Southern Cambodia

Good roads from Phnom Penh and excellent beaches make Southern Cambodia’s coastline a popular spot. Most visitors to the region base themselves on the beaches at Sihanoukville and Kep, but Kampot, a laidback riverine town, also attracts a smattering of visitors, its faded and rundown waterside colonial buildings its primary charm. Further west, Koh Kong, a major gateway to Cambodia from Thailand is a popular base for ecotourism activities.

In and around Southern Cambodia
Cambodia’s beach resorts may be little known compared to those of neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam, but the miles of sandy beaches at Kep and Sihanoukville are a delight. Offshore are several islands with good snorkelling and diving; nearby Ream National Park is a great day out, either on a boat trip or on foot through mangroves and jungle; and an excursion to the former hill station at Bokor with stunning views of the coastline is a must. Once a flourishing haunt of the French and the Cambodian royal family before being abandoned during the civil war, the eerie remains of the old hotel/casino and church hark back to an earlier period. Sadly, new developments have stripped away a little of the atmosphere.

For a real ‘get away from it all’ break, Kep is the place to relax on the beach or to hike in the national park. Once a fashionable resort, many of the lovely old villas are derelict and claimed by the forest, but the arrival of a few stylish guesthouses and the draw of the wonderfully fresh seafood has put it back on the map. Nevertheless, it’s a small town, with a single strip of restaurants and a quiet market—none of the traffic or noise of busy Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s major beach resort. There’s a public beach at Kep, which is rarely busy outside of the festival season, and a number of beautiful lodges with private beach access.

Charming Kampot is a sleepy town, at the foot of the mountains, with plenty of French colonial buildings and shophouses, a perfect place to experience life in a provincial town. Nearby are caves, many containing Buddhist shrines, or you can take a short trip by boat along the river to enjoy the beautiful scenery. There are plenty of tropical plantations nearby, but beware, Kampot is particularly famous for its durian fruit! Koh Kong, just 10km from the border with Thailand, is a jumping-off point for excursions into the heavily jungled Cardamom Mountains where you can hike in search of birds, wildlife and waterfalls, explore the mangroves where the rainforest meets the ocean, and stay in floating lodges. This, sadly, is one of Cambodia’s last real wilderness reserves, and it’s stunning.