KOH RONG ISLAND

★ GAY TRAVEL ★ GAY DAY ★ GAY NIGHT ★

KOH RONG PARADISE

Koh Rong represents pure island life with lush jungle and a tiny village. Home to paradisiacal beaches, it's a destination that you really have to put on your itinerary!

Visiting the island of Koh Rong is a bit like stepping back in time. The fact that it's not as developed an island as others in Asia gives it charm but you won't find all the luxuries that you can find in other paradise islands. But go! The basics are there! ;)

At the end of this article, valuable tips for anyone visiting Koh Rong Island & Cambodia!

This article will start by parts, namely where we came from and how we arrived on the island of Koh Rong.

The beginning of our Cambodia trip started in Phnom Penh. We were there for 4 nights and then, as we wanted to go to the island of Koh Rong, we had to decide how to get to Sihanoukville, which is where the boats leave for the island.

We researched and decided to go by mini-bus. We booked online through Giant Ibis and we both paid around $32. Everything went well with the trip, but let's face it, the mini-bus was very uncomfortable! We didn't travel on a very tight budget and in the end we concluded that we should have booked a car transfer which would have been much better! But there are other companies where you can book a bus ticket, it will be a matter of trying, but they should all be very similar!

In short, the chances you have to get to Sihanoukville are minibus, train or private transfer.

There are several boat companies you can choose from to go from Sihanoukville to Koh Rong. From ferries to faster speed boats. We opted to pay a little more to be faster and went on a speed boat with the company GTVC Speedboat and everything went very well. It took about 40 minutes, but we warn you: the boat is really fast and bounces a lot! If you are not a fan of speed, choose another one!

You can find the different companies available at rome2rio.com

Only 3 or 4 boats leave for Koh Rong every day, so calculate the departure time from your departure point well so that you know the arrival time in Sihanoukville and don't miss the boat (if you buy the ticket in advance, because you can also buy it on the same day).

We left Phnom Penh in the morning and as we weren't quite sure of the time of arrival in Sihanoukville, we didn't know if we would arrive in time to catch the 3pm boat, so we decided to stay one night in Sihanoukville and catch the speed boat the next day morning at 9am.

And... we regret it! In Sihanoukville there is absolutely nothing interesting to see/do. Our advice is: if you can, arrive in Sihanoukville and immediately take the boat to Koh Rong. Organize yourself in schedules and it's the best thing to do.

So we spent one night in Sihanoukville, very close to the port, and the next day we took the 9am speed boat to Koh Rong. Upon arriving at the port, just go to the company's office with the online ticket to confirm your presence and then wait for them to call you to take you to the boat.

The trip is very fast and as we said before, the trip is hectic with lots of jumps!

A tip before traveling to Koh Rong: if you are going to need any food, object, medicine or other special thing, buy it before you arrive on the island. On Koh Rong there are very few shops and they sell the basics of the basics. Something more specific, buy in advance and take it. At the end of this article, see all the tips!

In Koh Rong we chose to stay in the Kaoh Touch area which is where there is a small village with some shops, restaurants and bars. But there are other areas of the island where you can stay, but isolated and without trade, such as Long Set Beach or Sok San Long Beach. Or you might even want to stay on the other island Koh Rong Samloem. In this case it's really a matter of personal taste and choose where you prefer to stay.

If you don't stay in these areas where the boat goes, after arriving at the port there are many moto-taxis waiting for you!

Arriving in Koh Rong, as it was still morning, we went to the accommodation we had booked, some bungalows in the forest but still inside the small village of Kaoh Touch to leave our baggage and we went to lunch.

Upon arriving on the island, you immediately have that feeling of having arrived in paradise, the postcard that we see so often: beautiful beaches, lots of forest and everything is very calm, without cars and without any stress.

And you're asking, what to do in Koh Rong? We answer: nothing and repeat that nothing! :p

Enjoy the beaches, go for walks in the forest if you like, go on a tour but in fact there isn't much to do but relax.

We visited the island for a week in December, and after Covid there were still many places closed/abandoned but starting to be rehabilitated and even some parties that used to happen, when we were there there weren't. But we believe that in a while, everything will be back to normal.

Suggestions of what to do on the island:

- If you know how to drive a motorcycle, rent one and travel around the island to reach other beaches. You can rent at Kaoh Touch.

- At your hotel or in Kaoh Touch there are several stalls selling tours and boat trips. You can decide there what you want to do. We booked a boat trip through our hotel and went to another beach by boat, did some snorkeling, did some line fishing and what we caught was our dinner which was cooked on the boat by our guide! The boat had music and it was a lot of fun the day. At the end of the day when we are returning to Kaoh Touch, when it gets dark, you can still dive in to see the bioluminescent plankton.

