Koh Rong

I'm going to be brutally honest here: Koh Rong was a disappointment. You can clearly see it was once a pristine, beautiful island that it's still advertised as today, but unregulated rapid developments and over tourism have sadly marred this island's peaceful charm. Our time spent here was marked by a heavy undercurrent of shock, sadness, anger, and disappointment at the blatant destruction and lack of environmental consideration for this once-beautiful place.

The sand and sea is littered with rubbish, with burning piles of plastic seemingly the main way locals combat this problem. Sewage runs directly into the sea where resort-goers can be seen swimming. Trees and hillsides are being torn down and pulled apart to make way for bigger concrete giants, with wildlife such as snakes and monkeys being displaced and venturing further inland looking for a new home (I kid you not, a massive snake slithered right into our hostel!)

'But what about the glowing plankton!' Koh Rong was once famous for it's neon blue plankton. Apparently, you can still see it when the night is perfect, but once the construction is completed and the light from the resorts hits the ocean, the plankton is going to be impossible to see. Even now, you can only maybe possibly catch a shimmering glimpse of it if there is no moon in the sky and you swim far out into the sea at night with a scuba mask.

Okay but what are some of the positives of Koh Rong? Honestly, they have good parties. If you want to let loose, meet people and have a fun night out, Koh Rong is a good place to be - specifically Nest Hostel which throws the 'Nestival' every weekend. But the amount of cans, plastic cups and water bottles left in the sand the next day feels worse than the hangover you're guaranteed to have.

All in all, we weren't fans of Koh Rong.