Cambodia's islands are an unspoilt sweet spot of swaying palms, white sand beaches and, crucially, not many tourists. Carolynne Dear flew in to review Song Saa private island, the most luxurious resort of the far-flung Koh Rong archipelago
Song Saa Private Island is a luxurious escape in the Gulf of Siam
I’m floating in the Gulf of Siam, snorkel mask pushed aside, as the sun casts a million sparkling diamonds onto the breeze-ruffled ocean around me. The serenity would be absolute were it not for the busy buzz of cicadas from the jungles of the nearby island off which our lonely dive boat is moored. The driver appears to have nodded off in the morning sunshine.
Cambodia’s Koh Rong peninsula is a world away from the busy dive sites I’m used to in the tourist hotspots of Southeast Asia. While multiple boats vie for position in bays filled with bobbing snorkellers, the whiff of two-stroke heavy in the air, my dive spot today is blissfully deserted. After a while, I clamber back on board and we putt-putt our way to another empty bay. Under the shimmering water's surface the marine life is abundant; sergeant majors and angel fish flit between rainbow wrasse and parrot fish, while tiny ‘nemos’ dance delicately through anemone. Much later, we pull up on a stunning white sand beach where tiffin tins of salad, skewers, Khmer curry and rice are conjured up from the depths of our small boat. After lunch there’s time for one more swim in the crystal waters before clambering back on board and heading for home.
I’m staying at the stunning Song Saa Private Island, an eco-resort in the Koh Rong archipelago and a 50-minute speedboat ride from Sihanoukville city on Cambodia’s compact coastline. Gliding into the resort on my first day was a little akin to arriving at a Maldivian atoll, from the smiling staff proffering cooling welcome drinks to the palm trees leaning picturesquely over the tiny white sand beach.
Ocean villas come with private pools and a tiny private beach overlooking the waves
My accommodation on these dusty desert islands is a beautifully designed eco-villa overlooking the ocean. The generous wooden structure features a huge, snowy white four-poster bed and a relaxing lounge area that leads through bi-fold doors to a plunge pool and terrace with loungers overlooking the sea on a tiny section of private beach. There are indoor and outdoor rain showers as well as a huge tub overlooking the ocean. The luxe factor is amped up further still with a free-flow drinks and snacks fridge filled with bubbles, beers, savoury bites and homemade biscuits.
Song Saa is the brainchild of Melita Koulmandas, an Australian stylist turned Cambodia-based resort owner. While living in Hong Kong, Koulmandas introduced me to the resort over coffee back in 2017. There was an invitation to fly down to see it for myself, but with one thing and another I couldn't make it, and then Covid struck and so here I am, finally in situ and absolutely delighted to be visiting after so many years delay.
The resort may be super slick these days, but it's taken huge amounts of imagination and hard work to get to this point. Koulmandas first arrived in Cambodia in the early 2000s, taking up landscape design work in Phnom Penh. One evening, a friend regaled her with stories of a string of untouched islands off the coast. Unable to locate them on a map, she decided nevertheless to check them out, and after a long drive from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville (this was in the days before the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukille expressway) and an equally long journey in a hired fishing boat helmed by a skeptical boat driver, she finally reached the Koh Rong archipelago and the tiny, jungle-covered islands of Koh Oeng and Koh Bong.
“It was such an adventure,” she recalls. “We slept on beaches, went fishing and met the five little communities living out there.”
However, all was not as paradisical as it seemed. Dynamite fishing had destroyed the reefs and overfishing had led to the clearing of the islands’ rainforests to create land for crops and livestock. The coral was clogged from the fishing boats emptying their bilge tanks. Plastic rubbish was knee-deep in places as there were no means of disposing of it. In a word, the eco-system was a mess and many locals wanted to move back to the mainland.
But Koulmandas was smitten by the two tiny islands which were to become Song Saa and jumped at the opportunity when the islands' owner offered to sell them to her, allegedly for a paper bag full of US$ and a bottle of whisky. What followed were years of hard work. The plastic was cleared, bagged up and taken to the mainland for disposal, a solid waste system was installed and the country’s first marine protection zone was established.