- Stroll along the beach and forest in the area where you stay. We warn you right away: there are really a lot of monkeys and everywhere.

- Where to eat? There aren't many places to choose from, so go with your gut. We ate a lot of barbecued fish on the beach and it was always delicious. And we also had pizza, one of the best we've had on all the trips we've made: Bamboo Pizza! Delicious!

Every morning, to cool off, we would drink a fresh fruit shake. A small stall on the beach, called Good Morning, is almost opposite the White Rose Guesthouse. The girl was very nice and the shakes were very good.

- And we take the opportunity to say that our mobile internet has always worked very well. See the internet we used in the tips we give at the end of this article!

KOH RONG ISLAND BY NIGHT

The night on Koh Rong is calm and ends early. At least at the time we visited in December 2022. Due to the Covid pandemic, many establishments closed and are only now reopening and that includes some parties that used to exist and that currently do not.

There was a very famous party, the Police Beach Party: Police Beach was a private beach and designed for an open air party area. Main music genres were techno-house and electro but when we visited they were gone and the area was completely abandoned! But, most likely it will return as well as the Full Moon Party!

If you want to party until later, you have the Nest Beach Club, a hostel that has parties a few days a week.

As we were in the Kaoh Touch area, the nights were spent in restaurants and beach bars in the area, with fire-shows on some nights.

HELPFUL TIPS WHEN VISITING CAMBODIA & KOH RONG

- We took a trip through Asia, 3 countries: Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam for a month and a half and we always like to have mobile internet. Many people know that you can buy a SIM card on arrival, but this time we opted for something different and very practical: an e-SIM. No physical card is needed, we bought it online still in Portugal before starting the trip and only activated it upon arrival in Singapore. We can say that it has always worked very well and it only takes one person to have it installed, because you could share the internet with another device. Easy to install and top-up was very easy too. You just have to pay attention if your equipment is compatible with an e-SIM. We bought ours at airalo.com. Mobile internet worked very well on the island of Koh Rong.

- In Cambodia the currencies used are the US Dollar and the Cambodian Riel. Both are accepted everywhere. But the question remains: which one should I use? At ATMs, which currency should I choose to withdraw? We leave here our opinion.

At ATMs we always make withdrawals in Reils. If you withdraw in US Dollars, the high probability is that the machine will only give you $100 bills, which can then be complicated to make payments, because there will be no change.

Once you get used to Reils, it's easy. You'll always talk about having millions, but it's a matter of habit. We also noticed that in terms of conversion, if we pay in Reils, it pays off a little more.

And even if you don't want to pay in Reils, the chance of paying with US dollars and receiving change in Reils is very high and most likely.

There is also a greater chance that counterfeit $100 bills exist.

- There is no ATM on the island. But if you want to 'withdraw' money, it's easy. There are some stalls where you can 'withdraw' money for a fee. You will see posters with this information!

- There are blogs on the internet indicating that in Cambodia they do not accept banknotes in poor condition, dirty or a little torn. It's not entirely true. This applies to US Dollars but not to Reils. We were in Cambodia for a month and almost always used Reils and whatever condition it was in (some banknotes in very bad condition) everyone accepted it.

- Cigarettes are very cheap in Cambodia and if you buy national brands, they cost around €0.50!

- Purchase mosquito repellent spray. There are indeed many on the island. By the way, throughout Cambodia. And if you happen to get stung, buy hydrocortisone cream. It relieves insect bites a lot and is also useful for sunburn. We bought it at several pharmacies across Cambodia.

- There are many monkeys on the island. One of the times there was one that chased me twice. The same monkey. We never saw them hurt anyone but as a precaution we decided never to get too close and if they were in our way, we would deviate! lol Monkeys aren't as small as we thought! lol

- If you're not a fan of animals, insects, lizards, etc, etc, don't go to this island. They are everywhere and yes, they can also enter the room, namely some very large lizards, the gecko (we had two in the room during the entire stay lol). And yes, there are mosquitoes everywhere.

- The best way to get around the island is by motorcycle. If you can drive, rent one.

- On the island there are not many stores and the few that exist only sell the necessary basics. If you need something very specific, buy it before going to the island. Regarding prices, they are normal for Cambodia.

- We were there for a week and it was a whole week walking around in flip-flops, day and night!

- A big cautionary tip: we were on the island for a week. That week, for two days there was a small storm but with very, very strong winds. And with that wind, we were all stuck on the island: no boats could arrive or depart from the island. Tourists who wanted to leave could not do so for two days, so it would be wise to think about not having a flight booked for the day you leave the island because there might be no boats if the weather is bad: you are on an island!

- The night on the island ends very early, except for any special parties that may exist.