The back story
Wild Phnom Penh: the Mekong, River Dolphins and Rescued Wildlife
Four rivers meeting below the Royal Palace, rare river dolphins upstream on the Mekong, a rescue centre for trafficked wildlife and the forest of Kep: the wild side of Phnom Penh.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Mx. Granger · CC0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe natural side of Phnom Penh, from the Chaktomuk, where the Tonle Sap meets the Mekong, to the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins of the Mekong at Kratie, the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre and Kep National Park, with a directory of the places in our guide.
Phnom Penh grew where four arms of water meet. At the Chaktomuk, the “four faces”, the Tonle Sap joins the Mekong and the Bassac leaves it, below the Royal Palace and the promenade of Sisowath Quay. The great river is the key to Cambodia's natural world, and upstream, in its deep pools, live some of the rarest dolphins on Earth.
This is a short, honest guide to the natural side of Phnom Penh: the rivers, the dolphins of the Mekong, the rescue centre south of the city and the forest by the sea at Kep. Bring water and sun protection, and travel early in the day.
Upstream of Phnom Penh, rare river dolphins surface in the deep pools of the Mekong.
The rivers and the riverside
The lawns and paths along Sisowath Quay, between the Royal Palace and Wat Ounalom, are where Phnom Penh comes out in the cool of the evening to watch the rivers. A boat trip at sunset on the Mekong and the Tonle Sap is the easiest way to see the city from the water, and the great rivers beyond it.
Phnom Tamao and Kep
South of the city, the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre cares for animals rescued from the wildlife trade, with the support of Wildlife Alliance; a visit is usually combined with the Angkor-era temple of Ta Prohm at Tonle Bati. On the coast, Kep, the seaside resort of the 1960s, has Kep National Park rising behind the town, with forest trails above the sea.
Feature: the dolphins of the Mekong
North-east of Phnom Penh, in the deep pools of the Mekong in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces, live Cambodia's Irrawaddy dolphins, a critically endangered freshwater population. WWF and the Cambodian authorities count them regularly; after years of decline, recent counts have risen a little, and WWF-Cambodia reported newborn calves and no dolphin deaths between November 2024 and November 2025. The Kampi pools, near Kratie town, are the best-known place to see them, from small boats that keep their distance.
Did you know? Cambodia recorded no deaths of its Mekong river dolphins between November 2024 and November 2025, according to WWF-Cambodia.
Our advice
Our advice: walk Sisowath Quay at sunset, and take a river trip; for the dolphins, plan an overnight stay in Kratie and choose a boat that keeps its distance from the animals. Visit Phnom Tamao with a responsible operator, and never buy wildlife or wildlife products.
Why it's on our list
- The rivers and the riverside
- Phnom Tamao and Kep
- Feature: the dolphins of the Mekong
- Our advice
Location
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