Koh Rong travel blog — The fullest Koh Rong travel guide for first-timers

Located in the west of Koh Rong island, Sok San is home to a small, peaceful Khmer fishing village and a very large resort. Inside the fishing village, you will find cheap motels and stay with local people, exploring local life in a friendly and close way. It’s not natural that the Survivor film crew chose Sok San Beach resort as the location to stop and film. It has more than 600 luxury villas, shops, restaurants and famous beach bars. It will definitely bring you a more perfect vacation.

Palm Beach

Ranked 7th on the list is Palm Beach but this is still truly a beach for a great value-for-money vacation on Koh Rong island. True to its name, this beach is surrounded by vast, green palm forests.

The price for a room in Palm Beach is about $35 per night. You can lie swinging in a hammock, looking out at the sea, enjoying the wind and listening to the sound of the waves.

Activities on Koh Rong island

Snorkeling to see coral

In Koh Rong, there are a number of great places for tourists to freely dive and experience diving to see colorful corals and fish. You can get  diving equipment right at any place in Koh Touch. But you have to go further to see beautiful coral diving spots, usually on tours to Koh Rong island.

Koh Rong is home to many unique marine species. Therefore, you cannot ignore ocean diving with goggles and a snorkel or scuba diving. Please contact Koh Rong Dive Center at Koh Touch or Dive Resort at Long Set Beach for instructions and to hire these services. On Koh Touch, you will find many centers selling day diving tours. They will use boats to take you to the most beautiful seas, freely viewing miniature marine ecosystems. There are corals, seahorses, sea cucumbers and many colorful fish species.

Normally these tours cost more than $10 and will start at 1pm and end at 7pm for you to fully experience activities such as scuba diving, fishing, seafood BBQ parties, etc. Watch the sunset and watch the plankton glow as it gets dark. Some people rent private boats for about $70, go further to some small islands or go around, visit Koh Rong island, see the wild, peaceful panorama and experience a day of traditional Khmer fishing.

See plankton glow in the night

Although plankton is abundant in the seas, you don’t always see them glowing at night. You can only see in places with very, very little light pollution. Tours to see glowing plankton cost about $5 and usually depart at 7pm at Police Beach, Tree House Bungalows, Long Set Beach.

Watch the sunset and sunrise

Sunset is best viewed from the west or north of Koh Rong or Koh Rong Samloem. We recommend some extremely magnificent sunset viewing spots including: Sok San Beach Resort, The Royal Sands, Lonely Beach, M’Pay Bay, Lazy Beach or Sunset Beach on Koh Rong Samloem island.

Island tours

Island tours are almost all day trips to little-known islands, beaches, beautiful resorts, or peaceful small fishing villages. A group costs about $100 for 10 people to visit. You should depart early to be able to visit more beautiful sights.

At Koh Touch beach or other beaches, there are tours to go diving to see coral, fishing, glowing plankton and to some beaches. Tours usually go by wooden boat costing about $10/person including snorkeling gear and travel half a day.

The best island tour in Koh Rong is the Adventure Adam tour, which starts at 9 am and goes all day until 8 pm. The tour is very fun, professionally organized, visits many beautiful beaches, and many places to snorkel and see coral. If you are in Koh Rong for more than 2 days, you should take this tour.

Jet Skiing

For those who love water speed sports, Jet Skiing cannot be missed. You can find this service at KM Watersports (located in Monkey Island Resort) or at Golden Bungalows. The rental price is about $150 for 1 hour of fun and this price may change depending on the time of travel.

Windsurfing

With just a little bit of wind, you can windsurf to fly across the sea and through the winds in a very cool way. Renting these services, you can go to Rong Wind (on Long Set beach).

Kayaking

With mild, beautiful sunny days and calm seas, kayaking is great. You can paddle to a small island and snorkeling at Long Set beach is the best. The cost to rent a kayak is $5/hour or $12/hour for a day of fun.

