach below Victory Hill faces west over the port and the islands. Port works have closed part of the sand, but the sunset from the hill above it is still the best free show in town.
The busiest beach, with bars and water sports, and Serendipity at its northern end.
Bamboo Island, about 4.5 km offshore, a former navy outpost now run as a resort island.
Bioluminescent plankton lights the water on moonless nights; watch from a boat or the shore.
Two reefs off Lazy Beach, the left one calmest in the morning and the right in the afternoon.
The island's best snorkelling and diving, off the fishing village at its northern tip.
A lotus-shaped Khmer stupa on Ekareach Street, between downtown and Victory Hill.
Two gilded lions at the junction that points the way to the southern beaches.
The biggest holiday of the year, when families from Phnom Penh fill the beaches.
The Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, marked with candlelit processions at the pagodas.
The ritual that opens the planting season, a national holiday staged in the capital.
The festival of the ancestors, with dawn offerings at Wat Leu, Wat Krom and every pagoda.
The anniversary of King Norodom Sihamoni's coronation in 2004, a public holiday.
Independence from France in 1953, marked at the Independence Monument.
Cambodia's largest festival, centred on the boat races in Phnom Penh.
The coastal tourism festival, held each year in one of the four coastal provinces in turn.
The airport is about 20 to 25 km east of town, with flights to Siem Reap, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. There is no public bus; take a taxi, a tuk-tuk or a ride app.
The expressway, open since October 2022, cut the drive from the capital to about two hours. Giant Ibis and other operators run coaches and minivans.
The southern line runs from Phnom Penh through Kampot to Sihanoukville, about two hours from Kampot. Services are few, so check the timetable.
Fast ferries reach Koh Rong in about 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Timetables change by season, and rough seas cancel boats in the monsoon.
Crab stir-fried with Kampot pepper, the signature dish of this coast.
Fish steamed with coconut cream and kroeung paste in a banana-leaf cup.
Seared cubed beef with a lime, salt and pepper dipping sauce.
Clear pork-broth rice noodles, the standard Cambodian breakfast.
Rice noodles under a green fish curry, with banana flower and herbs.
Grilled pork over broken rice with pickles, eaten early.
The Cambodian baguette, filled with pâté, pork and pickled vegetables.
Sticky rice, beans and coconut roasted in a bamboo tube.
Subscribe to the Wimup newsletter for new guides, travel news and more.
Cambodia
