South Coast - Cambodia - page 339

Developers have long been eyeing Otres Beach, and in 2010 a stretch of resorts was
forcibly removed. However, Otres has made yet another recovery and is currently in rude
health with more than 30 bungalow resorts in the area, including a couple of more upmar-
ket boutique hotels. It's fair to say that Otres is no longer the empty beach it once was.
Even so, Otres has cleaner water and is more relaxed than anything in Sihanoukville prop-
er, and is lengthy enough that finding your own patch of private sand is not a chal-
lenge...just walk south.
Otres is split into three distinct sections: Otres 1 is the first and busiest stretch and
about 2km south is Otres 2, separated by a slated resort development and currently known
as 'Long Beach'. Inland lies laidback Otres Village, an up-and-coming estuary area.
Otres also has an expanding range of activities on offer. At the northern end of the
beach (near where you arrive from Sihanoukville) you'll find Hurricane Windsurfing (
017 471604; windsurf-cambodia.com) , which rents out paddle boards (per hour US$8), wind-
surfers (basic/high-performance boards US$10/20 per hour), sea kayaks (single/tandem
US$4/6 per hour) and skim boards (try bungee skim boarding). Otres Beach sometimes
gets surf from May to October; you can rent surfboards and bodyboards here too. There
are also various flying contraptions for the brave, including flyboards (see flyboardcam-
bodia.com) and amphibious microlights with room with one passenger.
About 700m south, near the main cluster of guesthouses, you'll find Blue Lagoon Kitesurf
Centre ( 085 511145) . It's located at Sunlord Seagarden resort. The owner also runs daily
boat tours to four islands (US$15 per person including breakfast, lunch, snorkelling and a
drink or two).
Way down at the beach's sleepy southern terminus on Otres 2 is Otres Nautica ( 092
230065) , a laidback, French-run outfit that rents tandem sea kayaks (US$4 per hour) and
Hobie Cat sailing catamarans (US$10 per hour) that you can take out to nearby islands. It
also has a boat for snorkelling or island-hopping excursions.
Otres Beach is about 5km south of the Serendipity area. It's a US$2/5 moto / remork
ride to get here (more at night). If going it alone, follow the road southeast along the
beach and skirt the hill by headling inland on the inviting tarmac. From the city centre,
you can take Omui St from Psar Leu east out of town for 5km.

Sokha Beach
Midway between Independence and Serendipity lies Sihanoukville's prettiest beach,
1.5km-long Sokha Beach. Its fine, silicon-like sand squeaks loudly underfoot. The tiny

BEACH