With its untouched beaches and islands along the coast, Cambodia is one of the most unpopular diving destinations compared to other South Asian countries.
Cambodia has always managed to fascinate its visitors with its natural beauty, temples and culture, but this beautiful Asian country has another underwater beauty that few people know about. Cambodia, which has a similar underwater texture to the Gulf of Thailand due to its location, home to healthy coral reefs and colorful tropical fish because it has not yet been discovered by the masses.
Cambodia has a water temperature between 27c and 30c most of the year, so you can enjoy long and enjoyable dives without getting cold. Since the boats are not always very sheltered, a thin raincoat will protect you from the breeze in windy weather.
The visibility changes depending on the weather conditions, especially the rainy season and the dry season. Although I advise you not to have too high expectations about visibility, visibility can be up to 15m on a good day, but not every day may be a good day.
Most of the dive spots have a shallow profile. So max 15-17m averages. For this reason, I highly recommend it for beginner divers. By the way, if you want to dive in deeper waters with a little better visibility, I suggest you talk to the dive center. If there are enough numbers, they will gladly want to go to dive spots that are a little more distant but very enjoyable.
Most of the dive spots can be reached by dive centers departing from Sihanoukville, KohRong and KohRong Sanloem Islands. If you are staying in these areas, you can find a suitable dive center with a little research. At the dive center, you will meet many traveling divers from different parts of the world and you will be able to share your diving experiences with each other.
So what will you see?
First of all, let’s start with coral reefs. Thanks to the warm water temperature, it is possible to come across both Hard Coral and Soft Coral species on the Cambodian coast. The most common hard coral species you will come across will be Staghorn Coral, Table Coral, Brain Coral and Porites Corals. Here I would like to make a reminder especially about Table Coral. Like all other coral species, Table Coral is very fragile, but due to its shape, it can be damaged quickly because it covers a larger area and has no support from the bottom except the main trunk like the branches of a tree. I especially request beginner divers to pay more attention to their buoyancy when they are on coral reefs.
Although their diversity is not as much as hard coral species, it is possible to come across soft corals. For example, Leather Coral and Tree Coral are among the common ones.
The coral reefs are home to many different types of tropical fish, including ClownFish, ParrotFish, Butterfly Fish, Angel Fish and Trigger Fish. You can often see these small fish as they move around the corals, but there are many more. It is also very possible to see Barracuda and Trevally while diving. If you are a little more careful when the visibility is low, you can see larger creatures beating around the reefs. Although their numbers are not very high, you may come across LionFish, Eels and even SeaHorse with a detailed look.
Sharks are not very common here, but sometimes it is possible to see Bamboo Shark, a completely harmless species.
If you are new to diving, I recommend you to at least look at the photos of the species I mentioned above. I wrote their names in English to make your research easier.
To summarize in brief, why should we dive in Cambodia? With its year-round warm water temperatures and shallow diving profile, it is ideal for new divers. If you are an experienced diver, you can calmly and slowly look for species such as nudibranches and sea horses that are easily overlooked and take photos.
Let’s not forget that the ocean as a whole is an ecosystem. If you pull one of the stones here, you can put the whole system in danger of collapse. Considering our impact on the oceans today, the biggest task here falls on people. First of all, if we become conscious and sensitive instructors ourselves, we can train sensitive divers in the same way. Be sure that the more you learn, more your respect for the oceans will grow.
Good Health
