BUVA Review

We booked in advance via the Internet. On the day of departure, the e-ticket is registered in the office at the Serendipity Pier, deposits the wish to leave (Koh Touch or one of the hotel beaches) and receives a lanyard. Only with this there is a boarding - so we had no crowding and no overcrowding of the boat. When boarding you have to specify again the desire to get off (hotel beach). Each seat has a life jacket. We were on Long Set Beach. On the return day there was strong wind (the day before most of the speedboats had failed). According to the hotel reception, a pick-up on the Long Set Beach was not possible in this swell. Thus, 30 minutes walk on the coastal path to Koh Touch and there again message in the office at the pier. The early morning speedboat to Sihanoukhville was canceled because of the rough sea, the boat we booked at 9.30 h came with 1 hour delay, but twice: once a smaller superspeed boat for all who had to reach a connection onward journey and then the "normal" speedboat. We were in the superspeed boat (no extra charge) and had a hassle-free, if very bumpy return journey.

Very frustrating experience with this company. The driver was 30 minutes late picking us up and they took us to the wrong pier. When we got to the right pier our ferry had left. They refused to give us a refund. The manager Soun Samang told us to wait 20 minutes and he would have a boat for us. In that time he got in a car and drove away and we were then told the next ferry was at 2pm which was 3 hours later. Very dodgy, avoid at all costs!

Company that does not care to leave you in the wrong port !!!

Unsafe! Over-sold and over packed with luggage. It had standing room only, on very rough seas. People had so switch seats to help balance the boat to stop it from capsizing. Use a different company to get to the Koh Rong/ Sanloem.

Not to be trusted. Dont book this ferry before leaving for a flight

To be honest I was pretty scared before the cruise because of the bad reviews (which you find for all ferry cruises to Koh Rong I guess).

I think it s important to say that we had good weather conditions as I cannot judge on how the cruise is when there are bad weather conditions and therefore bigger waves.

We bought our ticket at the pier for a 8 a.m. cruise on the next day. We started some 10 minutes later when everyone was on board. Some staff was friendly, some not as they are being asked every minute from different people when the cruise is going to start (if they would just install a Bluetooth speaker with some information about the cruise everything would be so easy)

We first got to Koh Rong Samloem and then to Koh Rong (Main Beach) - once again it was no problem that we first went to Koh Rong Samloem but there was no route printed anywhere so that was quite surprising (please just print some paper with the routes an hang them somewhere on the ferry to gain many more happy customers). At the Island we had to get a Taxi to our resort as it was a bit hidden but we knew that. The streets on Koh Rong are not yet build so prepare for a humpy ride.

Our second cruise was from Coconut Beach to Sihanoukville. We got picked up at about 6:45 (ticket said 7 o clock but you should ask your hotel to call Buva sea as they are at different times on different beaches on Koh Rong as our hotel manager told us to be there at 6:30). We drove to 2 other beaches (took about 15min) until we got on the way to Sihanoukville. The Ferry back to Sihanoukville was way smaller then the ferry to Koh Rong. On both cruises there was no one dying, no burning motors or anything that would scare you to hell

I would strongly recommend the company to put a tip box on the ferries so that their employees are motivated to provide better service and think pf new solutions to improve the cruise.

Boat was on time, had rescue services and makes for Cambodian conditions a decent impression. It was not overbooked either.

Comfortable boats and one of the faster ones. They can oversell the tickets so be on time to secure your spot. Our boat to Koh Rong Samloem from Sihnoukville was delayed by 2 hours.

Worst experience ever. Departure to the island was late - and they drove us to another pier (NOT serendipity pier!) which took about 45 mins, with lots a bumpy roads, to a pier filled with rubbish and plastic bottles. My booking was 9am but we boarded the boat only at 1145 or something.
The boat back was supposed to be 7am per the booking but when we reached there, the staff told us there is no 7am boat, and there is only one at 845am. Of course, rude staff. We waited and waited and the boat only arrived at 945am, and ferried us back to the pier with all the rubbish (NOT serendipity).
Terrible experience and I have no option of giving it 0 stars, else I would. Highly NOT recommended. Also not cheap at all. There are way better options for pristine beaches around the region. Do not waste your time at Sihanoukville/Koh Rong. From the reviews posted a few years earlier, nothing has improved

Avoid like the plague.

