Shinta Mani Wild

Name: Shinta Mani Wild
Address: 5WM5+QH Kampong Seila, Kampong Seila, Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Price range: £££££

Kampong Seila, Sihanoukville, Cambodia

15 lavish riverside tents in the middle of the Cardamom Mountains

Wildlife

Luxury

Wellness

Hiking

Birdwatching

Watersports

Woods

Waterside

This tented camp set up in the Cardamom mountains of Cambodia is anything but rustic. 15 bespoke tents, whimsical and flamboyant in design feature open air rolltop baths, heavy teak furniture and a private butler. Guests can choose from a waterfall or wild tent, all built on stilts.

The resort is spread over 865 acres of rainforest dotted with rainforest, bought as a way to protect the region from deforestation and poaching. Many of the staff employed used to be poachers or loggers. Shanti Mani Wild also funds an anti poaching station, and hopes to run a student programme for future wildlife protectors.

Shanti Mani Wild is choc-a-block full of low impact adventures from camera trapping to ziplining, foraging to joining an anti poaching patrol. Adventure, but in A grade style. Even arrival to the camp can be via zipline. This is luxury responsible tourism at its best.

Highlights

Arrive by zipline Clip in at the top of the Eastern Tower and fly 400 metres over the jungle canopy, the river, and the face of Raging Big Sister Falls, arriving at the Landing Zone Bar where a cocktail is waiting.
Join an anti-poaching patrol Head out with Wildlife Alliance rangers on motorbikes through the Cardamom Rainforest to help with dismantling snares, running checks on camera traps, and occasionally releasing animals caught in the night.
Forage for your dinner Your guides, many of them reformed poachers who know this forest better than anyone, will take you deep into the jungle to gather wild ingredients that end up on the table that evening.
Sundowners on a rock in the river Golden hour cocktails on a flat stone in the middle of the Tmor Rung River, campfire going, tiny fish nibbling at your feet.
Explore the backwaters by boat The expedition pontoon with full bar, daybeds and sun loungers heads out into the mangrove-lined channels of the Srey Ambel Estuary. Bring binoculars: six species of kingfisher live here.

Rooms

There are 15 tents in total, each one designed by Bill Bensley and perched on stilts over the Tmor Rung River. No two are the same. One is dedicated to Jackie Kennedy’s 1967 visit to Cambodia, its floors deliberately gapped so the sound of the monsoon rapids rises into the room. Another pays tribute to the great conservationists, its vintage trunks inscribed with names from Ansel Adams to Douglas Tompkins. The farthest upstream is the gibbons’ tent, stocked with Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey and positioned for the best chance of hearing calls at dawn. Inside each one are hand-picked antiques, original artwork and cloud-like beds with cast metal detailing. Outside, a private deck over the river and a freestanding roll-top bath open to the jungle canopy, the sound of the water below, and whatever wildlife happens to pass through.

Food and drink

Food is locally produced. So much so, the resort’s employees goes foraging daily for fresh produce. Decidedly Cambodian menus change daily in time with the seasons, and is excellent quality which wouldn’t be out of place in a high end city restaurant. Meals can be taken in the jungle restaurant, back in the room, or out exploring the lush river valleys. The Landing Zone Bar is well stocked with drinks and there’s even a zipwire to get there should walking seem a little, well, pedestrian.

Facilities

Wellness is the name of the game at Shanti Mani Wild. The resort spa has two treatment rooms, both of which are built using wood and stone to fit in with the natural surroundings of the river. You can also have treatments outside by the natural swimming pool adjacent to the soothing sounds of the river and birdsong nearby. Treatments range from Kymer massage, which involves passive stretching and acupuncture to facials using local medicinal herbs and plants.

Experiences and activities

Head out with Wildlife Alliance rangers on anti-poaching patrol by motorbike, dismantling snares, checking camera traps, and occasionally releasing an animal caught in the night. Go foraging with guides who know this forest better than anyone to harvest wild potatoes, exotic fruit, edible mushrooms, and yes, live red ants if you’re feeling adventurous, then watch it all come back to the kitchen for dinner. Hike or mountain bike deep into the 350-hectare property; birdwatch from a kayak (your Bensley Butler knows which mangrove channels are worth exploring by kayak) on gin-clear water, bee-eaters and six species of kingfisher overhead. Swim in the black steel cistern pool, forest canopy above, waterfall below. When the river is navigable, the expedition pontoon heads out into the Srey Ambel Estuary with full bar, daybeds and sun loungers on the top deck.

Wider region

Shinta Mani Wild sits within one of Southeast Asia’s most biodiverse landscapes, the Cardamom Mountains. This wider region, spanning southwestern Cambodia, is a vast expanse of dense rainforest, winding rivers, and remote wildlife corridors. Largely protected within areas like Southern Cardamom National Park, it is home to rare species such as Asian elephants, clouded leopards, and sun bears.

The region remains relatively untouched compared to other parts of Southeast Asia, partly due to its rugged terrain and historical isolation. Today, conservation efforts led by organisations like Wildlife Alliance play a crucial role in preserving its ecosystems and combating illegal logging and poaching.

Nearby rivers and waterfalls carve through the jungle, feeding into the coastal plains that lead toward Sihanoukville. The area offers a striking contrast between wild, untamed interiors and developing coastal zones.

Sustainability

After the success of designing the Four Seasons Golden Triangle Elephant Camp in the northern reaches of Chiang Rai in Thailand, Bill Bensley turned his focus to Cambodia. After purchasing 865 acres in the south of the Cardamom Mountains, he set about creating Shanti Mani Wild, 15 bespoke tents painstakingly built over time in order to understand the environment first. It now employs over 100 people, many of which used to be illegal poachers or loggers. Plastics are nowhere to be seen, either front or back of house. Containers are recycled and the resort bottles its own water. The wider location is also protected. Shanti Mani Wild has collaborated with The Wildlife Alliance to create a ranger station which guests are welcome to visit. Graduates from the Phnom Penh Royal University regularly join as expert naturalists too.

Need to know

Getting there

Shanti Mani Wild is set in the unspoilt and protected forests of the Cardamom Mountains, southern Cambodia. It takes three hours from Phnom Penh to get here followed by a 30 minute 4×4 drive across rugged ground.

Check in and out

Check in 2pm check out 12pm.

Best time to visit

The best time to visit the Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia is during the cool, dry season from November to February. This period offers comfortable temperatures, clear skies, and lower humidity, making it ideal for hiking, trekking, and kayaking while minimising the chance of flooding or muddy trails.

Families

This is an adults only retreat.

Shinta Mani Wild

Highlights

Rooms

Food and drink

Facilities

Experiences and activities

Wider region

Sustainability

Need to know

Getting there

Check in and out

Best time to visit

Families

More like this

Get your monthly dose of wanderlust

Copyright © 2025 Ethical Escapes. All Rights Reserved.

Best time to visit