Snorkeling in Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Some kind of sun fun in the plastic ocean near Sihanoukville in Cambodia where they have dynamite fished all the corals and fishes up to the sky...

Sihanoukville (Khmer: ក្រុងព្រះសីហនុ - Krong Preah Sihanouk), also known as Kampong Som, is a port city in southern Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand and is a growing Cambodian urban center. It is 185 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh and it is the administrative center of Sihanouk Province. The city is named after King Father Norodom Sihanouk and grew up around the construction of Sihanoukville Port. Construction on the port began in June 1955 and it was the only deep water port in Cambodia. The port was built in part due to the waning power of the French leading to the Vietnamese tightening their control over the Mekong Delta and hence restricting river access to Cambodia. Sihanoukville's beaches have made it a popular tourist destination.

The city is served by Kang Keng Airport, 18 kilometers from downtown (11 miles). Although it has a limited commercial operation. The planned flights between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap may encourage visitors to Angkor temples in Siem Reap to extend their stay, though the crash of a charter flight in Phnom Damrey on 25th June 2007 from Siem Riep, has caused concerns.

Sihanoukville attracts tourists with its laidback beach atmosphere when compared to Thailand's more developed ones.However, the city has attracted not only tourists, but several NGOs and foreign and national investors in the last years in order to develop not only the growing tourist industry, but its capacity as an international sea port and other sectors like textile and real estate. In Sihanoukville is also located the main factory of Angkor, the Cambodian national beer.

Sihanoukville was the place of the last official battle of the United States army in the Vietnam War, although the incident took place outside Vietnam. It is known as the Mayagüez incident on May 12-15, 1975 between the US forces and the Khmer Rouge. Currently, visitors dive in Koh Tang, one of the Sihanoukville islands where the major battle to free the SS Mayagüez took place. Divers can see two shipwrecks 40 meters down.[

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• sihanoukville
• snorkelling
• cambodia
• bambooisland
• plastinthesea

[CloverTV]

Well, at least in Sihanoukville they have destroyed the bottom of the sea by dynamite fishing. Maybe you can find some other place which is better for snorkeling. Krabi area in Thailand and the north coast of Bali are great places for snorkeling!

[CloverTV]

That´s nice! It´s a small world, isn´t it? Take care.

[clippers4me]

@pockemoshka

Ive been to Cambodia 5 times but never have made it to KOh Rong the biggest island. Heard there are some nice snorkling place and a absolute paradise island. Too bad not many people coordinate trips and overnight stay. Anyways good luck and have fun.

[pockemoshka]

Hi! My husband and I are going to Cambodia in September, we are big fans of snorkeling! How was it? Did you see any interesting fish if it survived?

[torry22n]

We sat at the same table at Bamboo Island on February 12, 2009! See MarkJamesCambodia day 3.