|
Sihanouk Ville town sits in the center of a
small peninsula that juts into the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand.
Several fine, near-white sand beaches, easily accessible from the town,
line the shore around the peninsula. The main beaches are lined with
little thatch roofed beach bars and seafood shacks offering cold drinks,
beach umbrellas and chairs, seafood BBQ, evening parties, water sports
and more. Ochheuteal and Serendipity Beaches are the most popular and
the busiest beaches with plenty of nearby hotels, guesthouses, bars and
restaurants. On the other side of town, Victory Beach at the base of
Weather Station Hill (aka Victory Hill) is also popular but not as busy,
offering a somewhat more tranquil atmosphere. Budget bungalows and
guesthouses sit on the side of the hill and the beach sports seafood
shacks, chairs, umbrellas and even a nightclub. Otres Beach is similar
to Ochheuteal but far less touristed and has a relaxed, out of the way
feel. Currently there aren’t any regular accommodations but plenty of
little seafood shack and bars. Read about more beaches including Independence Beach and Sokha Beach
below.
 Ochheuteal and
Serendipity Beaches
(map
of Ochheuteal Beach)
Ochheuteal Beach,
is by far the most popular and touristed beach in Sihanoukville.
Ochheuteal is long (3km), sandy and narrow, with ‘Ser-endipity Beach’ at
the arcing northern end, a development project at the southern half, and
a cluster of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants stretching along the
mid-section. On the beach, little shack-style seafood restaurants and
bars line more than a kilometer of the sand’s edge from ‘Serendipity
Beach’ to the development project. Many of the beach bars are open into
the late night and throw regular beach parties.
(The name ‘Ochheuteal Beach’ comes from the name of the
small river at the southern end of the beach. In Khmer, ‘O‘
means ‘creek’ and ‘Chheuteal’ is a type of tree. The creek
is called O-Chheuteal and the beach is named after the
creek. Other area names follow a similar naming pattern, for
example Otres Beach, Omui Street, Opee Street, Obye Street,
etc.)
The Ochheuteal area has a good selection of near-beach
accommodations ranging from mid-priced hotels ($25-$80)
through small hotels ($10-$30) and budget guesthouses
($3-$12), most located along the three roads paralleling the
beach (more densely at the northwest end) and along the road
from the Golden Lion Traffic Circle to Serendipity Beach.
The mid-section of Ochheuteal is the busiest part of the
beach. The sand is lined tightly with beach shack
restaurant/bars and the roads behind offer a pretty even mix
of mid-range and budget hotels and guesthouses. A few
bungalows and rooms are also tucked up amongst the headlands
at either end of Ochheuteal including Cloud 9 at
Serendipity and Queen Hill Resort overlooking both
Ochheuteal and Otres, (the next beach south.)
In the early evening, several roadside BBQ restaurants get
going along 23 Tola Road near the Golden Sand Hotel.
All offer fresh seafood skewers, grilled meats, poultry and
lots more. Amongst the BBQ restaurants Pim’s offers
Sihanouk Ville’s only mini-golf course.
At Ochheuteal’s extreme northern end, the area commonly
known as ‘Serendipity Beach’ offers bungalows and guesthouse rooms right
on the sand as well as amongst the rocks on the hill overlooking the
ocean.
 Victory Beach
(map of Victory Beach area and
Weather Station Hill)
The Victory Beaches
are two long beaches divided by a rocky point and a small hill,
so named for the Victory Monument that sits in the boulevard
park near the midpoint. Different section of the beach called
different names. The southern section is known as ‘Hawaii
Beach.’ The northern section near Victory Monument is called as
‘Victory Beach’ and is the most popular area with travelers. The
sands at the port end (northern end) of the beach are called
‘Port Beach’ and ‘New Beach.’
