What's on in Sihanoukville, Cambodia through the year

Busy — Dry season, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Dry season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Dry season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Khmer New Year, Dry season

• Festival

  Khmer New Year

  13–16 AprWater-festival New YearCrowdedBook early

  The whole country comes to this coast for it. Ferries run full, the beach is wall-to-wall Cambodian families, and rooms cost what they never otherwise do. Source ↗

Still on: Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Rough island crossings

  1 Jun – 15 Oct · usuallyOff-season shutdownClosures

  Southwest wind puts a short chop on the run out to the islands and the ferries get cancelled on the bad days. Plenty of the island guesthouses simply close until November.

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Rough island crossings (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Rough island crossings (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Festival

  Pchum Ben

  10 Sep – 10 Oct · usuallyMajor festivalClosures

  Fifteen days of dawn offerings ending in a three-day national holiday; the town's Khmer staff go home and services thin out for the week. Source ↗

Still on: Rough island crossings (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — Bon Om Touk, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Bon Om Touk

  25 Oct – 25 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The end-of-rains holiday, when the coast takes another domestic wave and the ferries to the islands run at capacity for three days. Source ↗

Still on: Rough island crossings (1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually)), Pchum Ben (10 Sep – 10 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Bon Om Touk, Dry season

• Season

  Dry season

  15 Nov – 30 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  Calm water and reliable crossings to Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem, which is what most people are actually here for. The mainland beaches are a building site by comparison.

Still on: Bon Om Touk (25 Oct – 25 Nov (usually))

Busy — Dry season, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))