Barefoot dining at the resort's infinity pool
At first, the clean-up was privately funded by Koulmandas, but in 2005 she took the plunge to set up the Song Saa Foundation and establish a tourist resort on the islands. Her goal was to create a high-end, low-room-count resort in harmony with the natural surroundings. Conservation experts were drafted in to advise on construction methods that wouldn’t harm the local ecology and Koulmandas designed absolutely everything herself, from the villa buildings to the rugs on the floor.
And to everyone's shock and delight, the marine zone also proved to be a success. Within just 18 months of the marine protection zone coming into force, fish stocks were back. The resort now employs a full-time marine biologist to monitor marine life within the two mile fishing exclusion zone around the islands and report back to the government.
Thanks to Koulmandas' design nouse, the resort offers 27 stunning ocean, jungle and overwater villas, all with private pools. The villas are sustainably constructed, from the energy efficient thatched roofing to the locally made, hand-crafted furniture and the wooden floors laid with timber salvaged from factories and warehouses around Cambodia and Thailand.
The staff are endlessly creative with their presentation of facilities on the far-flung islands. Each morning a paper scroll is left on my bed letting me know where dinner will be served that evening. On the first night I pad bare footed along the overwater boardwalk to the resort’s main restaurant, an open air dining space with a candlelit table ready to greet me. On my second night I dine at the resort pool, my table set up in the ankle-deep shallows. On my final night, I enjoy a sunset meal on the sand by the Driftwood Bar. I feast on Khmer-influenced dishes, with breads baked on-site, fish locally caught in the surrounding waters and veggies grown on the islands. Each evening as the inky darkness descends I am led back to my villa along sandy paths by a torch-bearing member of staff.
My days at Song Saa drift away, either cooling off in the stunning resort infinity pool, lazing on the tiny resort beaches or simply reading on my lounger back at the villa. One day is spent snorkelling the bays of neighbouring Koh Rong island and on another I kayak through mangroves forests.
This is decadent territory for couples, but families are just as warmly welcomed at Song Saa. Children are invited to enjoy the ‘Children’s Corner’ housed in a little hut in the jungle. There are plenty of fun activities for older children to join in with, from diving and snorkelling to wakeboarding, sailing, kayaking and tubing. Little ones can take part in island treasure hunts organised by the staff and the main pool has shallow areas for youngsters to splash in. The restaurants cater to families with child-friendly menus and babysitting is available on request.
The neighbouring stilted village of Prek Svay is benefitting from the work of Song Saa Foundation
On my last afternoon I’m taken over to the main island of Koh Rong for an introduction to the Song Saa Foundation’s work supporting the local stilted fishing village of Prek Svay with healthcare initiatives and education programmes.
The foundation’s work is divided broadly into three categories, water, people and land. Medical missions, education programmes and organic farming support are lent to local communities. In 2013, the foundation launched a ‘Boat of Hope’ which travels around communities providing medical care. On land, restoration and conservation initiatives support mangrove and rainforest systems in the archipelago and a solid waste management programme at Prek Svay village.
So far, the foundation has launched 68 Boat of Hope missions, reaching more than 5,500 people and distributing just short of 10,000 educational materials, such as stationery, vitamins, toothbrushes and solar lamps. Much of the foundation’s funding comes from donations and sponsorships.
Visiting Prek Svay village is a must during a visit to Song Saa to better understand what the foundation is trying to achieve and it's a fascinating peak into Cambodian coastal life. It’s also a great way of introducing your own children to a very different way of life to their own.
Unfortunately all good things had to come to an end and soon I was back on the speedboat surging its way to Sihanoukville.
Travel stats
I flew to Phnom Penh with Cathay Pacific. Song Saa Private Island arranged a driver to meet me at my Phnom Penh hotel and took the new and extremely efficient Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville expressway (approximately two-and-a-half hours) to Sihanoukville. At the Sihanoukville port I waited in the private Song Saa welcome lounge until it was time to transfer to the resort speedboat and take the 50-minute journey to Song Saa.
Asia Family Traveller was a guest of Song Saa Private Island.
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