‘Victory Beach’ sits at the
base of the popular Weather Station Hill (‘Victory Hill’) near
the Vietnam-Cambodia Monument (‘Victory Monument’). Victory is a
nice little beach, only a few hundred meters long but wide at
points, offering a variety of beachside services and one of the
best sunset views in town. The distinctive Airport Club,
centered on a real Antonov AN-24 twin engine airplane, sits near
the entrance to the beach - a beachside restaurant/bar by day, a
discotheque by night. Next to the club, top-end boats for hire
operate off of the pier. Check the bulletin board at the dock
for boating information. A few meters north along the beach past
the Airport Club are several little beachside seafood shacks
clustered together at the sand’s edge. All offer the usual beach
chairs and umbrellas, inner tubes, cold drinks, seafood
barbeque, Cambodian food and even some western dishes. Farther
north along Victory the beach narrows and two or three upscale
oceanside seafood restaurants hug the water’s edge including the
long popular Chhner Molop Chrey.
Above Victory Beach,
Weather Station
Hill (a.k.a. Victory
Hill, Port Hill, The Hill) is a budget traveler and bar/
nightlife area that offers a real variety of places. Budget and
backpacker bungalows and guesthouses dominate the side of the
Hill overlooking the ocean, most within a couple of hundred
meters of Victory Beach. The top of hill is one of
Sihanoukville’s nightlife hotspots. On the hilltop, the main
road is lined with bars and restaurants and come evening several
sports and hostess bars come to life, happy hour specials are on
offer and the hilltop starts to get busy. Some bars stay open
well into the early morning hours, especially on the weekends.
‘Hawaii Beach’ is also known as ‘King’s Beach,’ ‘South Channel
Beach’ and ‘Lamherkay Beach.’ Like the other major beaches,
Hawaii Beach is lined with umbrellas and chairs and little beach
shack bars and seafood restaurants, though nowhere near as
densely as Ochheuteal. It’s also less crowded than Ochheuteal
and tends to be much more popular with the locals than tourists.
Come the weekend, Hawaii can get quite busy with holidayers down
from Phnom Penh. Access the beach from the small road at the
curve in the road at the southern end of the Victory Beaches.
Above Victory Beach, Weather Station
Hill (a.k.a. Victory Hill, Port Hill, The Hill) is a budget
traveler and bar/nightlife area that offers a real variety of places.
Budget and backpacker places, bungalows and guesthouses dominate the
side of the Hill above Victory Beach overlooking the ocean. Everything
on this side of the hill is within a couple of hundred meters of Victory
Beach. Hilltop, the main road from Ekareach Street is lined with
restaurants and bars, internet cafés, and come evening, several sports
bars, hostess bars and other drinking establishments. Many of the bars
stay open well into the early morning hours. The top of hill is one of
Sihanouk Ville’s nightlife hotspots.
‘Hawaii Beach’ is also known as ‘King’s Beach,’ ‘South Channel Beach’
and ‘Lamherkay Beach.’ Like the other major beaches, Hawaii Beach is
lined with umbrellas and chairs and little beach shack bars and seafood
restaurants, though nowhere near as densely as Ochheuteal. It’s also
less crowded than Ochheuteal and tends to be much more popular with the
locals than tourists. Come the weekend, Hawaii can get quite busy with
holidayers down from Phnom Penh. Access the beach from the small road at
the curve in the road at the southern end of the Victory Beaches
 Otres Beach
Otres Beach
is the next beach south of
Ochheuteal Beach
and resembles Ochheuteal in many ways - a three kilometer
crescent of near white sand facing the southwest. Unfortunately
most of Otres Beach has recently been closed, shutting most of
the bungalows and bars. A few hundred meters of the beach remain
open at the close end. The older business including Cantina and
Beach Bungalows are still there and offering that same relaxed
Otres atmosphere.
To get to Otres: 1) The road from Ochheuteal along the beach
and over the hill through Queen Hill Resort allows
easy motorcycle access to Otres but is blocked to cars and
tuk-tuks. 2) By car or tuk-tuk from Ochheuteal Beach: follow 1
Kanda Street to the end of the pavement and turn left, cross the
bridge and proceed about 500m to the next right turn. Turn and
follow the road about 2.3km to the beach. Rough road. 3) At time
of printing the Omui Street route from downtown was still under
construction but passable. Rough road..
