Kep

A tranquil seaside town in southern Cambodia famed for pepper crab, with scattered French colonial villa ruins and boat trips to Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay).

Kep lies on the Gulf of Thailand coast in southern Cambodia. It is one of the country's smallest provinces, about 170 km from Phnom Penh and 25 km from Kampot, and it borders Vietnam to the east. In the first half of the 20th century, French colonists built a seaside resort here. In the 1960s, it became the 'Riviera of Cambodia,' favored by the elite of the Sihanouk era. It was devastated during the Khmer Rouge period, and many villa ruins still dot the seashore and hillsides, contrasting with the boutique hotels that have since reopened. Today, Kep is known for its slow pace and seafood. Blue crabs fresh from the crab market, stir-fried with green pepper from Kampot, are a must-try. The seafront boulevard features a crab statue and a stone sculpture of Hou, and the sailing club pier is a great place to watch the sunset. Behind the town, Kep National Park has about 8 km of hiking trails around the hills, with views of Rabbit Island and Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island. A 20–30 minute boat ride takes you to Rabbit Island, where you can spend a night in simple bamboo huts and experience island life. Nearby are pepper farms and salt fields, which you can tour by tuk-tuk in a half day, or combine with a visit to Kampot (Bokor Mountain and the Kampot River). Best season: November–April is the dry season, with calm seas. May–October brings frequent rain showers and bigger waves, but also fewer people and lower prices. Getting there: from Phnom Penh, take a bus for about 4 hours. From Kampot, take a tuk-tuk for about 40 minutes. You can also travel by land to Ha Tien and Phu Quoc in Vietnam via the Prek Chak border crossing. The town is spread out, so renting a motorbike or bicycle or hiring a tuk-tuk is recommended. Plan 2–3 days. US dollars are the most widely used currency, so carry cash in dollars.

Top sights

• Kep Crab Market – Blue crabs pulled from the sea in bamboo baskets and stir-fried with fresh green pepper, the most representative delicacy of southern Cambo…
• Kep Butterfly Farm – A netted butterfly garden near the entrance to Kep National Park, raising native Cambodian butterflies. It is an easy stop for families.
• Kep Beach & Crab Statue – A small bay in the center of Kep town, with a giant blue crab statue standing in the sea. It is Kep's most iconic photo spot.
• Kep National Park – A forest trail circling Kep's hill, about 8 km around, with views of Rabbit Island and Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island.
• Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island) – A small island about 30 minutes by boat off Kep, with coconut palms, hammocks, and simple bamboo huts. It is ideal for escaping the crowds…
• Sothy's Pepper Farm – A family-run organic pepper farm near Kep, offering free guided tours of Kampot pepper and tastings of green, black, red, and white pepper.
• Kep Sailing Club – A seaside wooden pier and lawn bar, and a classic spot for watching the sunset over the Gulf of Thailand. Enjoy a cocktail as the sun sinks…
• Kep Villa Ruins – Seaside villas built by French colonists and Cambodian elites in the last century, abandoned during the Khmer Rouge era, now engulfed by tr…
• Sela Cham P'dey Statue – A white statue of a woman on Kep's seafront promenade, telling the legend of a fisherman's wife who waited every day for her husband to ret…
• Wat Samathi – A peaceful Buddhist temple on the northeast hillside of Kep National Park, with a viewpoint overlooking rice fields, salt pans, and the coa…

Where to eat

• Holy Crab – The more refined of the stilt-house restaurants beside Kep's crab market; its crab amok and green-peppercorn crab are t…
• Kimly Seafood Restaurant – The best-known and most-reviewed of the old crab shacks at Kep's crab market, famous for its large green-peppercorn cra…

Itineraries

• Angkor to the Coast: Cambodia Grand Loop – Travel from north to south covering Angkor, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Kampot, Kep, and Koh Rong.
• Kep, Kampot & Koh Rong Sanloem Southern Coast – Head south from Phnom Penh to feast on Kep crabs, visit Kampot pepper farms, and relax on Koh Rong Sanloem.