Go: Sea and Sand, but no Sun, at Sihanoukville

I don't know if, like me, you've been studying your calendar recently, but October and November are very good for public holidays here in Cambodia.  The best thing about Cambodian Public Holidays is they tend to come in groups of three (so much better than this one day here and one day there business).  So my current project is to figure out how I am best going to take advantage of these days off.  

In search of inspiration, I've been flicking through photos of our last few trips, including a flying visit to Sihanoukville one weekend a few months ago.  We only went for a night, just to get a bit of sun, sand and sea.  Unfortunately, as it was the beginning of wet season, there wasn't much sun.  But we did enjoy the sand and sea.

We set off early on Saturday, stopping at a market along the way to pick up supplies.

The Rambutans were especiallly delicious, freshly picked from the orchard across the road.

We spent most of out time at Otres Beach.  Being a little way out of town, Otres Beach is lovely and quiet, and, relatively, clean.   Its about 10-15 mins drive from Sihanoukville, but worth the trouble, I think.

We bought a seafood feast at the market, which we brought with us to the beach (although there are plenty of places to eat at the beach).  The barbequed calamari was delicious! 

We weren't the only ones excited by this feast.

We didn't spend much time in town, apart from dinner at one of the BBQ restaurants on Tola Street, where you can get freshly barbequed seafood, potatoes and salad for a few dollars.  

I am not a fan of Occheuteal Beach (the main beach) although we did stroll down there one evening to watch the crowds setting off their fireworks.

We stayed at at Sea Sand Guesthouse, mainly because you can get an AirCon room for $12 per night.  The rooms are basic, but clean and come with TV, hot shower and AirCon, which was all we needed.  It is a bit of a hike from the beachfront  (that's what tuk-tuks are for), but it is just around the corner from the market (Psaa Leu), which we found very handy.

If you want somewhere closer to the action, you could try Orchidee Guesthouse.  Or, if you want something more upmarket there's the Independence Hotel or Sokha Resort, both of which have private beaches.

We had breakfast at Douceur du Cambodge, a cute little French bakery just down the road from our guesthouse (and the  market).  We got the last little table available and has one of the best value breakfasts I've had.  For 10,000 Reil ($2.50) we got a cooked breakfast with eggs, baguette with butter and jam, and a espresso coffee.  I didn't take a photo, but here's someone else's:

Image from here

On our way back to PP we stopped by a 'waterfall'.  Not exactly my definition of a waterfall, but still a nice spot to stop and eat.  There are little bungalow type things you can rent and we brought our own food.

If you're looking for other ideas down the coast, check out my post on Kep.

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