Sihanoukville, also known as Kampong Som, or Kampong Saom, is a port city in southern Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. The city was founded in 1964 to be the only deep water port in Cambodia and its beaches are rapidly making it popular as a tourist destination. The city is named after King Norodom Sihanouk.

Statistics
Area:	868 km²
Inhabitants:	155,690 (1998)
Pop. density:	179.4 inh./km²
ISO 3166-2:	KH-18
Map

For administrative purposes Sihanoukville is a municipality, holding the same status as a province. It is subdivided into 3 districts.

 

• 1801 Mittakpheap
  
   
• 1802 Prey Nob
  
   
• 1803 Stueng hav

GEOGRAPHY

Sihanoukville is surrounded by palm-fringed sandy beaches and pristine tropical islands off its south and west coast. Beaches here lies on the west contour of the city, from north to south, namely Victory Beach, Lamherkay Beach, Koh Pos Beach, Independence Beach, Sokha beach, Serendipity Beach and Occheuteal Beach. The most popular beaches are Occheuteal, Sokha, Independence and Victory. Tourist are allowed island hopping, diving, snorkeling and game fishing at the islands nearby.

Occheteal Beach is the all-rounder with long and narrow strip of beach lined with Casuarina trees, grass umbrellas, rental chairs and little drink huts. The sandy beach that stretches southwards is worth trekking down if any trippers want some privacy. Many of these huts were recently bulldozed by the government to make way for a supposed new resort. At the northern end is Serendipity Beach , which is a cool place for travelers to hang out. Serendipity beach also offers small guesthouse rooms right on the beach with occasional full-moon parties. However, the beach is filled with boulders that make it unfriendly for swimming.

SOKHA BEACH

Sihanoukville Beach

Sokha Beach is located just west of Serendipity Beach . This beach is privately owned and is the first luxury beach hotel in Cambodia. It provides many facilities with a wide white sandy beach; if you are not staying at the hotel the guards may or may not stop you from going on to the beach.

INDEPENDENCE BEACH

Independence Beach is located next to Sokha Beach on its west. The beach was named after the old Independence Hotel. This beach offers a good stretch of clean sand. Situated at the northern end of the beach is Independence Hotel and Koh Pos Beach, the nice tiny island only 800m off the coast. Koh Pos offers cool shades but rocky waters.

VICTORY BEACH

Victory beach is situated at the furthest north of the peninsula of Sihanoukville . It was the original backpacker beach and still popular with budget travelers. At the northern end of the beach is located the deep sea port. Thus, apart from white sand and blue sea, this beach offers a good spot to enjoy the scenes of sunset. At the further south of Victory Beach is another small strand of sand called Lamherkey Beach where the Hawaii Seaview Restaurant is located. It is the place where a French/ Cambodian construction team laid groundwork for the construction of the new Port of Kampong Som during 1950s. At this beach, you can hire a boat to nearby islands.

ISLANDS

There are more than a dozen islands off the coast of Sihanoukville for tourists to hop around. Most of them are yet to be developed for an overnight stay with the exception of Bamboo Island, which is also called Koh Russei. Many guesthouses, restaurants and cafes on Ochteal Teal Serendipity beach offer trips and packages to these islands.

Soon Nail Island (also called Magic Island because it looks like a mushroom) will have a hotel run by the folks from the snake house. They already have a pier and most of the hotel and restaurant are finished.

KOH RONG

Koh Rong is situated west of the Sihanoukville coast. It offers the fantastic strand of beach on its southwest, stretching about 5 km. It has fresh water resources on the island and a bustling fishing community on the southeast with basic supplies including fresh water, fish and crab.

KOH RONG SAMLON

Koh Rong Samlon is a bit smaller than Koh Rong and situated on its south. Beautiful beaches are on the east coast, where a large heart-shaped bay with some shellfish cultivation is located, and on the north shoreline facing Koh Rong.

KOH TANG

Koh Tang is located quite far from the main shoreline of Sihanoukville. Going there needs trippers to stay overnight on board. It offers interesting diving spots most of which are not frequently explored. The island is home to a military outpost and travelers should expect to be boarded by military personnel when out at the island.