Song Saa Private Island

Song Saa holds Koh Ouen and Koh Bong, a pair of small jungle islets in Cambodia's Koh Rong archipelago, twenty-nine kilometres off the mainland. The estate is divided in a way no other entry here divides itself. Koh Ouen carries everything — villas along the shore and over the water, restaurants, pool, reception. Koh Bong carries a few spa pavilions and some trails, and is otherwise left in its own state. Between them runs a shallow channel that is a protected marine reserve, and the footbridge that joins the two halves of the property crosses it.

Melita Koulmandas found the islands in 2006 with their reefs in decline and their beaches under rubbish, bought them, and worked with the neighbouring communities on what became Cambodia's first marine protected area in the archipelago. The Song Saa Foundation followed in 2007 and the resort opened in 2012, or in 2013 by the operator's own account, with twenty-four villas built in the manner of a Cambodian fishing village. The order of events is the same as at Bawah: the water was protected first and the hotel was built to pay for it.

Half the estate withheld. One islet is developed and one is not, and the undeveloped one is not scenery. It is the part of the holding that the owner declined to use, which is the clearest form of this collection's answer.

A bridge over your own reserve. The channel between the two islands is protected water. Crossing from one half of the property to the other means passing over something the estate cannot fish, anchor in, or build on.

Sources

• Operator record - two islets, Koh Ouen and Koh Bong, joined by a footbridge over a protected marine reserve; Koh Ouen carries the accommodation and facilities while Koh Bong is left largely undeveloped; twenty-four villas over water, on the shore and in the jungle
• Published history - Melita Koulmandas bought the islands in 2006 with reefs in decline; she worked with local communities on the founding of Cambodia's first marine protected area in the Koh Rong archipelago, and the Song Saa Foundation dates from 2007

Verification

Official source

Not yet checked

Sources disagree

the opening is given as 2012 in most accounts and as 2013 by the operator; villa counts appear as twenty-four and as twenty-seven.

Property confirmation

Pending

Last verified

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Booking

Private Resorts arranges each stay on request, quoting the rates available for the resort and dates. No benefit should be assumed unless it is confirmed in writing for the individual reservation.

Classified by The Resort Collection House · The Register · Edition 2026 · LHL-E-038
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