Song Saa Private Island

Song Saa is Cambodia's first all-villa private island resort, opened in 2013 to fund the marine conservation work its founder began years earlier. Melita Koulmandas first anchored off these reefs in 2006, found them stripped and littered, and set about restoring them with the islanders nearby. That project became the Song Saa Foundation, which helped establish Cambodia's first marine protected area; the resort exists to keep it funded. Its name means "the sweethearts" in Khmer, for the two islets, Koh Ouen and Koh Bong, joined by a footbridge over water clear enough to see turtles from above. Twenty-seven rooms across 24 villas sit along the shoreline, on stilts over the reef, or set back in the trees, built from reclaimed timber, thatch, and repurposed oil drums. Every villa has its own pool. The Royal Villa, the largest at 300 m², has glass portholes for watching fish beneath the floor. Jungle Villas keep to 135 m², with canopy beds and outdoor showers under the trees. Dinner moves nightly between settings — a hollow dug into the beach, the overwater deck at Vista, a table beneath the stars — and draws on herbs grown in the on-site garden. You can hear the tide from most decks after dark. It is a working conservation site as much as a resort, and guests are told as much on arrival.