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Eddmo
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Hi,
Are going to Cambodjas cost after a couple of days in Siem Reap on the 6th of jan 2012.
Does anyone have any good advice where to go? All guides mention Sihanoukville . Im looking for a pretty laid back place with beach and good food. Not to touristy and definitly not desolate. Want to maybe do some scuba diving, boat trips and just lay on the beach i guess.
Also what is the best way to get to the cost from Siem Reap. Is buss to recommend? Saw that Angkor Air flew to Sihanoukville but can't find where to purchase the ticket in that case.
Thank you before hand,
all replies are valuable!
Xxxx
Maddie
#1 Posted: 2/1/2012 - 06:17
lmacka
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Hey Maddie
The best beaches in Cambodia aren't on the mainland. The beaches in SHV are ok, but not that fantastic. Most of the tourist longtails will take you to Bamboo island, which also has fairly average beaches in comparison to the island next door - Koh Ta Kiev.
There are two massive beaches on the south end of the island which are completely undeveloped - just jungle and beach. I've been going there for a year now and have only recently started taking tourists to see them. No other boat operates to those beaches except the occasional private charter.
That said, those beaches are fairly remote and it sounds like that's not what you're after. I'd recommend going to Sihanoukville and heading straight to Otres Beach. It's far more chilled and laid back than the beach in town, and it's a pretty big beach that has a long stretch of nothingness if you want to get away from other people for a while.
My preferred way of getting from SR to SHV is by the night bus which leaves around 8pm and arrives at 6am. You can sleep on it fairly well, although a couple of scotches before departure help with that. Tickets should be $12-$15 depending on how touristy you look!
Hope this helps!
#2 Posted: 14/1/2012 - 20:50
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KatMachine
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When I went to Cambodia, I only visited Otres Beach in Sihanoukville. It's a beautiful place in my opinion, it's less touristy and quiet at night. The sands are fine and the water is clear. It's affordable there as well.
To give you an insight about it, you can check my link for my blogpost about Otres Beach:
Edit: snip - please no blog drops like this
#3 Posted: 16/1/2012 - 18:06
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KevandJho
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Having recentley been to Sihanoukville , I'll third Otres Beach.
People on various forums say to just forget about beaches in Cambodia and go to Thailand instead, but I have to disagree.
Otres beach reallly surprised me with it's peaceful ambience,nice sand and clean water. If you just want to lay around and chill for awhile, 3 days is about good here.
The beaches in Sihanoukville itself are OK for an intresting walk through, but are much too busy for my liking, but having said that my partying days ended a decade ago.
#4 Posted: 4/2/2012 - 00:19
sayadian
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I am in Sihanoukville now and I have to agree with Imacka Bamboo Island is not particularly special.We rent a motorbike for $4 a day and go to Otres in the morning for the peace and calm and also the water is beautiful and clean.If you stay there though be warned there is practically nothing to do at night so in the evening we end up on Ocheteal beach which is the main beach near all the hotels, supermarkets, restaurants etc.Ocheteal is much cheaper for food and drink but the beach is certainly not as good as Otres.Saying that it has wonderful sunsets and great barbeques for $3 and is an excellent place for the evening/night.
#5 Posted: 4/2/2012 - 01:44
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fistuccio
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Im sorry but i disagree, im in Otres right now and it's covered with thrash: an endless stream of plastic cups, flip flops, even a syringe!
the water is murky and i have to dodge plastic at every move
I dont want to offend anybody but i yet have to see a place that is not littered and covered in garbage in the whole Cambodia, which i found downright filthy.
If this is the way they intend to do tourism (and care for their country), they'll have to do it without my money
#6 Posted: 9/2/2012 - 06:39
sayadian
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Unfortunately, I have to agree with you Fistuccio.
I'm back in Phnom Penh now but before I left I took a picture of a poster in Sihanoukville near the Sorya bus office.
It reads:
'We keep our beaches clean.'
I thought it was risible since most of the town and beaches are covered in filthy trash.
The biggest problem is plastic, thrown everywhere.There is also a huge problem with rotting rubbish.What they need are sealed wheelie bins because at present the system is to put all rubbish in any old carrier bag which is soon torn open by vermin and dogs before it has a chance to be collected.
