Things to do in Kep
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Kep
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Cool dry season, the best months for calm seas, salt fields, park hiking and island boats, at peak prices.
Hot season, sightseeing becomes a morning sport and Bokor's cool summit gets more attractive.
Wet season, heavy rain, rough island boats, slippery trails and flooded salt fields, but lower prices and empty hotels.
What's on
- Sea Festival December, rotating province
Cambodia's coastal festival of sports, concerts and food fairs. Kep hosted 1 to 3 December in its most recent Kep edition.
- Bon Om Touk Water Festival November full moon
A national public holiday centred on Phnom Penh boat races that brings a domestic visitor surge to Kep Beach.
- Khmer New Year mid April, usually 14 to 16 April
Cambodia's most important festival, joyful and busy, with many businesses closing or on holiday hours.
- Pchum Ben September to October
The ancestors festival, a quiet pagoda centred holiday when many staff travel home and small restaurants may close.
Best things to do in Kep
Kep Crab Market
Kep's working fish market and restaurant row, where live blue crab in floating baskets becomes lunch with Kampot pepper.
Koh Tonsay
A roadless island 30 minutes by boat with one palm backed beach, simple seafood shacks and basic bungalows.
Kep National Park
A forested hill behind town with an 8 km paved loop, viewpoints to Phu Quoc, monkeys and monitor lizards.
Kep Butterfly Farm
A small netted garden and breeding room showing butterflies at every life stage, worth 30 to 45 minutes.
Kep Abandoned Colonial Villas
Gutted 1960s holiday villas scattered in the foothills, seen on a slow tuk tuk or bicycle loop from the road.
Kep Beach
A small imported sand arc that works as Kep's living room at sunset, but is a mediocre swim by island standards.
Angkol Beach
A long fishing village beach east of town, busy with Khmer families and emptying out if you walk further along.
Phnom Kampong Trach Cave
A limestone cave with a shrine inside and rice field views, best as one stop on a Kep countryside loop.
Where to stay in Kep
Crab Market and the hillside, Road 33A
best all round base
Walk to Crab Market dinners, the National Park entrance and the Rabbit Island pier area without planning transport each time.
Kep Beach and the coastal road
families and a sea view
A sunrise sea view and an easy evening promenade stroll, about 3 km from the Crab Market.
National Park foothills, east side
quietest stay, with wheels
Greener and more residential lanes climbing east of the beach, lovely with a scooter and isolating without one.
Think twice about
- Angkol Beach area
Isolated and unlit at night, the first stretch of beach can be litter strewn and almost nothing is open after dark. Visit by day, do not base there without your own transport.
Best restaurants in Kep
Chankiri Restaurant
Samanea's gastronomic restaurant by the pool, refined Khmer and seafood cooking in a botanical garden setting.
The Sailing Club Restaurant
Kep's most polished casual dinner on a pier deck, fresh seafood and cocktails timed for sunset over Bokor.
Kimly Seafood Restaurant
The Crab Market institution for pepper crab and grilled squid, with huge turnover and a view over the crab baskets.
Holy Crab
The market row's modern favourite, known for crab amok, pomelo salad and crab bought fresh that same day.
KEP SUR MER Restaurant
A Khmer run Crab Market restaurant with crab curry, crab cakes and a west facing terrace for sunset cocktails.
Magic Crab Restaurant
Simple market row crab at low prices, where the owner shows you how to crack a whole crab properly.
The Crab Kitchen
A no frills, chef led market row room where the seafood, not the decor, is the reason to come.
Deli's Kep
Kep's bakery and deli, open from 6.30am for real bread, pastries, picnic supplies and Western comfort plates.
Best coffee in Kep
Kep Coffee
A small park side cafe that has become the unofficial finish line for morning walks in Kep National Park.
Outdoor things to do in Kep
Sunset Rock
The viewpoint reached on the park loop transverse path, and the rewarding finish to a hike or cycle of the loop.
Kep Adventures
A full day on a Khmer fishing boat around Kep Bay islands, with swimming, snorkelling and a barbecue on board.
