Sihanoukville is the third largest city in Cambodia and has been a resort destination for many years now. It is the primary resort area in the country for the Khmer's as well as foreign tourist. Cheap Flight information for CambodiaSihanoukville surprises people when they get here to the size of the town which was at first three separate areas that have merged over time which stretches for over 3 kilometers from the port to the new Ochhel teal golf course. Sihanoukville was know in the old days as Kompong Som and is still called that by the older people and the Thai's.
The current King saw the potential for Kompong Soam and invested resources to make the city a showcase of Cambodia with the focus being the 4 now 5 beach's. We will go into detail on the beach's in detail further down. You will find statues and parks all over Sihanoukville beachs most have facilities that cater to visitors from rest rooms to restaurants and food stalls, to showers and you can rent beach toys, mats and umbrellas.
Sihanoukville Activities
Scuba diving, snorkeling,adventure trekking - hiking, boat trips, island camping, fishing, biking, bird watching, casinos, shopping, and just lazing away on a quiet beach are all available Golf will be starting soon with the driving range opening soon. The guide books have not kept pace with the rapid development of Sihanoukville as a major beach resort destination in South East Asia. Everyone that visits here all say the same thing when they are leaving, If I come back to Asia I will defiantly come back to Sihanoukville.
A Short list of Housing available
Sihanoukville Beach's
Sihanoukville has some of the best beaches in South East Asia despite what the tour books say. There are 5 main beaches in Sihanoukville all with something different to offer from busy to quiet with or without amenities.
Serendipity/Ochheal Teal
This is by far the most popular beach area with just about everyone from the Cambodians that come down to Sihanoukville from Phnom Penh for the holidays (26 thank you very much), to the Expat crowd, as well as the visitors. This is where you will find the upscale hotels this beach has everything that you could want from cambodia girls selling fruit that come to you with all sorts of things for sale like pineapples watermelons chips shrimp squid and local crafts. You will also find lots of small bamboo bars like same same but different that can make most drinks known to man with a limited but tasty menu.
Sihanoukville's' first 5 star resort, with 200 rooms. Driving past it is easy to see that they spent big money on this Cambodia Luxury beach resort. The landscaping that is being done promises to be very pretty when finished. A very nice beach with lots of sand and some decent coral on the side closest to Serendipity Beach.
On the south side of this beach is a couple of new establishments Ocean View Bungalows and Malibu Bungalows both have a very serene setting with an excellent ocean setting.
Independence Beach
A favorite with the locals nice beach very quiet on weekdays You will find that the number of people that speak English is quite low compared to Serendipity Beach. Local food stalls are about the only amenities although it does have lots of cool statues that are worth a ride over to check out in a grassy park setting. Next door to this beach is the old Independence hotel which is being renovated from the ground up. The hotel promises to be back to its former glory, excellent views and mature vegetation make this a special place to visit. On weekdays you will not be able to get into the hotel area because of the construction but you can sometimes sneak a peak still on Sundays.
Hawaii Beach
Has food stalls and a restaurant usually very quiet. I have found sea horses in the shallow water here and if the wind is up is sometimes protected by snake island (shape not inhabitants) so can be a good place to hide out if the wind is up, also as it is very shallow a good place if you have kids.
Hon Sen Beach
The new beach you have to drive down the port road a few kilometers to get to it but very picturesque and usually quiet, all though you do have the trucks occasionally coming from the refinery that is further down the road. No facilities at this time, so if you are looking for that deserted tropical setting this should fill the bill.