They are the fastest across the sea. But the slowest to actually get from island to island. The loading and unloading is very very slow, and whilst they are loading you sit in their hot stinking boat.

Next to that, the boat is not watertight and you get completely drenched by salt water spraying up to the roof and onto you. It doesnt matter where you sit.

However do get their early as the last few passagiers have no seats due to overbooking.

Service was okay. Boats are smaller compared to other companies and we used a different company boat (with buva tickets) during storm 6bft.

Communication/organisation is not so good.

But its possible to take 815am bus after 7am ferry no problems.

Achtung!! Lebensgefahr?!
Man bekommt null Informationen, da niemand mit einem spricht und auf Nachfragen nicht reagiert wird.

Staff is violent and aggressive in sihanoukville pier i got insulted for no reason when I was trying to get informations... They are a mafia!
Worse experience of my life.

DO NOT BUY TICKETS THERE.

Stuff not too friendly. Tooked me 3,5h to get to Kong rong samloen.
At the moment a construction site in front off the office, your shoes get dirty, your suitcase aswell if u don't carry it 200m.
Boat was old. Engine strikes twice on the trip. The crew has a lack with english

Few negative reviews about late ferries or bumpy ride. Come on...it's a speed boat in the open sea...what do you expect? Also when you're travelling in South East Asia you need to take departure times with a pinch of salt...it's just part of being in a developing country. Our ferry was cancelled due to bad weather and the boat was stuck in Koh Rong, but the Buva staff did their utmost to get us on the next available ferry, even though it was one with a different company! Great staff, and they do their best to get you away on time.

They had many departure times which was convenient, but not so well organised.

The 30min isn't quite accurate as they have many stops around Koh Rong and Sanloem. Our trip to the island was very full, with people standing and sitting along the aisles as many people entered the boat but not many left. Our return trip was fast and much more pleasant, with a bigger boat. Expect the journey to take up to 2h, especially if you are planning a connection in sihanoukville. Also, the boat ride back stops at another jetty further north, not at serendipity beach where you depart.

It worked for us but.... Know that they are very frequently overbooked, many many people on our trip from Saracin Bay at 0845 were left behind with active tickets. The ride can be very very bumpy depending on conditions, not the fault of the boat company but don't think that this is going to always be a gentle tropical cruise. With rough seas come rough conditions and when it is choppy you can expect to get really wet in the back. If you have the time consider one of the many larger slower boats available.

Be careful! They said the ferry starts at 15.30 from so we Koh Rong Samloen so we were waiting under a nearby tree hiding from the sun. At 15.15 the ferry started engines and went away in a second leaving us on the island...
Look for other ferry companies and don't believe what anyone says.

Do not book a boat here! They trick you in any possible way. They send you to the wrong pier and you have to take an expensive transfer to get on your original pier.

Bus Driver are grazy drive like hell. Crash me and drive away.
Take care

Perfect trip. Comfortable boat, nice contact in the office and life vest were available.

Do not trust the schedules. They leave when they feel like it

bad bad company
the capitan broken my sunglasses
all peaple work in the boat dont speek english only cambodian language
no apologies for my sunglasses no sorry no naffing!
so very bad
and wen i call the company i don t respond my an cut line off
NO SECURITY JAKET
NO ENGLISH STAFF
ONLY SO MUCH BAD STAFF
THE BOAT BROKEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN
AND I HAVE SO MUCH TRASH
AND BAD SMEAL

$16 for a 30 min ride from Sihanoukville to Koh Rong Samloem. Went exactly as hoped and expected. Enclosed cabin for passengers so everyone stayed dry.

