When it first crossed my mind to add Cambodia to my South East Asia trip, all I could envision were thousand year old temples and a rich Buddhist culture. I knew a few people who’d been lucky enough to backpack here already and what I gathered was that my pre-visualization was pretty accurate. Little did I know Cambodia would be home to some of the most beautiful tropical islands in the world. So beautiful they rival those of Thailand and the Philippines, their nature challenging the likes of the Maldives and Fiji. Who knew, nestled away on the south coast of the country, that there is the almost untouched gem of Koh Rong Island. Until very recently the island was off the tourist radar, home to only Khmer families and villages living off the land.

Now when I say almost untouched I mean it’s not quite as high on the tourist radar as the likes of Thailand’s party islands – but there is still a very high interest in the island.*

When doing my research on Cambodia I came across the island and recognised the name from other backpackers – previously thinking it was in Thailand (d’oh!). After much deliberation (about 2 seconds) my stance on visiting Koh Rong was a firm HELL YES. My birthday was falling over the time I was meant to be there, which meant I’d hopefully be spending my 24^th birthday drinking $2 buckets of cocktail on the beach. Not only were there white sandy beaches and turquoise blue sea, but one of the main attractions (and a bucket list item for me) was seeing the bioluminescent plankton, which you probably remember from that scene in The Beach.

MORE THAN A BEACH BUM

For those who groan at the thought of spending all your time vegetating on a beach (I know you’re out there), you’ll be happy to know there are an abundance of fun activities to do on Koh Rong Island.  These include kayaking, scuba diving, paddle boarding, and fishing. Since I was only going to be there a few days I wanted to squeeze in as much as possible. Obviously this included a little beach time – I mean how could you NOT spend some time relaxing when you’re basically in a tropical paradise. My first day was spent full-time chilling on white sand and swimming in warm, turquoise-blue waters, then perching myself in the comfiest hammock I could find for a mid-afternoon nap. When I woke there was the cutest stray puppy sat next to me (which I would not stop going on about all day) who decidedly adopted my boyfriend and I as his buddies for the day – even getting in the water and having a swim with us.

PSA: I know sometimes we forget when we’re in paradise, but wear sun cream! Or you’ll end up like me looking like Larry the Lobster with a dodgy V neck burn. 

ADVENTURE ADAM

When walking around on the first morning looking for somewhere cheap to get breakfast, I walked to the edge of Koh Toch village and found myself at a guesthouse with a western looking man sat on the fence. I asked where I could find a decent breakfast and he directed me to a café back along the beach, called Dreamcatcher. He explained to me he was working for a company called Adventure Adam – a tour group founded by a Brit, a German, and a Frenchman – and asked me if I’d be interested in doing a tour around the island. This was pretty much what I had planned to do but I was looking for the best tour to take me. I let him explain exactly what the tour entailed and decided that it would be the best way for me to see a fair bit of Koh Rong. My boyfriend and I booked on to a tour for the next day for $25 each.

After meeting at 9am back at the same guesthouse, we were taken by a French guy called Martial to a rickety looking boat run by two Cambodian fishermen. Our group was about 16 strong and a mix of British, German, Dutch, and French.  After a briefing of the day’s activities from Martial (and him explaining that if we need a toilet break, just jump in the sea!) we set off to our first snorkeling spot at one of Koh Rong’s many reefs. I’ll be honest I’m a bit of a reef snob after seeing the Great Barrier Reef in all its glory – so I decided to opt out of snorkeling. Instead we got to drink beer and jump off the boat into the lukewarm water. The next stop was Preksway village on the north of the island to see how the Khmer people live – visiting their shops, temples, and seeing them make coconut oil from scratch. Martial even taught us how to fish Cambodian style, and everything we caught we barbecued and ate for lunch on Lonely Beach (I didn’t catch anything – fishing is not my forte). There were a few more stops around the island before we settled on Long Set beach for sunset and more beers.

“When they’re disturbed, they glow”

Then came the moment I had definitely been waiting for – the bioluminescent plankton. We got back on the boat in the dark and headed off to a secluded and dark spot of the island (we had almost done a full loop at this point and were nearing Koh Toch village). Martial explained that we had perfect conditions for it, as there was no moon and it was a little cloudy – basically making the water pitch dark. He also explained there was no way we would be able to document the experience – as the plankton does not show up on the GoPro! Not disheartened, I put on my snorkel and jumped in.

At first, I couldn’t see anything. But when I moved, everything around me lit up. One girl described it as swimming with stars, and it was true. It was as if I had jumped in to the Milky Way. Every move, every twist, turn, and dive ignited these little beings and everything around you would glow. “When they’re disturbed, they glow”  – Virginie Ledoyen said in that iconic scene in The Beach, but I did not realise how magical it would feel to actually be surrounded by them. It was as if I was in The Life of Pi, just waiting for a glowing whale to breach over us. Just moving my hands slightly would cause a trail of glowing plankton. Weirdly, I was OK with not being able to document the whole encounter on my camera.  I experienced a natural phenomenon which most would only ever dream of seeing, and I know I am in the select few who can say “I saw that”. This is one of the rare occasions where a photograph or a video will never do it justice (I don’t care how good you are, capturing magic is hard) and you will not get the same dreamlike sensation seeing it on Facebook or Instagram.

If that’s not inspiration to get out and see it yourself I don’t know what is.

*Koh Rong Island has been sold to an international investor planning to turn the island into a tourists paradise, complete with an eco-village, multiple resorts, and even an international airport. Although the island is still fairly quiet and unpopulated the huge developments are scheduled to start around 2020. One of the beaches on the island lost its status as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world due to the illegal logging and deforestation committed by the group in order to build such sites. 

So go now before the development starts.