You can rent kayaks by the day or by the hour depending on your needs ($12 or $5). You can also kayak to explore Koh Touch – a small island from Koh Touch Beach, or paddle to neighboring beaches or islands right in front of Koh Touch beach.

Paddle Boarding

At Koh Touch, you can rent a boating service with boards and oars at Rong Wind. Choose a calm day to enjoy your tour.

Zipline in the forest

High Point Zip Line and Rope Park, an amusement park for those who love adventure and exercise with ropes and forests. The ropes are arranged in many different shapes and challenges so you can freely conquer your limits. The price for a fun session is about $25 in low season and $35 in peak season.

Cycling

The Royal Group has built a road connecting Royal Sands Resort to Koh Touch. Therefore, you can go to Long Beach from Koh Touch by bicycle. An extremely poetic and romantic road for couples.

Scuba Diving

In Koh Rong you can take the Open Water course to get a diving certificate, or just join fun dive with a guide to support you. Right at the wharf is the yellow diving company Koh Rong Dive Center, you can go there to book a scuba diving tour.

Trekking

A small uphill road in the fishing village area leads you to the woods, with no signposts, just a few signs left on the trees, you will find your way through to Long Beach. An exciting experience that brings a sense of discovery and adventure because you will discover a beach through the forest.

There are many other interesting things in Koh Rong, you can find bars with beautiful views here, sleep in bungalows to find a primitive, primitive feeling, dive to the bottom of the sea to see coral,… Experience those amazing things for yourself!

Koh Rong Blob Jump

Blob Jump, a water buoy jumping sport you can find at Tree House Bungalows. With a float like a giant ball, you can freely fly, jump, somersault in the air and then drop down smoothly. The price of each round is $3.

Have fun on Koh Rong Samloem island

Many tourists mistakenly believe that Koh Rong Samloem Island is the full name of Koh Rong Island, that these two islands are one. However, Koh Rong island and Koh Rong Samloem island are separate “brothers”.

In terms of area and popularity, Koh Rong island is much larger, but in terms of beauty, it is probably difficult to compare with Koh Rong Samloem. To visit these two islands, you must take a boat, but note that the boat schedules are different.

Koh Rong Samloem Island is a small, unpopulated island and still retains its inherent wild beauty. This place only has resorts built by foreigners for tourism with the desire to welcome everyone who is looking for peace in a beautiful island paradise. Escape for a few days from the dusty, noisy city, completely immersed in nature. Book the beautiful hotels and resorts in Koh Rong now to enjoy your vacation right here.

On Koh Rong Samloem island, don’t forget some of the following famous tourist destinations such as Saracen Bay, M’Pai Bay or hide away at Lazy Beach or Sunset Beach. In addition, on Koh Rong Samloem island there are also strangely peaceful villages such as the village in M’Pai Bay (in the North) and Koh Rong Sanloem Phumi Kang Khnong village (in the South). These are all small fishing villages. 70% of the people’s livelihood depends on fishing and 30% on small-scale farming. The best time of the year to go to Koh Rong Samloem is around early May or mid-November, when the weather is warm (from 25 to 40 degrees Celsius), there are few clouds and low humidity, allowing you to freely roam around, swimming in the summer sea water.

Ferry schedules from Sihanoukville to Koh Rong Samloem:

Time	Ferry
7:30 am	SFC
8:00 am	BS & GTVC
9:00 am	ISBC, ASF & SFC
9:30 am	BS
11:00 am	BS & GTVC
11:30 am	SFC
12:00 pm	ASF & ISBC
12:30 pm	BS
1:30 pm	SFC
2:00 pm	BS & GTVC
2:30 pm	ISBC
3:00 pm	SFC & ASF
3:30 pm	BS
4:00 pm	GTVC
5:00 pm	SFC & BS

