The Story of The Sweethearts Island (Song Saa Private Island)

Song Saa Private Island, called The Sweethearts Island in Khmer, was set up by Australian couple Rory and Melita Hunter, whose vision was conceived from a sustainable sanctuary to make a reasonable asylum of uncompromising extravagance in their own home of Cambodia.    

It was amid the couple's honeymoon, while investigating a portion of the more remote parts of Cambodia, that they ran over the untouched islands of the Koh Rong Archipelago, which sits simply off the shore of Sihanoukville. They began to fall in love with the white sand beaches, the turquoise waters and the lively and well-disposed fishing communities.    

Yet, it was two little islands specifically that caught their hearts – Koh Oun, signifying "Lady", and Koh Bong, signifying "Man". These two tactful islands sit next to each other in the shimmering ocean like lovers, thus earned the nearby name "Song Saa".    

The Hunters quickly observed the capability of these dazzling untouristed islands. Having both invested energy exploring in their younger years, the islands helped them to remember what Thailand had been similar to before the visitor boom. Furthermore, in view of that illustration they built up a dream of supportable luxury tourism that would convey advantages to the local communities and guarantee the islands kept up their natural excellence.    

Their vision was aspiring, made more so since it was the first run through a private island had been created into a resort in Cambodia. They connected with local villages for advice and help, and discovered approaches to enable these groups to enhance their expectations for everyday living standards and occupations. They likewise hired expert conservationists from the James Cook University in Australia to inform them on the development with respect to the resort on safeguard marine life. For instance, where they needed to assemble pipes under the ocean depths the coral was replanted somewhere else. Also, now, following a year in operation you can see seahorses in these waters where there were none before.    

After numerous times of meticulous work, the couple's diligence and assurance paid off and Song Saa Private Island was at last launched in March 2012.    

Conservation is a noteworthy topic at Song Saa Private Island, and visitors can visit the resort's Life Center to find out about the local environment and the work being done to secure it. Conservation tours are accessible for grown-ups and kids, which allows them to perceive how coral is developed, encounter the local mangrove forests or visit a portion of the projects the resort has begun in the local village, where they have set up waste management systems and sustainable farming projects.    

The achievement of Song Saa Private Island is supported by a solid group of local and expatriate staff – numerous from acclaimed posts abroad. The general director Greg Williams is from the Alila; the executive chef Neil Wagner is from the prestigious resort North Island in the Seychelles; the baker specialist is from the Ivy; the sales and marketing team are from the Burg Al Arab and Hotel de la Paix; and the head of HR is from Huvafen Fushi in the Maldives.    

The style of the resort draws its motivation from the Cambodian fishing villages found all through the Koh Rong Archipelago. Melita has gotten strange things from her ventures and utilized them in the hotel – from old oil drum tops lovingly shown in their weathered state to wheels of an old buffalo cart, driftwood and timber from discarded fishing boats.  

Song Saa Private Island sits in Cambodia's Koh Rong Archipelago, which is comprised of for the most part uninhabited islands – oases of virgin rainforests, coral reefs and pure white beaches. Song Saa is Cambodia's first private island resort, and plans to set an elevated expectation of luxury, ecological maintainability and group prosperity through its conservation and reasonable livelihoods programs. While the island feels isolated, it is just 35 to 40 minutes from Sihanoukville on the resort's deluxe speedboat. 

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