So poorly run. Some of the worst customer service I have ever had especially in the office at Koh Rong. Went in to ask if there was a pick up for the boat as we stayed about an hours walk from the main pier. The person behind the desk just laughed at me, spoke to another employee in, laughed some more and ushered me out of the office. After I asked again about a pick up they said no pick up,o ly here at the pier. So we had to book transport to the pier which cost us $20. When we got on the boat there was a pick up at 4k beach! Which was hugely closer for us. So furious about this. They also treat the people like cattle, don't care about your belongings and do t tell you what's happening or where the boat is actually going. Told 45 minutes, took 1 and a half hours. Complete joke of a company.

Today lady in the office SCREAM at me and my friends trying to convince us that she told us that we should wait for buva sea in front of the office because ferry is leaving from another pier.
She simply forgot to inform us when we were buying tickets (4 of us in the office - not possible that we didn't get this information) we lost money because we needed to take tuk tuk in last moment but it's not a big problem compare to the PATHETIC level of customer service.
I'll never again decide to go with Buva Sea.

They are serious, and they are the same company as Virak Buntham.

Good service and good prices, is the most advisable if you go to Coconut Beach

Great company, great staff, really kind and helpful.

*Avoid this company at all costs.*
If you are travelling to Koh Rong do not deal with this company.
We paid extra to be transported from SihanoukVille to Koh Rong beach.

1st: They do not drop off at Koh Rong like they claim they do.
They will drop you off at Coconut beach and then shuttle you in a vehicle with broken A/C through the middle of the island though a horrible muddy road.

2nd: They will promise to pick you up via shuttle as long as you call them 24hr in advance. However they will pull a "no show" and leave you there waiting with no customer service whatsoever.

We almost missed our flight because of this company.

Not to mention the overcrowded ferry and impolite operators.

Was hesitant after all the bad reviews but it did what it said on the tin - we took the 7am speedboat from Koh Rong to the mainland and it arrived on time, got us there in time, no problem at all. Booked via Bookaway.

Zero security, for 20 places they took more than 30 petsons,10
personstravelled standing in the boat big waves, high speed, brutal handling of luggages. Danger at check in and out
, the boat fixed only on one point,

you have to find by yourseff from which port the boat is going and you don't know where it arrive, depend of the weather. No information done by the compagnie. We arrive in a marketing port very dirty and no facilities for transportation. The boat is confortable (big one) semi-speed.

Had very bad experience with that company. Got two way tickets to koh rong samolem, and the way there was okay, however the way back was a one big mess and the local representative at the island was rude and didn't tell many of people waiting on the pier that the boat was there, and also the boat left about 15 to 20 minutes EARLIER so a bunch of us had a bit of arguing. We managed at the very end use the tickets to get on the boat with another company but it all could have been avoided, would the guy did his job at the pier

They have always issues with engine, the trip takes much longer than advised. Crazy long, from Sihanoukville to Koh Rong 1,5h. Their offices are often closed. Rather use GVTC!

FYI, I'm not sure but i think the taxi guys at the airport do business with Buva. We specifically ask to be taken to Speed island ferry but were told Buva is better, cheaper, faster bla bla bla. Even the girl at Buva said the same thing, but that they only have the late departure only. We buy the tickets, taxi takes us to the pier, and I find Speed island ferry!! I stop by ask if they have any seats available and yes!! And cheaper!! I tried to get my money back at Buva since we hadn't use the tickets. They weren't having it. Tell the taxi drivers to take you directly to the pier and stay away from Buva.

The worst experience we had in Cambodia! We waited just 3 hours because of the driver's delay who had to pick us up from Campot to Sihanoukville, and all the while waiting for their representative they had no idea where the driver was and when he would arrive. Finally he came and stuffed us full of people in a mini-van. We waited in Sihanoukville for a ferry to the islands, and then they remembered to let us know that they had made a mistake and there was no room at all in the condos we were waiting for, even though we had booked a day the day before and made sure we were coming to the islands today. Highly recommend staying away from them!