8 days in Cambodia Paradise – Koh Rong Sanloem – 2023
Introduction
In Cambodia there are two islands, that give you a true taste of paradise, both challenge the Maldives or Seychelles for crystal clear seas and the finest sand maybe on the planet.
Koh Rong Sanloem is the smaller and less developed island of the two, if you are looking for a real desert island experience Koh Rong Sanloem is the place for you, albeit unfortunately we are not sure for how much longer, as the Cambodian government have handed over large parts of the island for development, and we worry that we have been some of the last visitors to experience this amazing island at its best.
We arrived on Koh Rong Sanloem via ferry from the mainland, the ferry took about 40 minutes from Sihanoukville it was a easy ferry ride (the return trip wasn’t as smooth, so very much dependent on the time of day and tide). There are several piers on the island, and depending where you are staying will dictate which pier you arrive at, as there are no roads (currently) linking the beaches. We stayed at the “main” beach at Saracens Bay. There are two piers on Saracens bay so be sure to check which pier you need to use when leaving the island !
We stayed at “The One” hotel, which is a way down the beach, so we were met by a small boat to take us down the beach to the hotel.
The one Hotel was lovely, we stayed in a beach bungalow, and it didn’t disappoint. Waking up to the sounds of the ocean is one that will never get old. The hotel has a pool and a great restaurant, the owners appear to be French and as such the food never disappointed. We had our three year old with us and there was plenty of choices for all of us. The only potential downside of The One hotel is that it is right in the middle of the area designated for development, as such it may not exist longer term and if it does it will be right in the middle of the development.
The island isn’t developed or at least it wasn’t when we went (February 2023), there are no roads, or cars on the island, and as such the only way to get to other beaches is either walking or via boat. There are no ATMs / Banks on the island, and while there are some small mini-mart type shops these are extremely expensive, so we avoided using them. We used local Cambodia SIMs ($10 for unlimited data for our trip) from Metfone, which worked well, however we did find that wifi was widely available in all the hotels but reliability wasn’t great.
Food and Drink on Koh Rong Sanloem
Along Saracens bay there are numerous beach hut hotels, although a large number of the ones on the east of the beach, have been repossessed for development. These all offer a range of bars and restaurants, with beach BBQs being the favorite offering with the daily catch. We dined along the beach but our favorites were:
Onederz – which is linked to a back packer hotel, the bar was fun and a typical beach bar, with numerous pub games (pool, darts etc) and the food was good, we tended to always go for the Khmer food options, but there was plenty of western options as well. The bar hosts a fire party each week which is worth watching.
Sara hotel – white table clothes on the beach, we enjoyed dinner here with the beach BBQ
The One hotel – as outlined being French owned the One hotel provided a great option for food.
Drinks on Koh Rong Sanloem were extremely cheap with both beers and cocktails not costing more than $1 in most places.
Activities on Koh Rong Sanloem
With regards to activities, it is the beach and more beach. However, we did get to try some free water sports from the hotel, in particular paddle boarding and Kayaking. We also hiked to Lazy beach, which was about a 20 minute walk from Saracens bay, but this is where the roads are being built so likely this will be connected via road (unfortunately) very shortly. Lazy beach was lovely, with a hidden bar / restaurant on the beach, it was hard to leave! Sunset beach comes highly recommended, but it was a hike too far for us with a 3 year old, but everyone who visited it, said it was the best and great to watch the sunset from.
Swimming with the Bioluminescent Plankton maybe not the best but well worth the $5 that the hotel charged to take the boat out, going out to sea in the dark, and then jumping in to the sea where the plankton comes to life and sparkles around you is always magical, we took our 3 year old with us and he loved it.
Development on Koh Rong Sanloem
Quite possibly the most heart breaking part of this post, is what is going to happen to this beautiful island over the next 12-18 months. A week before our arrival there was a lot of press articles regarding properties along Saracens bay being repossessed, for redevelopment. When we arrived there were a lot of properties that had been sprayed painted red (apparently giving them notice of eviction). We stayed in the One hotel which had been marked for repossession but apparently this had been reversed, albeit seeing it is right in the middle of our repossession, I am not convinced how long it will remain.
What seems to be happening, is the development of a road network, I have marked on the map below the roads that I saw being built, and I assume that we will see some large hotel developments appearing inbetween these roads.
While the other end of Saracens bay, and the wider island doesn’t yet seem to be affected, I would assume it is only a matter of time before we see the development spread.
I took some screen shots from google to compare what the island is like now and we can compare the future.
Summary
We really enjoyed our time on the island, but were ready to get back to some more mainland activities. Being on an island where there are no shops, cars, ATMs, and wifi is a maybe, sure is difficult to find in 2023, as such we enjoyed every minute of our stay. We do worry that we may have been some of the last to enjoy this before the development takes over.