#7 Posted: 10/2/2012 - 17:42
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money frees you from doing things you dislike,since I dislike doing nearly everything money is handy'
lmacka
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The biggest problem is that garbage collection companies charge ~$5 per month to pick up rubbish from people's houses. While that might not seem much to you, that's a fair chunk of your average person's salary over here. When there's an option to ditch the trash for free or pay every month, what do you think they choose? Perhaps if the government wasn't so corrupt and provided garbage collection & disposal for free it might be a bit cleaner. I know the sign you're talking about. Nice photoshop job, hey?
As for the rubbish on the beach, you should come back in the middle of the rainy season. You ain't seen nothin' until you've seen the trash then!
The junk that washes up (and taken away) is all tidal and depends entirely on the weather patterns. Most of it doesn't even come from Cambodia, but drifts here and gets washed up nonetheless.
Every rainy season the beaches have so much crap on them you can barely walk, but people on Otres and Serendipity beaches take the time to clean it up every day anyway only to have it all come back again the next day. An endless battle.
The islands aren't so lucky, but alas as soon as the dry season comes around all of the rubbish gets washed back out to sea again on the tides and probably ends up somewhere in Malaysia.
Sorry the beaches weren't to your liking. I was on the water today and everything was beautiful again. Better luck next time!
#8 Posted: 11/2/2012 - 08:09
sayadian
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A good point Imacka $5 is a sizeable chunk of some peoples income in Cambodia.Nevertheless street rubbish is an issue the government will have to address if they want Sihanoukville to be an international resort.BTW Who paid for the signs, if they can afford the boast on a big board maybe they'd like to spend some money backing it up.Vermin proof bins are essential and are a once off investment.
As far as Otres is concerned I haven't had the unfortunate experience of fistuccio as I've always found Otres pretty clean because as you say the owners make a considerable effort to clean up the beach front.
I come from a beach area so I know about flotsam and jetsam and how difficult it is to keep a beach clean when every tide brings in more rubbish. Nevertheless, the Khmer who picnic every weekend are definitely a part of the problem.Perhaps the government could also try to educate them to take their rubbish to a bin, not that there are too many available, or take it home as the beach and surrounding areas are covered in plastic bags and beer cans that they just dump.
Whoever put that sign up certainly wasn't liaising with the garbage collection department
#9 Posted: 11/2/2012 - 20:44
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CrankyCarrot
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I've now seen both Occhuteal (sp?) and Otres beaches and noticed less rubbish at the tip back home.
#10 Posted: 13/2/2012 - 06:52
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maribil
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hi, I am in Sihanoukville now, have just spent 2 days at Otres Beach and would just like to add a little on the rubbish situation. We arrived at Otres Beach via Tuk Tuk to the Queens Beach hill. We then walked down to Otres Beach. Immediately on reaching the bottom of the hill we were struck by the rubbish - not flotsam rubbish on the beach, on the dirt road leading to Otres Beach and then most disturbingly in the empty but fenced off vacant allotments across the road from the beach cafes, bars and restrautants along Otres Beach. Otres Beach itself was quite clean as was the water (visually at least), however it would seem from the amount of rubbis in the vacant allotments that some are using them as unofficial rubbish tips. Quite disappointing to say the least.
#11 Posted: 13/3/2012 - 04:58
threelandtr-
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Southwestern Beach, Koh Rong is the best beach in Cambodia.
You can see about 5 best Cambodian beaches here:
http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/play/outlook-cambodia/five-best-cambodian-beaches-781117
#12 Posted: 19/4/2012 - 00:02
sayadian
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'famous for breathing temples'
Is that a typo or have I missed something here?
#13 Posted: 18/5/2012 - 05:27
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money frees you from doing things you dislike,since I dislike doing nearly everything money is handy'
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tphi
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I'd suggest booking some scuba diving in Sihanoukville to dive out on Koh Rong. From there you can stay on the island a few extra days in some of the bungalows and chill out
#14 Posted: 29/5/2012 - 00:50
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