Koh Tonsay, Kep Province, Cambodia.

©tropicalpixsingapore/Getty Images

Koh Tonsay

Kep


If you like the rustic beachcomber lifestyle, Koh Tonsay's 250m-long main beach is for you. This is a place to while away hours or days doing little but lazing on the beach, napping, reading, sipping cocktails, eating seafood and stargazing before retiring to your threadbare bungalow and drifting off to the sound of the waves. Scheduled boats to Rabbit Island (US$8 return, 20 minutes) leave from Rabbit Island Pier at 9am and 1pm and return at 3pm or 4pm.

Kep guesthouses can arrange boat tickets or you can purchase them at the Koh Tonsay Boat Ticket Office. Private boats to the island can be arranged on the spot at the ticket office and cost US$25 return for up to six people.

Rabbit Island is so named because locals say it resembles a rabbit – an example of what too much local brew can do to your imagination. The main beach, rimmed by restaurant shacks and rudimentary bungalows (US$7 to US$10 per night), is nice enough, just don’t expect the sparkling white sand of Koh Rong or Koh Rong Sanloem. This one is fairly narrow and might be populated by chickens or wandering cows. Still, you can swim here and it's a fine place to chill.

You can walk around the island to find more isolated beaches. The island has long been tagged for development but it appears that these plans have been put off for now.

Other islands of the Kep Archipelago include Koh Pos (Snake Island; about 30 minutes beyond Rabbit Island), which has a deserted beach and fine snorkelling but no overnight accommodation. There's also small, beachless Koh Svay (Mango Island), whose summit offers nice views. You can explore these islands for about US$75 with a private boat arranged at the pier, or Kep Adventures offers group trips.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kep attractions

1. Coconut Beach

3.22 MILES

This 'beach' has dining platforms and food shacks, but not really any sand as such. It begins a few hundred metres southeast of Kep Beach, just past the…

2. Giant Crab Statue

3.46 MILES

This oversized statue of a crab, sitting just offshore, proudly shows off what Kep is most famed for.

3. Wat Samot Raingsey

3.65 MILES

This very modest Buddhist temple sits at the beginning of a trailhead into Kep National Park that leads past some small pagodas, a nunnery and onto the…

5. Kep Beach

3.87 MILES

This is Kep's only proper beach, although it wasn't always that way. In the prewar period, powder-white sand was trucked in from other beaches. This…

6. Kep National Park

4.21 MILES

The interior of Kep peninsula is occupied by Kep National Park, where an 8km circuit, navigable by foot, mountain bike, or motorbike, begins behind…

7. Kep Butterfly Garden

4.47 MILES

This small and beautifully kept flower-filled garden is home to myriad butterflies. You can cycle or motorbike here – drive about 300m past the Rabbit…

8. Wat Samathi

4.57 MILES

Sitting atop a hill overlooking Kep, this tranquil wat has gorgeous views over the coast. You can take the off-shooting 'Samathi Path' from the main Kep…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "cambodia/south-coast/kep/attractions/koh-tonsay/a/poi-sig/1382629/355893",
      "destination": "Kep",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "Cambodia",
      "city": "Kep",
      "position": "superzone"
    }