Ferry schedules from Koh Rong Samloem to Sihanoukville

Time	Ferry
7:00 am	BS
7:30 am	SFC
8:30 am	GTVC
9:00 am	BS
9:55 am	ASF
10:00 am	SFC & ISBC
11:30 am	GTVC & SFC
12:00 pm	BS
12:30 pm	SFC
12:55 pm	ASF
1:00 pm	ISBC
2:30 pm	GTVC
3:30 pm	BS
3:45 pm	ASF
4:00 pm	ISBC & SFC
4:30 pm	GTVC

From Koh Rong island to Koh Rong Samloem or vice versa, you can buy train tickets from any of the 5 shipping companies introduced above. The price for one way is about $6 and travel time is about 15 to 20 minutes.

In addition, you can rent a private boat for a group of people to share for $30 to go from Koh Touch to Saracen Bay, $20 to go from Koh Touch to M’Pai Bay and $60 to go from Koh Touch to Lazy Beach.

What to eat?

In Koh Rong, there are mainly grilled seafood, European and Khmer dishes. However, you should try any seafood BBQ set for about $5. This set includes bread, potatoes, vegetables, and may have squid, pork ribs, red tilapia or a few shrimps depending on your preferences. This portion ensures everyone is full and very delicious.

In addition, a dish that no tourist can miss when traveling to Cambodia is smoothies. All types of smoothies cost about $1. You can order a mango smoothie, pineapple smoothie,… for dessert after meal.

In total, the cost of a meal on Koh Rong island is about $2-6. It’s an affordable price.

Khmer red curry

Red curry is quite elaborately prepared from chicken, fish or beef cooked with lemongrass, chili, eggplant, potatoes, green beans, and coconut milk, creating a more special flavor.

Fried crab (Kdam chaa)

The main spices that create the appeal of the dish are Kampot pepper and fragrant garlic.

Stir-fried beef with ants

Many dishes are prepared with insects. Beef stir-fried with ants, basil, ginger, lemongrass, garlic and shallots creates an unforgettable rich flavor.

Grilled squid (Ang dtray – meuk)

It is very easy to buy fresh grilled squid at restaurants or stalls.

Lap Khmer

This is beef salad with thinly sliced meat, marinated with lemon juice, lemongrass, dried onions, fish sauce, chili garlic and herbs.

Amok fish

A famous dish that brings together almost all the typical flavors of Cambodia. Catfish or snakehead fish cooked with palm sugar, coconut milk, prahok fish paste and herbs.

Bai sach chrouk

Thinly sliced pork marinated with coconut milk and garlic then grilled over charcoal and served with white rice. In addition, each rice meal also includes a bowl of chicken soup and pickles.

Fried fish

Crispy, golden fried fish dipped in coconut curry, yellow kroeung and spicy chili.

Dessert jelly (Cha Houy Teuk)

This is essentially a mixed sweet soup dish with sticky rice cake, red beans, pumpkin, taro, jackfruit, various jellies served with fatty coconut water and cool ice.

Where to eat in Koh Rong?

Known as a tourist paradise, Koh Rong has many eateries and restaurants to meet all the needs of tourists at relatively cheap prices. Koh Rong has very few restaurants operating individually, mainly bungalows and motels that have both restaurants and cafes.

Some good restaurants in Koh Touch village and Koh Touch beach: Chai Family Restaurant and Elephant Guesthouse, Nice food with super cheap prices. If you like to eat Western food, visit Da Matti, besides you can choose Bamboo when you want to eat pizza. A small suggestion for a meaningful trip to Koh Rong is to enjoy a BBQ party on the windy beach every night for $5, including 3 BBQ dishes and 1 glass of beer.

The number of eateries on the island is plenty, just walk 5 minutes and you can go all the way to the street selling food. These are some delicious restaurants with good service on the island.

Three Brothers

This restaurant has a very cheap menu, serving mainly rice dishes such as chicken rice, pork rice, fried rice, suitable for breakfast and lunch.

