Tag Archives: island

Koh Rong but So Right: Go Off-Grid on This Small Island in Cambodia

Nestled about 15 miles off the coast of Cambodia in the crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Thailand is a beautiful unspoiled island of treasure just waiting to be explored. That island, with the sparkling white sand beaches and views to die for, is Koh Rong.

The second largest island in Cambodia and only recently developed in 2000, Koh Rong is just a short one hour trip from Sihanoukville, the popular tourist destination on the mainland of southern Cambodia. The island is pretty small, not even six miles at its widest and just nine miles long, but boasts almost 40 miles of coastline.

Because the island is so recently developed, there are no high buildings, shopping centers or surprisingly, even 7-Elevens. So if you’re looking to get a high-end gel manicure, this is not the place.

Accommodation

Koh Rong caters both to backpackers and families. You can find a room in a guesthouse for as little as $5 per night or a bungalow on the beach with air-con for around $40 per night. Even in high season, you can find a room pretty easily, and since many of the guesthouses and hostels aren’t registered online (Wi-Fi is spotty at best), it’s much easier to just find a place once you’re on the island. That way you can have a look around and decide what’s best for you. For families, the nicer accommodations are usually available to browse on booking sites.

koh rong beach shack cambodia
Koh Rong, Cambodia

Things to Do

Most of Koh Rong’s coastline is graced by beautiful white sand beaches, while the interior is almost completely covered in lush forest. If you like to hike, there are trails throughout the island, leading to rushing waterfalls hidden deep in the thicket. If you’d rather relax, there are 28 beaches on the island that offer stunning views of the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Thailand and absolutely spectacular sunsets. Most beaches are just a short (and cheap) longtail boat ride away.

cambodia koh rong boat ferry
Boat and ferry pier in Koh Rong

Boat tours go out every day to different beaches around the island. There are many companies running tours, which are more or less the same, and will run you about $8 for a full day of snorkeling, fishing, free barbeque lunch and drinks and a guaranteed stunning seaside sunset. Yes, $8.

sunset police beach koh rong cambodia
Sunset from Police Beach in Koh Rong | Photo: Alexa Albanese

Most tours stay out past sunset to allow swimming with bioluminescent plankton, a natural phenomenon that causes little sparkles of bright blue light in the dark ocean water. You can also see the plankton when swimming off the beach at night but it’s more intense in the deep ocean after sundown.

There are a surprising number of shopping opportunities on the island, selling handcrafted products made right on the island, like little Buddha bracelets and hand painted t-shirts. Lace crop tops, silver earrings and denim cutoffs make appearances as well.

gulf of thailand
Beautiful turquoise water in the Gulf of Thailand | Photo: Alexa Albanese

Depending on weather, you might feel like just hanging out in a hammock all day long and that’s okay too. The vibe on the island is very chilled out during the day, with most people lounging around, sunbathing, reading books and sipping cocktails. Check out CoCo’s on the main beach for comfy circle chairs and a cold draught beer.

Nightlife

Koh Rong parties. If you’re traveling with a family, you’ll probably want to stay off the main beach as it’s lined with bars and hostels that go full throttle every night. There are hippie bars, local bars and even a reggae club with a dance floor that gets down around 10pm.

main beach koh wrong cambodia
Candlelit dinner on the Main Beach in Koh Rong | Photo: Alexa Albanese

Everywhere on the main beach starts to shut down at midnight, after which the party moves to Police Beach. A 15-minute walk from the pier, Police Beach is deserted during the day but hosts a huge party with live music that goes late into the night every night. The locals are friendly, the drinks are strong and the scenery is beautiful.

Safety

There is no hospital on the island and if you get injured, you’ll need to take a private boat back to the mainland which will set you back around $250. Keep that in mind when you’re walking around barefoot at night, or in the sea with sharp coral.

Like most islands in South East Asia, Koh Rong attracts a young crowd looking to have some fun. Always watch your drinks and leave your valuables at home. Swimming after a few drinks is also not a great idea, no matter how beautiful the bioluminescent plankton is.

Sand flies are an issue on Koh Rong. They’re tiny little insects that you don’t notice biting you until after you’ve acquired a very red and itchy rash. It’s not pretty. Coconut oil keeps them away so be sure to slather yourself when going to beaches without a lot of foot traffic.

coconuts
Image via Pixabay under license CC0

As is to be expected, the sun is quite strong on the island and sunscreen is a daily necessity. Always drink plenty of water and go easy on the alcohol if you start to feel sun poisoning coming on.

Getting sick on Koh Rong is not an unusual occurrence and sometimes there’s nothing you can do to avoid it. Only drink bottled water, stay away from food that has been sitting out for too long and be careful when consuming fruit shakes, as the ice isn’t always safe.

Conclusion

Your experience on Koh Rong will be what you make it. There’s potential to have an absolutely beautiful vacation on an underdeveloped island rich with gorgeous beaches, lush forest, friendly locals and stunning sunsets.

pier koh rong cambodia
Pier in Koh Rong

The island is admittedly less accommodating to those used to a more glamorous style of traveling, but if you can just accept the fact that you’ll probably be without Wi-Fi, hot water and possibly even power while you’re there, you’ll have a great time. Those looking for an authentically South East Asian island experience with access to some of the most gorgeous beaches in the world will find it in Koh Rong, Cambodia.

