A real highlight in the Gulf of Thailand lies not in Thailand itself but on the neighboring country Cambodia: the island of Koh Rong. It can be considered as island paradise with wide white sands and crystal clear water, like you would normally only expect to see in the Maledives. It is a rather small island, maybe comparable to the size of Ko Tao in Thailand, but tourism is not yet big and the vibe you still can get here is very natural and untouched. 1 spent 1 week on the island and was mainly here for diving and exploring the nature.
To get to the island you first must make it to Sihanoukville and take from there a 45min speed boat for around 15$. The frequency of the boat transport is during the entire day and there are also a few carrier companies to chose from. The biggest village on the island is Koh Touch, where also the pier for the boat happen to be. The village is rather small and consists basically of one road parallel to the shore side with some restaurants, bars and hotels. I stayed in a bungalow almost in the jungle but it was just a few meters into the village. The beach in the village is also quite OK, but there is much more to see around. To get around I can recommend you to get a motorbike. A lot of other travel bloggers say that there are no roads, but this is not true anymore. In the last few years the road network increased a lot and is covering almost al corners of the island. Prices for a motorscooter are everywhere 10$/day including the needed gas.
Beaches
Long Beach beach
This beach is located on the western side of the island and is covering almost the entire length. Going west from Koh Touch on the new built road brings you there in a few minutes per motorbike. The sand on the beach is pure white and you can easy find a spot with no single other person. Be aware that there is a private resort in the middle of the shore line, which you can pass but not allowed to stay or swim.
Sok San beach
At the upper end of the Long Beach there is the small village of Sok San with its beach. Everything is more slowed down and quite compared to Koh Touch, so it is the spot for people that are searching for pure relaxation.
Palm beach
The palm beach resort is on the road around the island in the north and is absolutely worth seeing. The scenery with all the palm trees and the ocean is just magical.
Lonely beach
My personal beach highlight was this one. It is not easy to get there and the path is partly really rough to drive, but it is absolutely worth to get there. The crossing to the beach is on the Main Street north to the east just near a pagoda (when I was there is was still in construction). After 15min riding through the jungle you will get to the shore and see the beach line. On the left hand side there is a little hostel and restaurant where as to the right is the beach front. When I was there, the name lonely was the scenario I found there: just around 5 other people and one local fisher boat were there. It is very peaceful and ideal to relax. The restaurant I mentioned before is rather expensive so you probably carry some food and drinks with you.
Coconut beach
On the south side of the island is this beach which can only be accessed through a half build road. It has a long pier and a nice shore line but nothing to be truely impressed of.
Long Set beach
Going east from Koh Touch village you will find this beach covering the entire bay. It is also quite long and has white and golden sands, depending on the location. There are only a few hotels in this area so you will easily find a quite spot.
There are a couple of more beaches of course, but I mentioned the bigger and easy to access ones. All of them I was able to reach via motorbike within 1 day. For others you might need to rent a boat for getting there.
Activities
Snorkeling along the shores of the island can be quite disappointing because you will see little or no sea creatures at all. When you book a snorkeling event they will take you a few minutes with the boat to the small island of Koh Koun, where there are plenty of corals and therefore also plenty of fish to see.
I went for a dive exactly at the same area and could see a lot of marina life under the water. The ocean is not quite deep at this place (around 10m) so you have a lot of time to explore everything. For me it lasted for 2x 50min dives. I must admit the visibility was not 100% great but good enough to spot some nice animals. There should be also big creature like rays or turtles in the area but unfortunately I didn’t spot any on my dive.
Another highlight is the fluescentig plankton which can be spotted sometimes at night. The tours offered everywhere on the island.