 Independence Beach
Independence Beach
gets its name from the historic 7-storey
The Independence Boutique
Resort and Spa (originally named the Independence Hotel) that sits atop
the rocky point at the north end of the beach. The beach, generally
referred to as ‘Independence Beach’ by English-speakers, is called ‘otel
pram-pul chann (‘hotel 7-storeys’) by the locals and it is labeled
‘7-Chann Beach’ on the in-town street signs.
Independence Beach is more than a kilometer long, but the sandy area is
a bit narrow, making the beach best when the tide is lower...if it was
open. Due to a development project, most of Independence Beach has been
closed to the public. Only small sections of beach at the north and
south ends remain open. At the southern end of the beach, near
Sasha Guesthouse, a
small slice of beach is open, offering a quiet, lightly touristed corner
of sand with just a few drink and seafood snack vendors cluster together
under the trees. At the northern end, the beach is accessible from
Independence Resort, which sits on the headland overlooking the ocean. A
small fresh water lake that serves as the source of the Sihanouk Ville’s
fresh water also sits at the base of the hill (and is rumored to contain
crocodiles.)
 Sokha Beach
Occupying all of
Sokha Beach, the Sokha
Beach Resort offers beachside luxury accommodation. The beach is
open to the general public as well as guests of the resort. Sokha is a
beautiful beach, a crescent of sand about one kilometer long and
comparatively wide so that there is plenty of sand left during high
tide. The fine off-white sand is perfectly groomed these days, but the
beach is fairly quiet by comparison to nearby Ochheuteal and
Serendipity, frequented primarily but Sokha resort guests. There aren’t
any little seafood shacks on Sokha like the other beaches but a series
of gazebos and upscale beach bars/restaurants run by the Sokha Beach
Resort
Other Beaches
These ‘other’ beaches are outside of the town area and are frequented more by fishermen than tourists, though this is slowly changing. Road conditions can be challenging, especially in the wet season.
 Ream Beach
Located
in the Ream National Park. TReam
Beach is long and narrow, sitting at the edge of Preah Sihanouk
(‘Ream’) National Park
more than 20km from town. Ream Beach is ordinarily a fairly untouristed
beach with only a few beachside crab shacks. But the area next to the
beach is currently undergoing a large development project and the beach
has become a dusty thoroughfare for construction vehicles. Take Route 4
to the Airport road 18km north of town. Turn right, go 9km to the ocean.
Turn right to the beach. To the left the narrow oceanside road leads
past several little water’s edge platform seafood shacks and bars,
unaffected by the construction project
Prek Treng Beach
Also known as the ‘Hun Sen Beach,’ the Prek Treng Beach a few kilometers
north of town is a long, narrow crescent of sand, a bit rocky in parts,
offering comparatively warm shallow waters. Due to Prek Treng’s distance
from town and complete lack of services (no guesthouses, restaurants,
beach chairs, etc.,) the beach is usually deserted. There is a nearby
development project promising a busy future for Prek Treng, but at the
moment you can have the beach pretty much to yourself. Just remember to
bring drinks and snacks as there are very rarely beach vendors
available. To get there follow Hun Sen Beach Drive north a few
kilometers past the port area. The beach is on the left just past the
first bridge and before you reach the oil port.
Sunset
Points
 Sihanouk
Ville offers several excellent spots to watch sunset. Most people opt
for the beaches. Victory is the most ideally oriented beach for sunset.
The view from the other beaches is sometimes partially obstructed
depending on the time of year. Of the restaurants,
Bungalow Village,
Chez Claude, Chez Mari-yan, Nika Guesthouse and
Mealy Chenda
offer some of the best ocean views. Perhaps the best sunset point is at
the top of Sihanouk Ville Mountain. The rocks at the top face west offer
a beautiful view of the town, port, ocean and islands.
Last updated 2/10 |
