Where is Chief Brody when you need him?

Our trip to the islands off the coast of Sihanoukville began around 8a.m.. We had a quick breakfast of bread and jam and waited and then waded to board our boat. The first attempt failed as the boat drifted out too far so the captain turned it around and approached the beach again. All 4 of us on the tour cruised out to the first of 3 islands. It was a bit choppy and one of the English girls with a hangover wasn't travelling too well. She made good company for our guide who had also had a big night. We dropped anchor just off shore where we went snorkeling. The visibility was crappy but the water was perfect, we were just in our bathing suits unlike in Vietnam where we had full length wetties and still froze. We did see a few spiny sea urchins and a few fish but it really wasn't that great. The murky depths did nothing for our fear of sharks. We got back on the boat and headed to Bamboo Island. Here there are a few huts you can rent and stay the night sharing the beach with the few locals that live there. When we arrived we were the only tour boat there. We had four hours to kill so we proceeded to do nothing. The beach was beautiful, the water is warm and clear. Our guide started on our lunch of BBQ Barracuda and salad. Slowly other boats of tourist arrived and took their place along the beach. We had our delicious lunch and then proceeded to do more nothing. The serenity was briefly disrupted when the party boat arrived blasting the Black Eyed Peas (before they went pop) with drunk hoochies and tools dancing and whooping. They came to pick up a couple that had spent the night on the island only to leave one of their hoochies on shore. Fortunately they came back and got her. Ahhh how's the serenity.

At 3p.m. we got back on our boat and went to another island. It was a bit calmer now and the water was clearer. Kel went for another snorkel and saw some colourful coral, lots of little fish, and more sea urchins. We made it back to the beach conveniently just in time for the sunset and beer o'clock. While we were eating dinner our three girlfriends from the night before found us and Kel got suckered in to a pedicure and manicure for $3. We sat around some more, had a drink and the girls hung around with us all night. They were good fun entertaining us with their command of english-isms, like 'Oh my gosh!' and 'In your dreams!'
While we were slowly making our way down the beach to our hotel Kel was horrified to find out that they hadn't eaten dinner yet. It was 9p.m. So she bought them a round of ice-creams. It was fun to see them sit back and be themselves. They got into a fit of non-stop giggling barely managing to get words out. They were very happy to have an ice cream treat because all of the money they make goes towards school and their families. We wanted to get their addresses to send them a photo, but they just didn't understand the concept of mail. The closest we could get was their first names and they said 'send it to Occheuteal Beach.' They wrestled Kel for a while and when it was time for us to go they were sad. We will miss our beach buddies.

After a day at the beach swimming and snorkeling, we arrived back to our guesthouse in time to watch Jaws 2.