• Koh Russei (Bamboo Island) - can be reached by private boat for US$5, at the Sunset Cafe on Occidental Beach, ask the owner the night before you want to go, or from the beach near Ream National Park (about 20km east of Sihanoukville). On the island there are 2 sets of huts on either side of the island, both with bar/restaurant and offering 10 basic huts each for US$10-15 per night (early 2008 prices). Bookings though Koh Ru booking office or Coasters Guest houses in Sihanoukville. This pure unspoilt tropical island experience is a wonderful place to relax. Prices on the island tend to be about 50% above the average Sihanoukville level and their are no banks or Atm's so make sure you take enough money.

Koh Ru Resort (Bamboo Island) This recently refurbished bungalow resort is quite basic with $10 having a shared bathroom but excellent location right on the sand. The resort has its own private beach with no hawkers or vendors to be seen. The owners are in the process of building a dormitory priced at $3 a bed to make the island more accessible to budget travelers. You can book $10 return boat transfers from the Koh Ru booking office two doors away from the Boom Boom Room shop on Serendipity Beach Road.

• Scuba diving - there are many islands off the Cambodia coast that have lots of coral and fish. All the dive boats in Cambodia leave from the Sihanoukville port area. There are 2 PADI Dive Centers, 1 SSI Dive Center and instructors from NAUI and CMAS working at smaller dive shops in town. The main scuba diving area is the Koh Rung Group located 14 miles offshore. There is also some shallow diving at Koh Tas 6 miles of shore. The best diving is the overnight trips to the Koh Tang Group, 35 miles from Siahnoukville, where large pelagic are seen regularly, visibility is double what you will find at the close in sites. 2 dive day trips US$59-70, overnight trips US$185-195 all inclusive

• Snorkeling - is possible around most of the islands, with the best snorkeling being at the further our islands for visibility, corals and fish. Many restaurants at Serendipity Beach advertise a snorkeling trip for 15$, but most are incapable of properly explaining what their offer includes. Most will boil down to the same trip organized by one of the travel agents which includes (simple) breakfast at the beach, a visit to two snorkeling spots and a 3 hour lunchbreak at Bamboo Island.

• Ream National Park - a wonderful mangrove nature reserve about 30 minutes driving from Sihanoukville. Probably the best way is to contact the park rangers by phone and see if they can arrange a guide to show you around in a boat-hiking combi. The organised trips from Sihanoukville can be disappointing, as they sometimes fail to supply a proper guide.

The reason to visit Sihanoukville is the beaches. Not as crowded as some of the Thai resorts, but they can be cramped on weekends and holidays. Also visitors should be aware that, like many Southeast Asian beaches, these ones are covered in a lot more rubbish than Western beach-goers are used to. For diving go to one of the nearby islands. The town itself doesn't offer much to see. From north to south, the beaches are:

• Victory Beach - south of the commercial port with plenty of budget accommodation nearby on Weather Station Hill.

• Independence Beach - also known as '7-chann beach' after the defunct, seven-storey Independence Hotel.

• Sokha Beach - all but 100 meters of it reserved for guests of the Sokha Beach Resort.

• Ochheuteal Beach - the most popular beach, with many restaurants, bars and food vendors. Pronounced, roughly, "oh-chur-teal". The northern part is called Serendipity Beach, and offers guesthouses right on the beach.

• Otres Beach - south of Serendipity, this is the least developed and crowded beach.

Other places of interest include:

• Kampong Pier Nup Lok - the old fishing port 2 km north of the commercial port offers some nice views.

By plane

The small Sihanoukville Airport (IATA: KOS | ICAO: VDSV) is located 17km to the east of town, on the edge of Ream National Park. However, the airport's only scheduled service, between Siem Reap and Sihanoukville on PMT Air, was suspended after a fatal crash in June 2007. The runway is very slowly being extended and international flights may be offered in by the end of 2008.

By helicopter

Sokha Helicopters [1] offer a VIP charter service from Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. They land at their own private helipad at Sokha Beach Resort. Charter rates start at US$1495 per flight hour plus 10% VAT & 10% SPT. They also have optional package holidays in conjunction with Sokha Beach Resort. Helicopters are modern, French-built Eurocopter Ecureuils with luxury leather seating for 5 passengers. Licensed pilots are from Australia and Europe. Flight time from Phnom Penh is 55 minutes and Siem Reap 1 hour and 40 minutes.

By bus

From Phnom Penh: National route 4 from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville is one of Cambodia's best roads. There are regular bus services with Sorya and GST from Phnom Penh (Central Market) which takes about 4 hours at a cost of 16000 Riel, or US$4.50 through a guesthouse. The first bus leaves at 7:15 AM, the last one at 2:30 PM. All buses arrive and depart from the bus station downntown.It's worth reserving the day before or at least a few hours in advance to be sure of a seat. Mekong Express also runs two buses a day for US$6, as does Capitol Guesthouse.

From Koh Kong / Hat Lek (border crossing with Thailand): for the most part this road is unsealed and the condition depends on the weather and frequency/scale of maintenance. "Local" and "Tourist" minibuses service this route; they are always jam-packed, and the trip can be uncomfortable. "Local" service price depends on how much space you want (a whole seat, half a seat, or a space on the roof); foreigners can expect to pay around US$6-8. Rith Mony bus co. and Virak Buntham Express operate a daily bus service. The journey takes about 5 hours (there is a new road and the old, time-consuming ferry crossings have been replace with bridges). There is some moderately spectacular views at the Koh Kong end of the journey.

