Sihanoukville

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**Sihanoukville**
ក្រុងព្រះសីហនុ
Statistics
Area:	868 km²
Inhabitants:	235,190 (2006)
Pop. density:	270.9 inh./km²
ISO 3166-2:	KH-18
Map

Sihanoukville, also known as Kampong Som, or Kampong Saom, is a port city in southern Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. The city was founded in 1964 to be the only deep water port in Cambodia and its beaches are making it more popular as a tourist destination. According to the Royal Government of Cambodia some 320,000 tourists visited Sihanoukville in 2006, up by 30 percent from 2005.^{[citation needed]} The city is named after King Norodom Sihanouk.

The town is increasingly popular with former residents of Pattaya forced to leave by changes in Thailand's tourist visa rules in 2006. Many bars in the centre of town and on Victory Hill (also known as Weather Station Hill) cater to a mixed clientele of older white men and young asian women.^{[citation needed]} In 1994, the town was the location where three western backpackers were kidnapped and killed by the Khmer Rouge, which affected tourism in the area for many years after.^{[citation needed]}

The city is served by Sihanoukville International Airport. The planned flights between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap may encourage visitors to Angkor temples in Siem Reap to extend their stay. However, Sihanoukville remains an unattractive destination compared to neighboring Thailand and the majority of the recent development in the region is fueled by greed and the proceeds of transhipping narcotics through its port.^{[citation needed]}

1 Geography
2 Occheteal Beach and Serendipity Beach
3 Sokha Beach
4 Independence Beach
5 Victory Beach
- 5.1 Islands
6 Koh Rong
7 Koh Rong Samlon
8 Koh Tang
9 Administration
10 Sister cities
11 References
12 See also
13 External links

[edit] Geography

Sihanoukville is a low lying town with beaches and tropical islands off its south and west coast. Beaches that line the west contour of the city from north to south are Victory Beach, Lamherkay Beach, Koh Pos Beach, Independence Beach, Sokha beach, Serendipity Beach and Occheuteal Beach. The most popular beaches are Occheuteal, Sokha, Independence and Victory. Tourist can take water taxis to the nearby islands for diving, snorkeling, and game fishing.

[edit] Occheteal Beach and Serendipity Beach

Occheteal Beach is a long and narrow strip of beach lined with Casuarina trees, grass umbrellas, rental chairs and little drink huts. Many huts were bulldozed by the government to make way for a supposed new resort.^{[citation needed]} At the northern end is Serendipity Beach, the most popular beach with western tourists. Serendipity beach offers small guesthouse rooms right on the beach.

[edit] Sokha Beach

Sokha Beach is located just west of Serendipity Beach . This beach is privately owned and is the first luxury beach hotel in Cambodia. It provides many facilities with a wide white sandy beach, but hotel guards may prevent visitors who are not guests from going on to the beach.

[edit] Independence Beach

Independence Beach is located next to Sokha Beach on its west. The beach was named after the old Independence Hotel. This beach offers a good stretch of clean sand. Situated at the northern end of the beach is Independence Hotel and Koh Pos Beach with a tiny island only 800m off the coast. Koh Pos is known for its rock strewn shoreline.

[edit] Victory Beach

Victory beach is situated at the furthest north of the peninsula of Sihanoukville . It was the original backpacker beach and still popular with budget travelers. At the northern end of the beach is located the deep sea port. Thus, apart from white sand and blue sea, this beach offers a good spot to enjoy the scenes of sunset.

At the further south of Victory Beach is another small strand of sand called Lamherkey Beach where the Hawaii Seaview Restaurant is located. It is the place where a French/ Cambodian construction team laid groundwork for the construction of the new Port of Kampong Som during 1950s. At this beach, you can hire a boat to nearby islands.

[edit] Islands

There are more than a dozen islands off the coast of Sihanoukville for tourists to hop around. Most of them are yet to be developed for an overnight stay with the exception of Bamboo Island or Koh Russei in Khmer. Many guesthouses, restaurants and cafes on Ochteal Teal Serendipity beach offer trips and packages to these islands.

Soon Nail Island (also called Magic Island because it looks like a mushroom) will have a hotel run by the russian owners of the snake house. They already have a pier and most of the hotel and restaurant are finished.

[edit] Koh Rong

Koh Rong is situated west of the Sihanoukville coast. It offers the fantastic strand of beach on its southwest, stretching about 5 km. It has fresh water resources on the island and a bustling fishing community on the southeast with basic supplies including fresh water, fish and crab.

[edit] Koh Rong Samlon

Koh Rong Samlon is a bit smaller than Koh Rong and situated on its south. Beautiful beaches are on the east coast, where a large heart-shaped bay with some shellfish cultivation is located, and on the north shoreline facing Koh Rong.

[edit] Koh Tang

Koh Tang is located quite far from the main shoreline of Sihanoukville. Going there needs trippers to stay overnight on board. It offers interesting diving spots most of which are not frequently explored. The island is home to a military outpost and travelers should expect to be boarded by military personnel when out at the island.