Cambodia: Koh Rong Island (and Otres Beach)

We had arrived. We walked off the crowded boat, down the pier and flipped off our sandals as we hit land, the warm sand gently falling between our toes. No real roads here, just simple sandy paths. We walked down the main path following several other backpackers, past lines of huge palm trees and small guesthouse after small guesthouse, all with bars that spilled right into the sand with their bamboo furniture and signs reading “Angkor Beer $1”. We walked along the pristine white sand that actually squeaked between our toes as we moved, and the salty waves lapped against the shore next to our feet. As we continued down the beach, the guesthouses and people became more and more sparse. Then we hit a point that looked like the end of the beach, where saw a small trail and a sign for ‘Treehouse Bungalows,’ so we ducked through the trees and followed the path, barefoot, into the woods. A little further down the path and we arrived at our final destination. High up in the trees we saw it: Treehouse #5. The tree house made of bamboo was tall, skinny, and perched inside an old tree right on the ocean, waves crashing underneath. We climbed up the very steep wooden staircase and saw the view from the top; it was stunning. Were we in paradise? I wondered.

Yes, Paradise. In Cambodia? Who knew Cambodia even had beaches?

We’d heard about it through the others. Back in Phnom Penh at our volunteer house as we were eating each day, we kept hearing about the infamous place that seemed out of a dream. We were told that there was an island off the southern coast of Cambodia with amazing white sand beaches and crystal clear water. The best part is that it’s still pretty undiscovered and it maintains that quaint feeling of an island paradise off the grid, which is hard to find. There are no roads (not even any sidewalks).

Our plan coming into Cambodia was to stick around our first weekend in Phnom Penh and explore the city that we would call home for almost a month. We quickly changed our plans. Our first week on the job we got a 3 day weekend since our kids were being checked out by doctors on Friday, thus no school. With all the stories of Koh Rong and a free long weekend, we thought better take advantage… so Thursday night after class we took a bus south. It was a 5 hr bus ride from Phnom Penh to Sihnanoukville. Sihnanoukville is the jumping off point for Koh Rong and other islands. This southern town sits on the mainland of Cambodia and contains some pretty amazing beaches in its own right. From there we could board the ferry to reach Koh Rong island, but we had to wait until morning to go because the ferries are really limited.

When we arrived into Sihnanoukville, it was 11pm and raining HARD. It was some of the hardest rain that I’d ever seen. We covered ourselves and our pack up in rain gear then jumped into a tuk-tuk, but were just getting drenched. Luckily they transferred us to a ‘luxury’ version of a tuk-tuk; it looked like a tuk-tuk’s body, but inside a small pickup truck, so we sat in the back pickup. The great thing was that it was covered and even zipped up on the sides to keep us dry from the buckets of rain pouring down as we drove. We had about a 20 min drive to get to our guesthouse on Otres Beach, southeast of Sihnanoukville. Our driver kept making forward progress despite the fact that it was raining so hard he couldn’t see anything and many of the roads were flooding.  When we arrived it was still raining and was pitch dark. We could not find anyone that worked there. Our driver tried his best to wake up the owners by honking the horn like crazy and shining his headlights on the property. We tried calling them, but nothing. The driver ended up being awesome and we would have been lost without him. We never found anyone who worked there, so we couldn’t check in. Luckily for us we had pre-booked but we didn’t pay in advance. The driver took us down the street and we ended up finding another place across the street from the beach that we stayed in for the night. Needless to say it was quite the adventure to kick off our weekend.

We when awoke in the morning we headed to the beach and went for a long walk to work up an appetite. We loved the fact that Otres beach was relaxing and not busy at all. You could walk for miles and only see a few people lounging on the sand or swimming in the warm waters. After breakfast at a nice spot oceanside, we joined them and relaxed after our late night.

Later that day we embarked upon the ferry to get to Koh Rong island. One of the best parts of the trip was staying in our very own treehouse bungalow. It was spectacular. The scenery and the location could not be beat. All for a price around $45 US dollars (which made it one of the most expensive places on the island). Though expensive for a backpacker, it was a steal for its novelty and location!

