South Coast - Cambodia - page 382

If you are going anywhere besides the Koh Tui area on Koh Rong, make arrangements
through the relevant resort, most of which run daily supply trips to Sihanoukville and take
passengers for about US$20 return.
For Koh Tui, Koh Rong Island Travel ( 034-934744; kohrong-islandtravel.com) runs two daily
boats to/from the port area in Sihanoukville. Boats leave daily at 8am and 2pm, taking al-
most three hours, longer in choppy waters. Tickets are US$10/20 one way/return. Return
trips from Koh Tui to Sihanoukville depart at 10am and 4pm. As we went to press, this
company launched a fast catamaran called the Princess , departing Sihanoukville at 8am
and 2pm daily and returning at 10am and 4pm, calling at Koh Rong Samloem in each dir-
ection. Tickets cost just US$25 return and it takes 45 minutes.
Another new catamaran option is SEA Cambodia Fastcat ( www.seacambodia.com ) , which de-
parts four times a day from the Serendipity Beach jetty, arriving at Koh Tui in less than
one hour. Seating about 35 people, tickets were available for just US$13/26 one way/re-
turn during our visit, but prices may rise.
Corner Bar ( 015 703805; [e-mail]) on Koh Rong offers speedboat
pick-ups for about US$100 to US$150 depending on which boat you use. The six-passen-
ger Zodiac can make the trip to Sihanoukville in less than an hour.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Koh Sdach
Archipelago
Just off Botum Sakor National Park's southwest tip, this is a modest archipelago of 12
small islands, most of them uninhabited. Basing yourself at one of the two islands with ac-
commodation - Koh Sdach (King Island) and Koh Totang - you can spend a day or two ex-
ploring the other islands, some of which have utterly isolated beaches and good snor-
kelling. Most island-hopping tours target Koh Ampil , a cluster of three tiny islands sur-
rounding a spit of sand, and long white beaches on either side of Koh Smach .
The only village of any size is on Koh Sdach, which is just 10 minutes by outboard
(speedboat) from the point where the new four-lane highway terminates on the mainland.
This highway makes the archipelago infinitely easier to access, but as it's part of a huge
tourism development, it may permanently change the southwest coast of Botum Sakor,
once known for virgin beaches backed by virgin forest.