A little way out of Sihanoukville, Otres beach is a welcoming haven away from the craziness of the kingdom. With white sand, clear seas and a horizon dotted with tropical islands, it is the perfect place to unwind, even when stormy days are forecast. Despite the occasional grey clouds, for a lot of us here on Otres, rainy season is our favorite time of year, and the quieter days give us the opportunity to kick back, relax and enjoy our beachside paradise.

Don’t miss the rainy season sunsets on Otres Beach.

These days, Otres actually consists of three different communities; the beach-side Otres 1 and Otres 2, linked by a kilometer long stretch of empty sand, and Otres Village, a peaceful riverside neighborhood set back into the jungle. In high season, the community is buzzing, with tourists, travelers, expats and locals flocking to the beach, seeking sun, sea and sand with a bit of hedonistic pleasure thrown in for good measure. From luxury resorts to backpacker bungalows and laid-back acoustic sessions to all night jungle raves, Otres is the perfect place to find what you’re looking for. In fact, so much so that many travelers find themselves marooned here for months and even years on end, myself included.

From about May onward, the heady mix of parties and people slowly starts to tail off. With the onset of the rains and tourist numbers diminishing, a few places close up for the season, while others batten down the hatches with copious amounts of tarp, dropping their prices to attract the few travelers that haven’t been put off by the weather. The threat of rain is not usually the best accompaniment to a relaxing beach break, but with a plethora of activities, low season discounts and a distinctively more mellow vibe, Otres is the ideal place to weather out the storm, if there even is one anyway.

Despite June through October being known as the rainy season, it doesn’t actually rain every day. Sometime we get weeks of beautiful weather with just the odd downpour, enjoying hot sunny days and fancy cocktails on an all but empty beach. But, even if you do get caught out in the storm, the monsoon is a sight to behold, with lightning shooting across the sky and rain thundering down. The beach storms are the best, where you can watch the clouds roll in and the wind start whipping. If you can time it right, it’s the perfect time to go sailing, the hull of the boat gliding across the waves as fast as you can go. Sometimes the rain never actually hits, and at night you can sit on the beach and watch the dark clouds illuminated with a spectacular lightning show across the wide expanse of ocean, or swim in a sea full of blue phosphorescence, while the sky lights up overhead.

See? It’s still beautiful in rainy season.

Rainy season sunsets are also the best sunsets, where all the clouds burst with color as the sun sinks over the distant peaks of Koh Rong. Watching sunset is a religious activity here, especially in low season. In high season, the sun descends like a big ball of fire through a hazy sky, but in the rainy season, the sky is transformed into a watercolor painting of swirls and spirals, the sun sinking through fluffy clouds onto a horizon dotted with far away fishing boats. Sometimes the rain gets in the way of our perfect sunsets, but the almost- nightly procession of locals and tourists down to the sunbeds to eat freshly cooked squid and watch the show unfold is a definite highlight of anyone’s time on Otres.

One of the biggest draws of rainy season for most visitors is how quickly you can become part of the Otres family. There’s a big community here, and low season is our time to let our hair down, to dance in the rain, to take our boogie boards into the ocean and remember why we’re here in the first place. The stresses of high season fade into distant memories and suddenly everyone has more time to do what they want to do. There’s an almost nightly schedule of events on the beaches and in the village, from live music to ping pong tournaments and trivia nights, but the occasional rainy days are also a good excuse to stay in, watch movies or binge on TV show and eat pizza, just like home.

Another beautiful day on Otres Beach…in rainy season.

All too often, travelers and tourists write off the beach for a relaxing break during the rainy season, presuming that every day will be a washout and that there’s nothing to do. But, for those who do make the trek down to our beautiful beach, a relative wonderland awaits, with sunny days, epic thunderstorms, the best sunsets in the world and a great new family who would never let a little bit of rain get in the way of having a good time.

