Koh Rong Island was our second stop in Cambodia, and the first step to get there was to take an internal flight from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville with “Cambodia Angkor Air.” The flight takes about an hour.
As mentioned in the post Hotel in Siem Reap, on the morning of our departure from Siem Reap, I received a message from the hotel in Koh Rong informing us that the port authorities had cancelled the ferry services from Sihanoukville to Koh Rong due to bad weather.
Meanwhile, our flight was delayed by a few hours, and while waiting, I was desperately searching for a place to stay in Sihanoukville for the night. I nearly booked the Sahaa Beach Resort but decided to wait, and it was a good thing because shortly after, I got another message from the hotel informing me that the authorities were now allowing boat crossings, and that they would let me know as soon as they had more information.
Later, I received a message from the company that operates the boat trips (Pagoda Speed Ferry) to arrange our departure to Koh Rong for the following day at 1pm. But it didn’t end there, after landing in Sihanoukville, I received another message from the hotel in Koh Rong, saying that Pagoda Ferry was willing to make the crossing within the next hour if we paid an extra ticket, as they didn´t meet the minimum number of passengers required to make the journey. Of course, we agreed, and headed straight to the Sihanoukville port in a private car organized by the hotel.
The half-hour journey from the airport to the port of Sihanoukville was quite depressing. What was once a bustling beach tourist destination has now turned into a site of abandoned construction buildings. Over the last 10 years, Sihanoukville has received a massive Chinese investment for the construction of casinos, resorts, and housing blocks. However, in 2019, a change in the law banning online gambling, among other regulations, and later the COVID-19 pandemic, led to the abandonment of the ongoing construction, which persists to this day. As Chinese tourism gradually resumes, it remains uncertain whether investment in Cambodia will follow suit and if the construction will ever be finished.
The boat transportation was organized by the hotel and costs 17 USD per person each way. At the Sihanoukville harbour, in addition to the companies offering boat crossings to the islands, there’s also a 7-Eleven convenience store, which can be useful for buying drinks and snacks to take back to the hotel in Koh Rong, as there are no shops close to Pagoda Beach, where we stayed. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to stock up, but it wasn’t much of a problem as we were lucky that another family staying at the hotel kindly offered us a bunch of rambutan, a typical fruit of Southeast Asia, and we got our snacks sorted.
At the dock, we met the other family who were also taking the boat with us (they also agreed to pay an extra ticket fee), and off we went on the speedy boat to Pagoda Beach in Koh Rong. It rained continuously during the journey, but the sea wasn’t too rough, and the trip took approximately 40 minutes without any incidents.
I can´t say the same for the return trip back to Sihanoukville, which did not go well, as you can read in the post Departure from Koh Rong.
After arriving at the Pagoda beach pier, the hotel staff greeted us with umbrellas and promptly took our luggage. We then embarked on a 600-meter walk along the beach before finally reaching our hotel.
With all the uncertainties about whether a boat would cross to Koh Rong, it was crucial to have mobile data to communicate with the hotel and the boat company. Therefore, I strongly suggest purchasing an Airalo e-SIM to stay connected while travelling. Just download the app, create an account, select the desired country and data plan, make the payment, and then install the eSIM. See more details in here and click here to check if your phone supports eSIM .
*This post contains affiliated links, and if you make a reservation/purchase through them I may earn a small commission at no extra cost you.