The ABCs of the Caribbean: 3 Islands to Visit this Summer

 

From July to September each summer, the warm waters off the southern tip of Florida drag in hurricanes from the Atlantic and funnel them up into North America, temporarily excluding most of the Caribbean Sea and its famous beaches from savvy travelers’ itineraries. But don’t let the weather rob you of your Caribbean vacation altogether—instead, cast your beach-hungry eyes all the way to the southern edge of the sea, just off the coast of South America, and you’ll find three islands that are too cool for hurricane season.

Sprinkled a handful of miles off South America’s northern edge are the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. All are parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and all are infused with a cultural confluence combining that of their Dutch colonizers with Latin American flavors and a heart that’s pure Papiamentu, as the local Arawak- and West African-descended people refer to their creole language and culture.

With glitzy resorts on Aruba, world-class diving on Bonaire, and a buzzing cultural capital sandwiched between the two on Curaçao, there’s something for any summer traveler on the ABC islands.

 

Alluring Beaches on Aruba

The westernmost of the ABC islands lies just 18 miles off the northern coast of Venezuela, where aquamarine Caribbean water gives way to white sand marching up to multicolored beachfront shops and towering hotels and resorts.

Palm Beach at Aruba
Palm Beach at Aruba.
Natural Bridge Landmark in Aruba.
Natural Bridge Landmark in Aruba.

Aruba’s dry climate and the constant trade wind breeze, keeping the island a nearly unvarying 80 degrees year-round, draws more tourists to its beaches and resorts than any other island in the southern Caribbean. Most itineraries start with seafood and cocktails in the capital, Oranjestad, a popular port of call for Caribbean cruises and the cheapest airport of the ABCs for most visitors arriving from the US. From there, Eagle Beach and its neighbors are among the can’t-miss sandy shores of the southern Caribbean.

eagle beach
Eagle Beach | Photo by Ian Mackenzie via Flickr under CC BY 2.0.
Aruba
Photo by Carl via Flickr under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Aruba’s beaches and the tourist establishments that surround them are a great starting point for those seeking waterborne adventures like windsurfing and diving. For an up-tempo August vacation, catch the annual Aruba International Regatta, three days of quintessential Aruban partying and boat racing.

 

Balmy Island Adventure on Bonaire

Sparsely populated and covered in green as far as the eye can see, Bonaire is a stark contrast to its larger neighboring islands to the west. It’s the smallest and least populous of the ABC islands, giving it a rural, spacious feeling that can be a welcome relief for those coming from the busier and more touristic islands just to its west; and while it’s got the same perfect weather and beautiful beaches as Aruba, the real treasure here is under water.

bonaire diving
Photo by David Stahl via Flickr under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Most tourists will use the capital of Kralendijk, the only major town on the island, as a base for launching their underwater adventures. With some of the most diverse marine life and reefs, Bonaire is home to some of the best diving in the Caribbean, offering experienced divers and first-timers the surreal experience of exploring some of the Caribbean’s best-preserved shipwrecks and coral reefs.

bonaire boats
Kralendijk | Photo by Cliff Hellis via Flickr under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

During your stay on Bonaire, think outdoors: bird watching, mountain biking, and anything involving a wetsuit deserve a spot high on your to do list for the island. While staying on the first 100% sustainable island of the Caribbean, look for a trendy eco-resort that combines some adventure activities with a few nights of rest in environmentally-responsible paradise.

Thousand Steps, Bonaire
Thousand Steps, Bonaire.

 

Cosmopolitan Meets Creole on Curaçao

Centered between Aruba and Bonaire, the largest of the ABC islands is also its cultural hearth: from quirky cuisine to festivals and historical sites, Curaçao has the widest variety of offerings for travelers burnt out on beach bumming and ready for a little stimulation.

Curacao
Bay views in Curacao
curacao handelskade
Photo by Nelo Hotsuma via Flickr () under CC BY 2.0.

The iconic buildings of the Handelskade showcase the cultural confluence that is Curaçao with starkly contrasting rows of distinctly Dutch rowhouses in bright yellows, sky blues, electric greens, and other such bright colors that pop against the backdrop of the turquoise Caribbean sea. The largest city of the ABC islands, it’s home to hip artsy neighborhoods like Pietermaai where urban alternative meets fun in the sun.

curacao market
Curacao Willemstad Market | Photo by Rene Leubert via Flickr under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Explore the touristy Punda district on your way in and head for historic Otrobanda, meaning “Other Side” in Papiamentu, home to cultural attractions like the Kura Hulanda museum, which showcases the island’s own history and its poignant place in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Dine on fish caught in the same waters you were swimming in that same morning, or go for a vegetarian-friendly bowl of cactus-based kadushi, or other Curaçaoan dishes with their heavy Indian, Indonesian, Caribbean, and South American culinary influences.

Queen Emma Bridge in front of the Punda district, is a pontoon bridge across St. Anna Bay
Queen Emma Bridge in front of the Punda district in Curacao.
Curacao
Curacao at dusk

Save your money for shopping downtown and check into one of Curaçao’s favorite hostels, like the Ritz or Hostel La Creole, both of which include a dorm bed and breakfast for as low as $22 a night.

Traveling the Caribbean in hurricane season can still be paradise when done right, but the first step is choosing the right destination. Take your pick of beautiful beaches, unrivaled diving, and the culture and cuisine that defines the southern Caribbean, and escape to the ABCs this summer.