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Day 7 - Koh Rong Scuba Diving Review - Sihanoukville, Cambodia

I wasn't planning on scuba diving in Cambodia, but I'm glad I did.  I walked around Sihanoukville looking for Island Divers which was recommended in a blog, but it's no longer in business.  Looking at a map, I realized that even though most dive centers are based in Sihanoukville, most dives are actually on Koh Rong so it made sense to base myself there instead.

I ended up diving with Koh Rong Divers which is the only dive center on Koh Rong.  Luckily, they had friendly staff, a nice boat, fair prices and well maintained equipment.  They use Scubapro BCDs and Regs which are my favorite brand.  As a dive instructor, they even offered to give me a free ferry ticket if I stopped by their main office but unfortunately i didn't get that message until I was already on the island.


Koh Rong Divers Review:

Prices: At $80 for 2 fun dives, it's more expensive than Koh Tao in Thailand but worth the extra money as you get to relax on a big boat enjoying the journey as well as have a nice lunch on the boat which is one of my favorite things in the world.  For some reason, food on a boat always tastes better than on land.

For new divers, getting your PADI Open Water Certification is $320 for the 3-4 day course and is exactly the same price as Koh Tao.  If you're going to be in Cambodia anyways, Koh Rong is a good place for beginners to get certified.

Equipment: The boat, gear, and tanks were all up to par.  Good stuff.

Water Temperature: The water temp was 28/29c which was warm enough not to wear a wetsuit as you see in the photo above.

Visibility: At only 5-6 meters vis, it wasn't very good, but was okay for the first dive which was sand/macro.  Supposedly further away trips to Koh Prims island have 25m vis.

Dive Site Review:  The first dive was at Corral which came recommended as their best site to find cool stuff.  Here is what we saw.


Cuttlefish - Creative commons photo

Seahorse - Creative commons photo

  • Big Crabs
  • Octopus
  • Anemone Fish (Nemo)
  • Scorpion Fish
  • Flounder

The second dive site was called Corner bar which was good for snorkelers and beginners as the coral is decent and there is a lot of small common reef fish, but was a bit boring for experienced divers.  The biggest problem with scuba diving in Cambodia is the unsustainable fishing practices by locals Cambodians which includes dynamite fishing, bycatch and overfishing.  







Overall:

Cambodia is not a dive destination, but if you're going to be here anyways, it is worth going on a dive.  I would personally have waited until a far away trip such as Koh Prims instead, but personally I really like muck/sand diving and really enjoyed the dive at Corral.  Not nearly as cool as the muck diving in Mabul, Borneo, but still not bad and enjoyable.

I would recommend planning ahead and checking the schedules for live aboards with Scuba Nation, The Dive Shop Cambodia and Koh Rong Divers.




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  1. I am reading it. Fucking up the reefs for protein is par for the course. In Jamaica the fish traps are anchored onto the reefs,, so ya go there to party not dive. Do you see any lion fish there? They have been introduced into the Caribbean and they are eating up all the other reef fish,

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  2. Hey no Lion fish here, but they would be natural in SE Asia if there were. The biggest problem with fishing is no one uses fishing poles anymore, which is sustainable especially if you throw back small fish. Commercial fishing uses nets, dynamite, trawling, long lines, etc that kill everything.

    The other problem is locals don't realize that for every sea turtle they let live it brings in a lifetime value of $10,000US in tourism, verses whatever they do with them now.

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