We found out that paradise does come at a cost. Marissa and I enjoyed the quirky things of the island and of the treehouse bungalows, which made it more of an adventure. For instance, the treehouse provided minimal coverage from the elements. It was not completely closed off to the environment, rather provided a covered sleeping quarters (with a mosquito net) with 4 sides that went about 4 feet in height. In addition, the bathroom, which was right under the main living quarters, contained a cold-water shower, toilet that you flushed by scooping water from a pail into the toilet, and no sink. In addition, this also provided minimal privacy as the walls went about 4 feet tall. You were truly one with nature. We discovered this when it began pouring rain and storming again our first night on the island. There were all sorts of creatures to be heard too, including a gecko that found my Oreos for his snack (darn gecko!). We heard some people actually had monkeys sneak into their bungalow, which can do some serious damage so we were lucky to miss them! Also, the island only has power via generators, which they shut down between 2 am and 8 am as well as various different times throughout the day. It really wasn’t much of a problem as long as you had a flashlight handy.

The treehouse provided a fantastic balcony that we spent countless hours looking at the beautiful waters below as well as catching up on some reading. We enjoyed the grounds and beach there too which had very few people on it and provided a relaxing hang out spot. One day we decided to go for a walk exploring the island further and walked for nearly an hour encountering nothing but countless sand crabs, and a shaggy dog who followed us, showing the way. What a great way to start your day!

We heard from a friend about a little Thai restaurant that we had to check out called Sigi’s, so we went on our first day on the island. It ended up being an amazing little place! Imagine this. You walk up a little sand alley through the village and reach a covered square bar with a shirtless sweating man cooking up a storm in the middle. There are lots of guests sitting on bar stools surrounding the man sipping Angkor beers and enjoying delicious Thai food. We ended up eating here multiple times and found it to be just amazing fun and really fun! Sigi, while cooking up a storm in the center is chatting with guests – quite a unique place.

Another day we decided to go on a daylong boat trip which including snorkeling, fishing and a visit to Long Beach with a nighttime BBQ and plankton swim. We really enjoyed the day. It was also a bargain at $12 per person for everything and even included a free beer!   First we snorkeled. It wasn’t the best that we had ever done, the Philippines had spoiled us. Then we tried our hand at fishing with an old school reel. We didn’t catch anything but others around us did catch some really small fish that the boat crew grilled up later that evening.

After the fishing, we hit Long beach. We jumped off the boat and swam to shore, and we were greeted with probably the best beach that I’d ever seen. Paradise. For almost as long as the eye could see, just an absolutely perfect white sand beach. One drawback to such an amazing beach is that there are apparently sand flies that will bite you. They are very small and hard to see. You can combat them with coconut oil that they sell everywhere. Once applied it will repel any sand flies. Luck for us we didn’t have any problems but we did apply the stuff liberally. It was nearing sunset with the light fading fast but we loved walking on this beach and going for a swim seeming to have it all to ourselves. The water was warm and we watched the sun fade behind the horizon. We even tried out our camera underwater for the first time and had a blast fooling around like little kids.

After playtime we hit the boat again and enjoyed a pretty awesome Khmer BBQ that the boat crew prepared while we were off swimming. Immediately after eating, the guide said we could jump back in the water and swim with the plankton. It was pretty amazing to see them glowing all around you as you splashed about. Apparently when there is a full moon (as it was this day), the plankton swims aren’t as vibrant as they usually are but we enjoyed the swim anyway.

That night there was a full moon party that we intended on going to, but Mother Nature had other plans and another big a storm hit just as it was about to start. We were exhausted for the day so we decided to stay in the safety of our treehouse and turn in.

We had a relaxing late breakfast and swim in the morning then it was back to the mainland and ultimately back to Phnom Penh to resume our weekly teaching activities. 

Same Same, Different.

We had so much fun in Koh Rong that we actually decided to head back again a few weeks later! That trip was even more relaxing. We actually didn’t do much other than lie on the beach, read and enjoy the cool beachside bars and some beverages.

Koh Rong will go down as one of our favorite places on the trip. We love the quaint island feel of the place. We love the amazing white sand beaches, warm crystal clear ocean waters, palm-lined village and cool little beachside bars and restaurants. We love that it hasn’t been developed yet, and pray that it continues to stay off the radar from the big resorts and companies who will surely destroy the authentic feel of the place. For now, this is as close to paradise as it gets for us!