Ponleu Pich

This restaurant is located next to Three Brothers, mainly selling delicious, nutritious, and cheap BBQ grill sets. The shop sells grilled food sets for about $5 just introduced above. The food is fresh and the smoothies are also very delicious.

Smile Resort

This is another BBQ eatery, quieter than Ponleu Pich. The price of the dishes is also about 5-6$ for a grilled set. You can enjoy it while looking at the blue sea. Isn’t that great?

Coco European Restaurant

A suggestion for those who love to eat European food. The food at the restaurant is quite delicious, the price is a bit high compared to the other dishes, the service is dedicated and attentive.

In general, eating and drinking on Koh Rong island is very convenient and the food is abundant. The food street has many delicious and clean restaurants here. Therefore, you can comfortably experience it when you have the opportunity to come here!

Koh Rong nightlife

Every Tuesday and Sunday there is a super fun Koh Rong pub crawl with a lot of Western backpackers participating, you can go to many bars in 1 night and drink freely, make many new friends, and get a T-shirt with the word Koh Rong pub crawl. Price is about $10 if booked in advance and $12 if booked immediately upon joining.

Also, on Saturday there will be an all-night party at Police Beach which is great fun. Pre-order tickets are only $7.50 and $10 if you buy tickets at the entrance, including a beer if you arrive before midnight.

In Koh Rong, the full-moon parties are equally famous. The party is held at Police Beach, attracting hundreds of people every month from 10pm until dawn.

Sky bar is a place to view Koh Rong from above, the price of drinks is quite cheap, the space is comfortable, this is the place you should go especially in the afternoon and at night.

For those who love excitement and bustle with grand parties, Koh Touch village is a great choice. There are many famous bars here such as Vagabonds, Island Boys, Bong’s and Dragon Den Pub.

Where to stay?

In Koh Rong, there are 3 main places to stay: Koh Touch – the center of the village. This place will be suitable for those who love excitement and excitement because it is close to shops, bars, etc. White beach is right near the center, quiet and beautiful like a dream, Police beach is quite secluded and Finally, there is Long beach, a pristine beach where you can immerse yourself in the sunsets but it is a bit inconvenient to go to town.

In Koh Rong, there are many types of accommodation for tourists to choose from such as hotels, bungalows, resorts,… with a wide range of prices, ranging from 20-120$ depending on the form you choose. However, you should definitely try to experience the feeling of staying in houses with thatched roofs and “natural” wooden floors, bungalows, a unique and new type of hotel in Koh Rong that is hard to find anywhere else.

Coco boutique resort (in the heart of Koh Touch)

Located in the city center, this place will be very suitable for tourists who love excitement and bustling. Surrounding this place are shops and bars, near the wharf so all needs will be convenient. Prices range from $12-35.

Treehouse Bungalows (White Beach area)

This is a very interesting bungalows location in Koh Rong, near Koh Touch. The accommodation is quite clean and especially the tree house is extremely interesting. In addition, there is also a beach in front for you to freely play and swim. Prices range from $25-120. (Agoda, Booking)

Sok San Beach Resort (Long Beach area)

Located at Sok San beach (Long Beach), Sok San Beach Resort is the perfect choice to feel the peaceful beauty of Koh Rong. This is also an ideal place if you are looking for a place to rest and relax. Although it’s not close to the center, transportation is a bit inconvenient, but the wild and peaceful natural beauty here is well worth the compensation. Price from $60 and up. (Agoda, Booking)

Smile Resort

A quite affordable place, suitable for young people’s budget. With prices ranging from only $18-25, Smile Resort is located in Koh Touch, close to entertainment, dining and entertainment services. This will be an ideal place to stay for young people who love bustle and fun. Along with that are rustic rooms, welcoming cool natural breezes from the ocean. (Agoda, Booking)

Below we recommend more best budget, mid-range and upscale hotels with good ratings and reviews you can refer to.

