4 Highlights from a Weekend in Sihanoukville

March 14, 2012 · 4 comments

Last weekend we packed up the car and headed to Sihanoukville. I lived there from 2005-2008 and my wife from 2003 and we have quite a few fond memories of Cambodia’s busiest beach town. The town has lost a lot of its sleepy, laid back appeal and is certainly not the prettiest of coastal resorts but it still has atmosphere, lovely beaches and some great restaurants.

Here are four highlights from our three day trip:

Sandan Restaurant:

Child protection NGO M’Lop Tapang’s new restaurant is situated just beyond the Golden Lions traffic circle on the road to Sokha Beach.

It was set up with the help of Friends International who run two successful restaurants in Phnom Penh, Friends The Restaurant and Romdeng.

I am not a restaurant reviewer so I’ll just say that we enjoyed an excellent meal in a beautiful setting with great service.  As an added bonus, there was a nice play area to keep the kids entertained.  Anybody heading to Sihanoukville should definitely take the time to visit.

Sandan Restaurant, Sihanoukville

Otres Beach:

Although much busier and more built up than when we lived in Sihanoukville, Otres beach remains our favourite.  We went to Vanny Restaurant but most of the options on this beach looked good.  It’s generally way more relaxed and less hectic than the other beaches on offer.

Otres Beach, Sihanoukville

Ku-Kai Restaurant:

It is worth visiting Sihanoukville, in my opinion, just to eat at Ku-Kai.  This extremely popular Japanese restaurant can be found on the way into town from the Golden Lions on 7 Makara street.

The Japanese owners serve up fresh sashimi and other delicacies at extremely reasonable prices.  This is probably my favourite restaurant in Cambodia.

Like Sandan there is also a nice play area for kids.

Ku-Kai Restaurant, Sihanoukville

The First Sihanoukville Angkor Half Marathon:

I didn’t quite have the training to run in the half marathon, but I did complete another 10k race.  Despite the heat and hilly course, I managed to break my personal best by a few minutes.

It was a well-organised event with some experienced runners competing in the half marathon and lots of local participation.

The First Sihanoukville Angkor Beer Half Marathon

All in all it was a great weekend.  We saw some friends, ate some great food and made merry on the beach.

Still happy to get back to the peace and quiet of our house outside Kampot though.

Love Sihanoukville, hate Sihanoukville?


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Tagged as: Angkor Half marathon, Kukai restaurant, Otres Beach, Sandan, Sihanoukville

  • Polskey

    Ahhh, you actually make me miss it quite a lot. Would love to visit again sometime with my family, sure I would have a completely different time. I notice Chiva’s wasn’t on your top 4! What is happening on Occheteal beach these days??

    • Simon Oliver

      We didn’t even go there Pol. I am not sure if Chiva’s is still going or not.

  • Chris

    Nice article, but although Otres is stll fairly relaxed, its only a metre wide piece of sand. Better quiet local beaches in my opinion are Independance or ’Hun Sen’ beach just past the port (direction Stung HAU). 

    • Simon Oliver

      Yes I like Independence too but last time I was there half of it was closed. Hun Sen beach is nice but there aren’t any restaurants there (at least when I last went).