Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
CRIME AND SAFETY IN SIHANOUKVILLE
As Sihanoukville flourishes, so does petty
crime
. It is rarely serious, and mostly opportunistic,
and certainly not something that should put you off visiting, but it's a good idea to make the
most of hotel safety-deposit boxes and keep an eye on your belongings when on the beach.
Bag snatching, even from motos and tuk-tuks, is on the rise. As a rule, don't carry anything with
you that you can't afford to lose.
Personal
safety
is another issue altogether; there have been several incidents of assault at
Weather Station Hill/Victory Hill and along the dark unlit road to Otres Beach late at night, and
drunken brawls are not uncommon, so it is safer to travel home by tuk-tuk rather than on foot
or by moto, even around the main beaches.
Although none of this is anything to be paranoid about, it's as well to ask your guesthouse
when you arrive if there have been any recent incidents. Ultimately, the fun happens in the
well-lit parts of town, so it shouldn't be too hard to stick to them.
insalubrious reputation after dark, but the nearby
Victory Beach
is a family-friendly
stretch, more relaxing than Ochheuteal, with a small row of beach bars (and a casino)
along the northern tip.
Independence Beach
Independence Beach
, more than 1km long, is rather narrow, and best visited at low
tide. Much of it is closed for development, but you can chill out at the northern end -
The Small Hotel
(see p.254), runs a good (daytime) restaurant-bar here beyond which
the pier marks the section of beach reserved for guests of the
Independence Hotel
.
Sokha Beach
Just 200m of pretty
Sokha Beach
is fully accessible to the public. The rest is reserved for
residents of the
Sokha Beach Resort
. It is OK for foreigners (but not Cambodians) to
walk along the full length of the beach, but if you want to linger you'll have to pay
(Mon-Fri $5, Sat, Sun & public holidays $7), which includes use of the hotel's
swimming pools. Rocky headlands at both ends of Sokha Beach draw small fish and
make for great snorkelling, and it's a wonderful place at sunset when the islands of Koh
Tre and Koh Dah Ghiel are thrown into silhouette.
Kbal Chhay waterfalls
Picnic platforms 5000 riel/day • Head east out of Sihanoukville on NR4, turning left after about 7km at a sign for the falls, then continuing
another 8km north; moto/tuk-tuk return trips should cost $8/$15
Popular with Khmer families, the
Kbal Chhay waterfalls
, a series of cascades fed by the
Prek Toeuk Sap, gained recognition after appearing in Cambodia's post-civil war movie
Pos Keng Kong
(The Giant Snake); impressive in the rainy season, the falls aren't worth
the trip in the dry.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
SIHANOUKVILLE AND THE BEACHES
at night. Note that the principal guesthouses will send
transport to meet buses.
Companies and routes
Phnom Penh Sorya, Mekong
Express, GST, Virak Buntham and others have outlets at the
station (and o
ces along Ekareach St) from where they run
e
cient express buses to Phnom Penh, with numerous
departures from early morning to early afternoon. The best
service is run by Giant Ibis (
T
089 999 818,
W
giantibis.com)
BY BUS
Bus station
The new bus station is off Mittaheap
Kampuchea Soviet St, in the Weather Station/Victory Hill
area, northeast of Independence Square. It's less than
10min in a moto or tuk-tuk to Ochheuteal and Serendipity
beaches, 5min to Downtown. Phnom Penh Sorya has its
own bus terminus on Ekareach St. A few buses pick up (and
drop off ) passengers along Serendipity Beach Rd, especially
