Showing up at a strange airport in a strange country is, for most people, a stressful experience. Luckily, Sihanoukville Airport is so small that there’s almost nothing to worry about. There are limited options for getting from Sihanoukville Airport into town, but it’s best to have an idea in advance of what your plan is.
The Sihanoukville Airport is located approximately 12 miles (20km) north of Sihanoukville, on Route 4. Only four planes per week that land there, all of them Cambodia Angkor Air’s Siem Reap to Sihanoukville flights.
Getting from the Sihanoukville Airport into town
Because there are so few flights, there aren’t a lot of options for getting from the airport into Sihanoukville, and the prices are pretty fixed (and not particularly good value). Sihanoukville is known to have the most extortionate tuk tuk drivers in the country. They’ve formed a “union” which is little more than a mafia that uses price-fixing and extortion of other drivers to keep prices artificially high. For this reason, even if you see a tuk tuk at the airport, we recommend you avoid them.
The airport seems to have discontinued the shuttle bus (but if they start it back up again, please leave details in the comments section!). If you have three people or fewer, the best option is a taxi ride share.
For the taxi shares, the cost is the same, $5 per person or $20 for the whole taxi. You can buy a ticket at the same ticket counter on the way out of the airport. They will try and push you to buy a whole taxi, but do not budge if you don’t want to. They will make you wait for more passengers and hope that you will give in.
The trip to Sihanoukville used to take about 20 minutes, but we’ve been getting reports that it now takes between one and two hours. Yikes.
If you’re staying on one of the beaches and you already have a hotel booked, you should bring a map or have an idea of where your hotel is before getting in the taxi. We recommend the detailed and free Canby maps, which can be downloaded online or found in many businesses around town.
If you have four or more people, you’ll save money by taking a private taxi. The going rate is usually around $20, but they will often ask for more. If you want to save yourself the stress, you can book a taxi online for $25. A few bucks more, but they are new SUVs with more trunk space and no haggling. Make your reservation at least 3 hours in advance.
Getting from town to the Sihanoukville Airport
If you’ve read the above, you can pretty much follow the same directions but in reverse. You can book a taxi at most guesthouses or any local travel agent, I’ve used Best Beach Travel (T: 015 678 924) for $15 or $20. Taxis are older Toyota Camrys and most do not have a lot of trunk space.
I’ve included some specific taxi recommendations in the transportation section of the Sihanoukville city guide. You can also opt to book a taxi online (at least three hours in advance). They are $25, but nicer, larger SUVs with more space for luggage.
As mentioned above, tuk tuks are usually extortionate in Sihanoukville and are best avoided, but you can usually get a tuk tuk to the airport for $15.
Sihanoukville Airport Shuttle (closed for now, but may reopen)
by United Ground Services (UGS)
T: 088 471 1784; 010 310 737
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Actually the duration from the airport to the pier it is more than 1 hour. For us it was 2 hours. Horrible!!!!!
We did it 2 days ago. We paid 20$ from the pier to the airport. Because of the traffic the duration is between 1 and 2 hours actually to do the 20km!
Is it easy to catch transportation from the pier to the airport? Or should I order in advance? I’ll be leaving Koh Rong, coming back to the pier and then to the airport.
This is very helpful! I’m moving there in Jun, thank you so much for sharing. ^^
Hi, if my flight arrives at KOS at 4pm, would it be possible to get from the airport to the pier in time to catch a ferry to koh rong (coconut beach)? Many thanks for the useful info
No. You’ll arrive at the pier around 5pm. This time no more boats to the island
Any recommendations of a safer stay temporarily in Sihanoukville, in that case?
You don’t really want to stay in SKVL long. It’s gross. I came into town too late to catch the boat so I stayed overnight at a hotel near the pier. I stayed at La Vogue hotel. It was nice and comfortable.
Hi KD.
I’ve booked Patchouli Chili house for 2 nights via Agoda. Rave reviews. I’m dreading seeing the paradise lost town but I do need to arrange transport back and forth from Kampot, Kep, Koh Rong and Siem Rep. It’s such a problem going through Skvl these days but unfortunately we need to do it to see the surrounding areas before they are ruined. Check out the hotel I mentioned. Apparently it’s an oasis in the middle of ground zero
I think you need to update this page. A lot more than 4 flights a week on 5th March 2019, there were at least 10 flights between 4pm and 10pm on the day I was there, mostly Chinese bound. Car parking was overflowing, not quite as sleepy as it sounds.
Do you have any info about a shared taxi/van to the Golden Lions Roundabout which you can hop in outside Sihanoukville airport?
Apparently, there is a pickup point at the intersection, but I’m not exactly sure how this works.
https://youtu.be/fdvExGZ5bfw
Hey Meg,
That youtube vlog from Ian is priceless, I’ve been speaking to him. It’s only $2 in a shared cab but you need to walk about 10 minutes left out of the airport. I’m doing a solo trip so I’ll attempt this when I arrive next week. It doesn’t drop at golden Lions though but he then got a taxi scooter.
Me and my wife plan to land at Sihanoukville Airport at 8:30 AM- March 30th. We would move to Serendipity to get a fast ferry to Koh Rong Samloem, stay 2 days, then move to Koh Rong for 1 day, and finally go to Siem Reap.
Could anyone advise us the way to get to Koh Rong Samloem as soon as possible with a fair cost? By the way, does anyone know the exact scheduled time of fast ferry at Serenpidity? Any helful experience there?
Thanks for advanced.
Check the Koh Rong Sanloem section on this website.