La Plantation
An organic Kampot pepper estate with free guided tours, a tasting of black, red and white pepper, and farm lunch.
Kampot Salt Fields
Geometric salt pans worked by hand in the dry season, a short stop on the Kep to Kampot countryside loop.
Phnom Chhngok Cave Temple
A 7th century brick temple inside a limestone cave, reached by a steep stair on the countryside loop.
Secret Lake
A Khmer Rouge era reservoir now ringed with lotus, the tranquil lunch and view stop on the countryside loop.
Preah Monivong Bokor National Park
A cool, foggy mountain day trip to ruined Bokor Hill Station, an old church, a waterfall and coastal views.
Green Cathedral
A guided sunset kayak through a narrow palm walled channel of the Kampot River, suitable for beginners.
Best hotels in Kep
Knai Bang Chatt Resort
Kep's design flagship, 18 rooms in restored 1960s villas on a seafront lawn with a pool, spa and sailing club.
Samanea Beach Resort & Spa
Twelve suites in a private botanical garden with mangroves, a long pier, a large pool and a gastronomic restaurant.
Veranda Natural Resort
Stone and wood bungalows up the National Park slope with two pools, a bakery and the best mid price sunset terraces.
Raingsey Bungalow
Nine private bungalows around a pool in bamboo and palms, a short walk from the Crab Market and the park entrance.
Botanica Guest House
A small, well kept garden guesthouse in the hillside cluster, with honest prices and helpful owner run advice.
Khmer Hands Bungalows
Simple, clean and inexpensive bungalows near the Crab Market, run as a training hospitality project with a restaurant.
Saravoan Hotel Kep
A clean modern small hotel near Kep Beach with a pool, the sensible family base on the central coastal strip.
Le Bout du Monde - Khmer Lodge
Wooden Khmer style houses on a forested hillside with sea views, a natural pool and a French Khmer restaurant.
Is Kep expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $30 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $70 a person |
| Splurge | $180 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Kep Adventures: a few days ahead
- Preah Monivong Bokor National Park: a few days ahead
- Green Cathedral: a few days ahead
- Kep West Sailing and Discovery Centre: a few days ahead
- Knai Bang Chatt Resort: weeks ahead
- Samanea Beach Resort & Spa: weeks ahead
- Veranda Natural Resort: weeks ahead
- Chankiri Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Book Knai Bang Chatt, Samanea, Veranda and Raingsey weeks ahead for December to February and Khmer holidays.
- When Kep hosts the rotating Sea Festival the town fills completely, so book everything or avoid those dates.
- Confirm Kep Adventures, Green Cathedral kayaking and Bokor tours a day ahead, especially in wet season.
Is Kep safe?
- Kep's real risks are sun, dehydration, slippery trails and cave steps, sea urchins, and unlit roads with dogs at night.
- Do not feed monkeys in Kep National Park or on Bokor, and keep bags closed around them.
- Medical care in Kep is basic, with more in Kampot and the main hospitals in Phnom Penh, so evacuation insurance matters.
- Cambodia emergency numbers are police 117, ambulance 119 and fire 118.
Kep travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Kep Beach is a poor swim compared with Koh Tonsay, so do not base a beach holiday on it.
- At the Crab Market, agree weight and price per kilo before cooking and confirm if a price is per dish or per kilo.
- Salt fields are flooded and inactive in the wet season, and Bokor in a tuk tuk in the rain is cold and viewless.
- The giant Crab Statue is a 30 second photo stop, not a sight to plan around.
Getting around Kep: public transport and more
- Kep is spread out, with about 3 km between the Crab Market and Kep Beach, so plan tuk tuk, bicycle or scooter transport first.
- Agree tuk tuk prices before setting off and hire one good driver by the day for countryside, park and Bokor trips.
- Ride hailing centred on Kampot does not reliably operate in Kep, so save your driver's number and pre arrange pickups.
- Bicycle hire is typically 1 to 2 dollars a day and scooter hire roughly 5 to 8 dollars a day, confirmed on site.
Who Kep suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Kep your trip
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