Otres Beach tide times

Otres Beach sits 4 km south of Sihanoukville city centre, separated from the busier Ochheuteal and Serendipity beaches by the Otres River mouth and a stretch of road through Otres village. The beach runs roughly 2 km from north to south, facing southwest into the Gulf of Thailand, and is divided into two sections — Otres 1 (the northern section, closest to the river mouth) and Otres 2 (the southern section, quieter and with less accommodation density) — by the shallow tidal channel where the Otres River meets the sea.

The tidal regime at Otres is the same mixed diurnal Gulf of Thailand pattern as Sihanoukville 4 km to the north. Spring range on the more semidiurnal days (November through February) reaches approximately 1.0 to 1.2 m; during the southwest monsoon months (June through September) the pattern shifts toward diurnal and the effective range compresses to 0.6 to 0.8 m. The beach faces southwest: the Gulf fetch from this direction is moderate, and in the November-to-April northeast monsoon season the coast is sheltered. During the southwest monsoon (May through October), prevailing winds generate a short choppy swell that affects swimming comfort and can temporarily close the beach to casual bathers.

The Otres River mouth divides the beach at its northern end. At high water the crossing channel is typically knee-to-waist deep and about 5 to 10 m wide; at low tide the water shallows considerably and most people wade across on exposed sand. This low-water crossing is the standard method of moving between Otres 1 and Otres 2 on foot. At spring high water the crossing is deeper; after heavy rain the river level rises independently of tidal stage and can make the crossing uncomfortable for a short period. Some guesthouses operate small boat shuttles. Tuk-tuks and motorbikes take the road route around the river mouth when needed.

The sandy gradient at Otres is gentle, typical of Gulf of Thailand beaches in sheltered bays. The visible beach width between spring high water and spring low water on the most semidiurnal days is 15 to 25 m — enough to expose a wide flat of firm sand good for early-morning walking. At low water in the dry season, Otres 2 in particular has a quiet character: the beach is widest, the light is low, and the water is flat.

The rocky point at the southern end of Otres 2, beyond the last guesthouses, is a productive shore-fishing location. Low water exposes a broad reef shelf around the point that is unreachable or submerged at spring high. Rod and line fishing from this point for snapper, grouper, and small reef species is productive at low-to-mid tide on the incoming flood. The shelf also makes for worthwhile snorkelling on calm days in the dry season — visibility is limited by Gulf conditions but adequate for reef-fish watching and the invertebrate fauna on the exposed limestone.

The guesthouses on Otres 2 are spaced more loosely than those on Otres 1, and the southern end of Otres 2 — beyond the last accommodation — is largely empty of infrastructure. This stretch of undeveloped beach is the most useful for an undisturbed early morning walk at low water, when the exposed sand flat extends the usable beach width and foot traffic is minimal before breakfast. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model; accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 m on height. At Otres Beach's small tidal range, the timing uncertainty is more significant than the height uncertainty for practical activity planning. The Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Hydrography of Cambodia (DMHH) is the national authority for tide data in Cambodian waters.