Otres Weekly Schedule

• Mon: Roast Dinner at Wish You Were Here, Otres 1
• Tues: Trivia at Papa Pippo’s, Otres 1, Live music at Stray Cats, Otres Village
• Wed: Pool Tournament at Ubuntu Family Guesthouse, Otres Village
• Thurs: Table Tennis at The Brew House, Otres Village, Absinthe Tasting & Tours at the SYN Distillery, Otres Village
• Fri: Shenanigans at Wish You Were Here, Otres 1, Live Music & BBQ at Mom’s By Beach, Otres 1, Psytrance at Otres Corner, Otres 1
• Sat: Open mic, live music & DJs at Otres Market, Otres Village
• Sun: Family dinner at Done Right, Otres 1, Sunday Sessions at Wish You Were Here, Otres Village, Nick’s Sunday Dinner at Hacienda, Otres Village

Night owls should also check out Sea Garden on Otres 1, The Village Idiot in Otres Village and Hacienda in Otres Village for drinks and cocktails, interesting discussions and late night bar debates.

Otres also has a wide variety of late night food options if you get the midnight munchies. Papa Pippo’s on Otres 1 do take-away pizza until 2:30 a.m., Chicando’s deliver chicken or hummus wraps, chicken dippers, chips and sausage rolls all through the night and The Frying Yorkshireman delivers fish and chips across Otres until 2 a.m

Wish You Were Here
Open daily, 7 a.m. to midnight (later on Sundays)
Bar, Restaurant & Guesthouse, Otres 1, Sihanoukville
T: 097 241 5884
www.facebook.com/otresbeachcambodia

Papa Pippo’s
Open daily, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Late night pizza until 2.30 a.m. every day except Saturdays
Italian Restaurant, Bar & Bungalows, Otres 1, Sihanoukville
T: 010 359 725
www.facebook.com/papapippo.otres

Stray Cats
Open daily, 8 a.m. to midnight (4 a.m. on Tuesdays)
Bar & Guesthouse, Otres Village, Sihanoukville
T: 071 476 2145
www.facebook.com/straycatsguesthouse

Family Guesthouse Ubuntu
Open daily, 9 a.m. to midnight
Bar, Restaurant & Guesthouse, Otres Village, Sihanoukville
T: 090 784 734
www.facebook.com/familyguesthouseubuntu

The Brew House
Open daily, 5:30 p.m. to midnight
Bar & Restaurant, Otres Village, Sihanoukville
T: 071 869 8475
www.facebook.com/thebrewhouse.otres

SYN Absinthe Distillery
Open daily for tours 5:30 p.m.; Thursday nights from 5:30 p.m. to late
Absinthe Distillery, Bar & Treehouse, Otres Village (opposite Hacienda), Sihanoukville
www.facebook.com/synabsinthe

Mom’s by the Beach
Open daily, 9 a.m. to midnight (later on Fridays)
Khmer Bar, Restaurant & Guesthouse, Otres 1, Sihanoukville
www.facebook.com/momsby.beach

Otres Corner
Open all day, every day
Bar, Otres 1, Sihanoukville
www.facebook.com/otrescorner

Otres Market
Open Saturdays 7 p.m. ’til late
Live Music, DJs, Market Stalls, Food & Drinks, Otres Village, Sihanoukville
www.facebook.com/otres.market

Done Right
Open daily from 7 a.m. to midnight
Bar, Restaurant & Guesthouse, Otres 1, Sihanoukville
T: 034 630 1100
www.facebook.com/donerightguesthouse

Hacienda
Open daily from 8 a.m. ’til late
Bar, Restaurant & Guesthouse, Otres Village, Sihanoukville
T: 0886841661
www.facebook.com/haciendaotres

Sea Garden
Open daily from 8 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. (sometimes later)
Bar, Restaurant & Guesthouse, Otres 1, Sihanoukville
T: 0962538131
www.facebook.com/seagarden.otres

The Village Idiot
Open daily from 5:30 p.m. ’til late
Late night Bar, Otres Village, Sihanoukville
www.facebook.com/thevillageidiototres

Chicando’s
Open all day, every day
Food delivery all day and night around Otres, Sihanoukville
T: 096 476 2282

The Frying Yorkshireman
Open daily from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Late night fish and chips delivery around Otres, Sihanoukville
T: 097 203 6437