Geoff
Google
It was the best of views. It was the worst of views.
This beach encapsulates the quandary of Sihanoukville. The beach is clean and beautiful and faces out on a glorious sea scene. Swimming is at your own risk and the beach is generally uncrowded and the sand is great. While "the best bay of the world" sign may be a bit overblown, it is undeniably a great beach and a lovely bay.
If you turn around, you are confronted by Sihanoukville, an ugly city of Chinese skyscrapers, many permanently unfinished. All along the beach, there are outlandishly expensive restaurants, all Chinese, and frequently unfriendly towards Khmer customers (or anyone who does not speak Chinese).
I lived in China for 6 years and there is a lot about China to love as well as to hate. Sihanoukville is like a distillation of the less favorable parts of China. Or put differently, it is a part of Cambodia minus the Khmer charm and friendliness.
And yet the beach is great.....
Pro Tip
The only place to get somewhat reasonably priced food is in a food court on a side street off the main beach. They had some nice Turkish food there at relatively good prices.