• Scarlet Sails Resort (Agoda, Booking)
• The Royal Sands Koh Rong (Agoda, Booking)
• Palm Beach Bungalow Resort (Agoda, Booking)
• Happy Elephant Bungalows (Agoda, Booking)
• The Secret Garden Koh Rong (Agoda, Booking)
• Song Saa Private Island (Agoda, Booking)

Check out more top and best hotels in Koh Rong on Agoda.com or Booking.com

What to buy as gifts in Koh Rong island?

When traveling to Koh Rong island, you need to prepare some special gifts to bring back for your friends and relatives.

Krama scarf

You can see a lot of Krama scarf in Vietnam, worn by Khmer people. However, the version only has black and white stripes and rough, hard fabric. Cambodian towels are different in terms of soft material, more diverse colors and many stripes.

Silverware

This is a traditional item from the 11th century of Cambodian people. So when you come here, don’t forget to bring home some cute little items such as earrings, bracelets, bracelets, rings, souvenirs…

These are handicrafts of local people, so when you travel to Koh Rong island, remember to pick up a few of these items so you can make souvenirs or give them to relatives and friends. These items are all meticulously hand-made: Buddha, Apsara statue…

Dry food

Famous dried foods here that many people buy as gifts include palm sugar, dried beef, and especially dried snakes. Because snakes are reptiles that grow quickly here, this type of food is processed quite a lot.

Tips

• Sim card: Metfone company, 4G SIM is about $5.
• How to prepare luggage: Bring enough clothes, especially swimsuits, sunscreen, hats, hats, and motion sickness medicine.
• Safe: Security on the island is quite good so theft does not happen often. We recommend that you bring a small lock for your suitcase. If you bring a lot of cash, bring a small carry bag for safety.
• Currency: Cambodian uses Riel and USD, 1USD = 4070 Riel, 1 Riel is equal to about 6 Vietnamese dong. Another important note for your Koh Rong trip. You should exchange to dollars because Cambodians spend dollars as widely as riel (a domestic currency in Cambodia). In addition, this country is known as the land of $1, from water bottles, smoothies, etc. And Khmer people do not like receive $2 bills because people think it is an unlucky number, they usually prefer odd numbers. Therefore, you need to avoid exchanging $2 bills!
• Mosquito repellant: There are a lot of mosquitoes in Koh Rong, so remember to bring mosquito medication to avoid dengue fever.
• Sunscreen: with the sun on Koh Rong island, sunscreen is very important to protect our skin from ultraviolet rays and avoid burning when swimming.
• A pair of sandals if you intend to zipline or trek through Long Beach!
• Swimsuits and towels: This goes without saying, right? Because you will be swimming and diving often.
• Waterproof phone case so you can save the moment when you’re swimming and protect your phone too.
• Neat clothes for going to the beach: The climate in Koh Rong is quite hot and has a lot of sand, so you should not wear long, loose clothes to avoid getting in the way. You should wear comfortable shorts and T-shirts to exercise a lot.
• Backpack: instead of carrying a suitcase, which makes traveling difficult because the roads in Koh Rong are full of sand, you should bring a lightweight backpack for convenient travel.
• Passport: This isn’t much to say, right? Whenever you go abroad, you must bring your passport!
• Cash: Bringing about $150 is enough.

Wishing you the best trip to Koh Rong with the latest information that we have updated. Happy traveling!

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, from and to Koh Rong island you can refer to

• Koh Rong Samloem Snorkeling and Diving Experience from Sihanoukville
• Speed Ferry Cambodia Round Trip Ferry to to Koh Rong Island (Sihanoukville Departure)
• Koh Rong Samloen Snorkeling with Bioluminescent Plankton from Sihanoukville
• Speed Ferry Cambodia Round Trip Ferry to Samloem (Sihanoukville Departure)

Read more Cambodia guide here.