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Koh Rong & Sihanoukville Crowd Forecast
Planning Koh Rong & Sihanoukville? Pick your dates and see how busy that week typically is: based on 15 months of official Ministry of Tourism data (2023–2026), with festival peaks flagged.
Busy
High season pace: book stays and dinners ahead.
Historical monthly averages, official Ministry of Tourism data 2023–2026: not a real-time prediction. Festival dates: 2026 official calendar.
Visitors to Koh Rong & Sihanoukville, month by month
Monthly averages across 15 reported months (2023–2026), Preah Sihanouk region, domestic + foreign arrivals. Source: Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia: monthly statistical reports. · Data refreshed 2026-07-16.
How the coast’s seasons actually work
Cambodia’s coast is first and foremost a domestic beach destination: about 9 in 10 visitors to Preah Sihanouk province are Cambodian. So the calendar follows Khmer holidays more than the Western winter. April peaks at about 680,000 visitors around Khmer New Year, while the rainy-season low of August drops to roughly 160,000: a 4× swing.
Foreign travellers ride a different, gentler wave: their arrivals peak around January (about 54,000), when the sea is calm and the island ferries run full schedules.
Dry season for the islands, monsoon for the deals
November to April is island weather at its best: flat seas, reliable ferries to Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem, and clear nights for the islands’ famous bioluminescent plankton. May to October brings the southwest monsoon. Mostly short, heavy afternoon downpours, wettest around August and September. Boats still run most days, but schedules thin out and swells build; in exchange you get the cheapest beachfront bungalows of the year and beaches nearly to yourself.
Picking your week
- Nov – FebPrime island season: calm seas and dry skies. Cambodian beach traffic clusters on weekends and public holidays: come midweek if you can.
- Mar – AprHot, and still fine at sea. Avoid mid-April unless you want the Khmer New Year beach rush: the coast’s busiest week of the year.
- May – OctMonsoon season: confirm ferry times the day before, plan around afternoon rain, and enjoy low-season prices. August and September are the wettest months.
And the weather?
Crowds are only half the question: here is the rainfall and heat for the same weeks.
Rainfall and heat, month by month
Full climate chartDriest around Nov–Apr; wettest in Sep (~520 mm, 28 rainy days). Daytime highs stay 27.7–29.7°C year-round.
FAQ
- When is the best time to visit Koh Rong?
- The dry season, roughly November to April, is best for the islands: calm seas, reliable ferries and blue skies. It is also the busier, pricier half of the year. April peaks at about 680,000 visitors to the coast. For the sweet spot, aim for the shoulder weeks of November or late February. Based on 15 months of official Ministry of Tourism arrival data for the Preah Sihanouk coastal region (2023–2026).
- When is the Cambodian coast busiest?
- April, with around 680,000 visitors: the coast is above all a domestic beach destination, and Khmer New Year (mid-April) sends Cambodians to the sea en masse. Dry-season weekends from December to February are the next busiest.
- When are Koh Rong and Sihanoukville quietest?
- August is the low point (about 160,000 visitors): deep in the rainy season, roughly 4× quieter than the peak. Expect the cheapest beach bungalows of the year, near-empty sand, and warm but wet afternoons.
- What is the rainy season like on the islands?
- May to October brings the southwest monsoon: mostly short, heavy afternoon downpours rather than all-day rain, with the wettest stretch around August–September. Seas get choppier and some island ferries reduce their schedule. Check the day before if you travel then.
- Does the crowd forecast cover Koh Rong specifically?
- The figures are official arrivals for the whole Preah Sihanouk coastal province: which includes Sihanoukville, Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem. The islands share the mainland coast’s seasons and are reached by ferry from Sihanoukville, so the monthly pattern is a reliable guide for island trips too, even though the count is province-wide.
- Is this a real-time crowd prediction?
- No. It shows historical monthly averages from official Ministry of Tourism statistics (2023–2026) plus known holiday dates: how each period typically compares, not live beach occupancy. April's spike, for example, is Khmer New Year, not a permanent state.
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