By taxi

A chartered taxi from Phnom Penh's Central Market can do the trip in less than three hours and will cost anywhere from US$25-40, depending on the gas price of the day and how beat up the vehicle is. You can reduce the price by sharing seats, but be warned that Khmers will squeeze in as many six people into the car, so most people will need to buy two seats for comfort.

By boat

From Koh Kong / Hat Lek (border crossing with Thailand): weather permitting, a daily fast ferry departs from Koh Kong for Sihanoukville at 08:00 and from Sihanoukville for Koh Kong at 9.30. The journey usually takes about 4-4.5 hours and stops once to pick up/drop off supplies at an outlying island; tickets for foreigners cost US$20 (or 700 baht). Minibuses and moto-taxis shuttle passengers from the ferry to the border crossing; a moto-taxi should cost 50 baht. On the Thai side, minibuses run to Trat(110 baht) where it is possible to connect with the Thai public bus system, direct to Laem Ngop (for ferries to Ko Chang), and direct to Bangkok, Pattaya etc.

By train

There are no longer any passenger services on the Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville railway line. It may be possible to hitch a ride with the freight train security guards - enquire locally for further information.

Distances between the beaches are a little too long to walk comfortably, but getting around is easy, as the roads are wide and bike taxis (motodop) are everywhere. The standard price is US$1 per trip, although expect to haggle at night or if the distance is long. They'll gladly pile on two people and their luggage too. For larger groups, car taxis can be called up by phone (flat US$5 to most places around town) and there are a few tuk-tuks lurking about too.

Another great choice to get around fast and free is to rent a scooter. Haggle a bit and you can get it for US$5 a day, fuel is quite cheap and can be bought at many roadside shacks.

There are several small shops in the town, plus a standard Cambodian market ('Psaa Leu'). Handicrafts organization Rajana has a branch above the Starfish Cafe.

Several other clothing and souvenir shops are starting to open, both downtown and around the Victory Hill and Ocheteaul area as well.

ATM machines can now be found throughout Snooky. Downtown, ANZ Bank has two and Canadia Bank has one and Acleda Bank has one. There's also one at CCS Hotel and one at the Golden Sands Hotel, Occheuteal Beach.

Along the beaches there are many food stalls and some restaurants, especially at Ochheuteal beach. Many of them serve grilled seafood with chips for only 3-4$. There are a good many restaurants in town as well. Sihanoukville boasts a surprisingly diverse set of cuisines.

• Angelo's Restaurant, Near Golden Sands Hotel, Excellent BBQ (try the ribs!!!) and Greek cuisine.

• Happa, Serendipity Beach Rd. Japanese teppanyaki (hot plate) restaurant.

• Ku Kai, Serendipity Beach Rd. Japanese restaurant with sashimi (raw fish) and awesome ribs.

• La Paillote, tel. +855-12-632347, Victory Beach. French-Khmer cuisine in one of the finest restaurants in the country. Entrees US$5-11.

• The Mexican, tel. +855-12-315338, Serendipity Beach Road. Mexican, Western and Khmer Food, sizzling fajitas, tacos, jalapeno poppers, quesadillas

• 'Mick and Craig's restaurant' . Near the Golden Lions. Near the golden lions. A Sihanoukville institution, mick and craigs has been providing comfort food for travellers in sihanoukville since 1997. Check out the nightly specials their mexican "tex mex" menu is a particular favourite and the sunday roast is just like mom used to make.http://www.mickandcraigs.com/restaurant.htm

• Monkey Republic. Near the Golden Lions. Favourite dishes are Kekabs, Baracuda (fish) and Chips, Chicken Amok and Some fine gourmet rolls. Prices are reasonable and the portions are big.

• Noh Kor Phnom, Occheuteal Beach (inland, on first road to beach when coming in from town). Friendly no-frills seafood restaurant with a menu of over two hundred options. Try the steamed sunfish with soybeans and ginger (US$4.25).

• Pim's Restaurant', Ochheuteal Beach. Western and Cambodian Food. From October BBQ You own Meat, Meat and Fish Fondue and Cheese Fondue. Traditional Cambodian Evenings. 9 Hole Minigolf.

• Same Same But Different. On the beach, reasonable food, good price, good staff. Excellent Thai Green Curry. Beware the Happy Pizza, it's very happy...

The trend on Serendipity Beach is to advertise with permanent 'Happy Hour', which usually implies cocktails for 2 or 2.5$ and draft Anchor beer for as little as 50-75c. The latter is only recommendable if you don't mind drinking it with ice, however, as it is not as cold as it should be.

• Captain Morgan, Golden Lions Plaza. Nice looking bar with friendly staff. Excellent food and snacks. Open until very late...

• Monkey Republic, Near Serendipity Beach. 75c happy hour Draft, Big parties every Thursday. Good pool table. Good tunes selected by UK Dj's.

• Star Bar, Located downtown behind Shell gas station. Extremely cold Anchor draft beer (happy hour 50c, rest of the day 75c). Friendly waitresses. Good pool table. Decent kitchen with western oriented menu. Popular Wednesday evening barbecue US$2.

Darashack