Koh Rong is a gorgeous Cambodian island covered in lush, green jungle and surrounded by white sand beaches and clear blue seas. With plenty of cheap hostels, affordable restaurants and relaxed beachfront bars, Koh Rong is a lively backpacker destination. We spent 6 nights on the island which was plenty of time to explore everything the island has to offer. Unspoilt and uncrowded, Koh Rong remains one of my favourite islands in South East Asia. You can’t go wrong with Koh Rong 😉
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How to get to Koh Rong
Koh Rong is just a 40 minute speedboat from the town of Sihanoukville, which we booked online for $25 return with GTVC Speedboat. At the pier in Sihanoukville, you have to verify your online ticket at the information desk and they give you a paper ticket.
There was quite a long queue for this part so allow plenty of time and arrive early so you can get a good seat. (We were the last ones on the boat and ended up without a seat, tightly squeezed on a makeshift bench by the noisy engines!) Remember to keep the paper ticket safe as this will be used for your return journey too.
Best areas to stay in Koh Rong
Long Set Beach
This area is the main hub of Koh Rong where there are plenty of beach bars, affordable restaurants and, of course, a beautiful beach. The beach is, as you can guess, long and spacious, making it feel uncrowded. Our favourite restaurant here was Sunny Turkish Fast Food, which had fresh salads, homemade pides, and delicious wraps. It was actually some of the best Turkish food I’ve ever eaten!
If you want a lively hostel, then I’d recommend Mad Monkey or OneDerz, which are both situated in an ideal location on Long Set Beach. They both have great outdoor seating areas on the beach which were ideal places to enjoy a drink after a day of exploring. We stayed in OneDerz a few times throughout our trip to Cambodia and always had a very good experience. We really wanted to book their hostel in Koh Rong, however they were unfortunately sold out over the New Year’s period.
As those hostels were fully booked, we stayed at Fat Monkey Hostel and Garden Hostel a little further along the beach in a quieter area around 10-15 minutes from the bars and restaurants. These were basic but decent hostels in a good location. If you want a quiet hostel away from the nightlife area but still within walking distance, then these are good options.
Check out these hostels on HostelWorld
Coconut Beach
After a couple of nights at Long Set Beach, we moved around the island to Coconut Beach. Coconut Beach was our favourite beach on Koh Rong and is a lovely place to stay for a couple of nights. The area is quiet and peaceful, whilst the beach has pure white sand and warm, clear blue water. Along the shore are plenty of great caf̩s and restaurants serving fresh smoothies, coconuts, cocktails and local cuisine Рall for very cheap prices. The sunset is also beautiful here and you can enjoy it from one of the many beach bars along the shore.
We spent 1 night at Bunnan Bungalows but I wish we had booked 2 or 3. Our private bungalow was in a quiet, secluded area just seconds from the beach, surrounded by palm trees. The hotel had a beach view restaurant where we enjoyed cheap, local Thai food, plus free sun loungers and umbrellas. There were also so many puppies running around, it was like being in dog heaven.
We paid £20 for the standard double room, but if that is out of your budget you can also camp in a tent for £7. The tents actually looked quite good, as they were raised off the ground, with proper beds inside, fans and power sockets.
Check out Bunnan Bungalows on Booking.com
Koh Touch Village
This is a bustling town in Koh Rong where there are plenty of restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, boat trips, diving schools and more. You can walk all the way there from Long Set Beach, partly along the beach and partly along a shady forest trail. It’s a really lovely walk and you can stop for a drink and some food in one of the many cafes in the town.
This lively town is a great place to visit even if you aren’t staying here. The beach isn’t amazing as it’s quite dirty and full of noisy boats, but just 5-10 minutes walk away you have White Beach which is a lot nicer to relax on.
Things to do in Koh Rong
As well as visiting all the places I’ve already mentioned, there are still plenty of other areas that are well worth visiting during your time on Koh Rong.
Prek Tasok Ecotourism Community
This is a really nice place to escape the heat and enjoy a shady boardwalk through a protected nature reserve. Entry is only $2 and you can also rent kayaks for $10 and enjoy a relaxing kayak through the mangroves. We saw lots of crabs, fish and birds and overall it was a really peaceful way to spend an hour or so. Along the path are lots of places to sit and relax, so you could also bring a book and spend longer just relaxing here. At the end of the trail, there is a small cafe overlooking the river where we enjoyed fresh fruit smoothies.
Lonely Beach
Lonely Beach was definitely one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to. Apart from one or two local cafés and a small jungle gym tucked away in the palm trees, the beach is untouched. It’s a bit of a pain to get to as tuktuks can only take you so far along a sandy track before you must walk the remaining 2km. However, despite the faff of getting there, it’s worth it for the beach.
Once your tuktuk drops you off, you can follow the dirt track through the jungle where you feel really off the beaten track. People do take their motorbikes down this trail, so if you have a bike you could technically drive there, however the trail is narrow, sandy, and full of loose rocks and tree roots so unless you are very confident on a bike I wouldn’t recommend it.
You can pay to park at the top of the trail and walk the rest, or we saw a lot of people parking for free at the beach (if you can get there). However you decide to get there, the beach is well worth it.
Sunset at Long Beach
Long Beach (not to be confused with Long Set Beach) is the best beach for sunset. It also has the whitest sand I’ve ever seen. We came here one evening, just for an hour, for a swim and to watch the sun go down. Although there is nothing else around (literally, not a single bar, restaurant or shop) it’s worth it for the sunset. You probably wouldn’t want to come here during the day as there are no amenities. Also, at the entrance of the beach there is quite a lot of litter, but the main sands are clean.
Palm Beach
This is a small, shady beach surrounded by, you guessed it, a lot of palm trees. There is a small bar nestled into the palm trees where you can enjoy a cold drink. There is also a small wooden pier leading to some houses on stilts, which was pretty cool to see.
Final thoughts
Overall, we had a brilliant time exploring Koh Rong and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone backpacking Cambodia. It’s so cheap, the nature is stunning and it feels really unspoilt. (However, the Cambodian government has announced plans to build an airport on the island, opening in 2028, which I think will impact its remote, untouched charm).
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