Koh Rong Sanloem

"what the beaches of Thailand were like 20 years ago... utterly serene and beautiful. Calm, clear water laps lazily on idyllic white sand beaches, and there's not much else to do but kick back and enjoy the sun, sand and waves. Word will get out -- it always does. So get to these islands before they become overrun with tourists"

I found this sentence on a web site and this is really what I felt in Koh Rong Samloem.

I choose to stay in Mpay Bay, which is located at the north of the island and served by boat services from Shiannoukville.

It gets its name from the local fishing community called Village Number 23 as in the Khmer language 'M'pai Bei' means twenty-three.

It has seen many of the new budget accommodation options from individual bungalows to guest house rooms being built either on or a short walk from the beach in the fisherman village but the best option is still to book a bungalow or a bed in dorms in Eco Sea Dive (number 15 on the map below).

For a bed in dorms you will pay 10$ each night.

Scuba diving, snorkeling and fishing trips can be book directly from your resort/guesthouse.

There are currently no banks or ATM machines on either Koh Rong Samloem or Koh Rong and credit / debit cards are not accepted so visitors must take US dollar cash with them.​​

Electricity isn’t working all day. In most places, electricity comes from a generator or solar energy, then the connect electricity only few hours each day.

What about Internet… As you can imagine there is no internet on the island. Few bars and guesthouse at the pier in the fishing village will provide you a wifi access but this is not the high speed as we have in our western countries.

If you really need data, it is recommended to buy a Metfone SIM card with a data plan for a handful of dollars before leaving for the island in order to get cheap access to the network as this seems to offer the strongest signal and have the greatest coverage.

Otherwise, experimenting once in your life few days or weeks alomost lost into the wild is an amazing experience. Without electricity (most of the day) and without internet you live with the sun and socialize more with other tourists or staff.