Vietnam forum

Posted from within Vietnam.

Phu Quoc island is a sensational place for hopping on a motorbike and exploring for the day. We stayed on long beach (main tourist strip), hired bikes and followed the road along the coast up towards the northern tip of the island, swam on beautiful deserted stretches of beach (literally 4 km's of sand to ourselves), stopped in tiny fishing villages and rode through some sensationally beautiful landscape. Once past the main town we passed about two tourists on the road throughout the entire ride, it really was one of the highlights of our trip. We wished we could have stayed longer and explored the rest of the island. As you've probably read, the place wont be like this for long.

I recommend seeking out dirt bikes as most of the roads aren't paved and if it has rained recently you may have a some difficulty in the muddy areas, especially on the main road that cut's through the center of the island to the north as it is in the process of being paved and constant trucks + rain = lots of deep mud.

As the above poster mentioned though, the legality of riding may be an issue although in a place like Phu Quoc I doubt this would be an issue unless you got into some trouble as you probably wouldn't be covered by your travel insurance.

Enjoy your travels

Thank you all for your input. It's much appreciated. Will get back to you if i have any more queries.

Posted from within Vietnam.

Lucky you...only a return to renter. Certainly around HCMC it's a confiscation job and if you're lucky you might get the bike back in a week. My other half managed to get the bike confiscated today, for exceeding the speed limit and not having enough money to pay the fine. Thanks dear!

It's one reason a lot of renters are starting to ask and keep your passport as well as a deposit. Yes, they don't care about you, it's the bike they care about. And the Police will take the bike from you if you have no Vietnamese licence (International Driving Permits are not valid here). I've been here 8 months now and I've certainly noticed more and more Police stopping people even in that time - I've been coming to Vn since 2007. And KazAussie, it isn't legal to ride here just because you have a licence in your country. Vietnam doesn't, at the moment, recognise any other licence bar its own. You can get a Vietnamese licence using your own licence fairly quickly (took me 7 days) but the biggest problem is you need a 3 month visa plus a residential address to get one.

And one thing that is seldom mentioned is what happens in the event of you having an accident. You will be seriously out of pocket. Nearly all Vietnamese bike insurances have a maximum payout of around USD $2000. That is repair of bike, 3rd party liability. Indeed, one Vn biking site actually states that they like to say there is no insurance due to the amount of paperwork generated by your mishap.

Yes, it can be fun but be aware of the dangers. Forget what it like to ride in your own country for starters. I'd suggest imagining riding from the start line to the first corner of a packed motorbike Grand Prix race. And we all know how often accidents happen on that first bend. Coupled with people riding on the wrong side of the road (it's normal) and people just riding off the pavements, direct into your path, without looking to see what is coming along. Again, perfectly normal practice here. And use the horn!

Best thing you can do is wear a helmet and ride nicely. Hopefully you won't get stopped. Oh and ride in the correct lane. The Police will stop you for failing to do that as well.

Have fun!