Otres Beach

At the southern end of Occheuteal Beach, beyond the small headland, Phnom Som Nak Sdach (Hill of the King’s Palace), lies stunning Otres Beach, a seemingly infinite strip of casuarinas that can give southern Thailand a run for its money.

Developers have long been eyeing Otres Beach, and in 2010 a stretch of resorts was forcibly removed. However, Otres has made yet another recovery and is currently in rude health with more than 30 bungalow resorts in the area, including a couple of more upmarket boutique hotels. It's fair to say that Otres is no longer the empty beach it once was. Even so, Otres has cleaner water and is more relaxed than anything in Sihanoukville proper, and is lengthy enough that finding your own patch of private sand is not a challenge... just walk south. Otres is split into three distinct sections: Otres 1 is the first and busiest stretch and about 2km south is Otres 2, separated by a slated resort development and currently known as 'Long Beach'. Inland lies laidback Otres Village, an up and coming estuary area.

Otres also has an expanding range of activities on offer. At the northern end of the beach (near where you arrive from Sihanoukville) you’ll find Hurricane Windsurfing , which rents out paddle boards (per hour US$8), windsurfers (basic/high-performance boards per hour US$10/20), sea kayaks (single/tandem per hour US$4/6) and skim boards (try bungee skim boarding). Otres Beach sometimes gets surf from May to October; you can rent surfboards and bodyboards here too.There are also various flying contraptions for the brave, including flyboards (flyboardcambodia.com) and amphibious microlights with room with one passenger.

About 700m south, near the main cluster of guesthouses, you’ll find Blue Lagoon Kitesurf Centre. It’s located at Sunlord Seagarden resort. The owner also runs daily boat tours to four islands (per person US$15 including breakfast, lunch, snorkelling and a drink or two).

Way down at the beach’s sleepy southern terminus on Otres 2 is Otres Nautica , a laidback, French-run outfit that rents tandem sea kayaks (per hour US$4) and Hobie Cat sailing catamarans (per hour US$10) that you can take out to nearby islands. It also has a boat for snorkelling or island-hopping excursions.

Otres Beach is about 5km south of the Serendipity area. It’s a US$2/5 moto /remork ride to get here (more at night). If going it alone, follow the road southeast along the beach and skirt the hill by headling inland on the inviting tarmac. From the city centre, you can take Omui St from Psar Leu east out of town for 5km.





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