Beach Run: 2 day hilarious off-road HCM to Ho Tram beach
Summary
Ho Chi Minh to Ho Tram and back to Ho Chi Minh is a two-day off-road route suitable for all levels, but it is primarily for beginner to intermediate riders.
Experienced riders will find the creativity of the route (explained below) amusing, and there are plenty of open trails and small challenges to keep things exciting.
It is worth mentioning that the Ho Chi Minh to Dalat route is technically a better ride. However, that tour finishes in Dalat, which is great for people continuing to Hanoi. For others, a bus or flight back to Ho Chi Minh will be required.
This route, on the other hand, finishes back in Ho Chi Minh, which is great for logistical purposes. However, it should be noted that Ho Chi Minh is a very large city, and so the way back to the big city does eat a bit into the offroading!
What makes this tour special is that the distances are not large. Ho Tram is actually very close to Ho Chi Minh. Due to the short distances, the tour guides are not under huge time constraints and pressure to meet the destination on time. As a result, this tour lends itself to a lot of casual fun, banter, and non-serious riding.
It is very hard to explain how trails have characters. Experienced riders will understand, though, that some trails are serious and some trails are jokey. Well, these trails, for whatever reason, land themselves on the jokey side of the spectrum. Nothing is serious here on this ride, and you should be smiling the entire way around!
There are plenty of options, extras, and trails that would be impossible to find without the effort of myself and other local enthusiasts bush-whacking their way through random terrain.
Due to how close everything on this route is to the enormous city of Ho Chi Minh. For some six years, it has always been a problem child of mine. I could never quite find ways to avoid the roads. As a result, it never quite had the fast-paced flow that I like from my rides.
For a very long time, it was an acceptable route but not something I was particularly proud of.
New information from a good friend in 2024 finally connected the dots, and now this is an enjoyable route that I am finally proud to have under Tigit!
Tour Highlights
- Easy fast, faced flowing trails for building confidence
- Huge fun and nothing serious
- Beach riding, sand dune riding and plenty of sandy trails
- Random route that goes through all kinds of bizarre terrain
Who this tour is for
This tour is primarily for beginner to intermediate riders who want to start building confidence with their offroad skills. There are definitely challenges on the way, but nothing is difficult. You will learn a lot and finish the two-day ride feeling like a pro-level rider, ready for the next challenge.
For experienced riders, if you come with the right attitude of banter and fun, it’s a bit like Go-Karting or paintballing with the lads. You know, kick each other off your bikes, splat each other with mud, and ping a branch into the guy behind you to knock him off his bike.
Then, this route will have you thoroughly entertained!
I suppose the final kind of rider is the ADV guy who drives a BMW GS 1250 or any other large and heavy motorbike back home. Perhaps it is finally time to see what a 150cc motorbike can do. After tours like this, riders often realize they are far from as good as they thought they were, and often, people want to downgrade their motorbikes back home and study technique instead of relying on massive horsepower.
Tour Itinerary
Heading to the coastline
Day one has us going over the huge Cat Lai ferry into the beginnings of the escape saigon tour. It isn’t long before we blast through pretty and open rubber plantations.
The route actually ventures off fairly remote into rocky deserty terrain before heading down to the coast on sandy fast paced trails.
The day finishes up with some bush-wacking through a small jungle, and then the closing hours are spent being idiots on the beach.
The hotel is simple but very comfortable with a lovely soft mattress right. It isn’t on the beach, but it is right next to the beach.
Heading to Saigon
The day begins with a thick forest jungle that will make you very glad you have a long-sleeved T-shirt on. Then, for a short duration, there is some deep sand driving that brings most riders to their knees.
After the sand section, the route swiftly opens up into beautiful rice paddy driving. Cutting through rice paddies to avoid roads.
We eventually encounter a military zone with shooting ranges and the remains of a used quarry. This leads to some very interesting riding and strange terrain!
The tour comes to a close with more rubber tree plantation driving before getting back to Tigit in Saigon.
Tour Prices
Please read our full Tour Guide Disclaimer which describes all our terms and conditions for motorbike tours.
- Prices are in United States Dollars
- This is an all-inclusive tour, including damage waiver
- The standard bike for the tour is the Honda CRF 150
The prices listed are for two people or more, for one person please see rent a guide.
Price per person solo CRF 150 | 350usd |
Price per person 2+ riders CRF 150 | 300usd |
Tour Info
Includes
- Motorbike Rental and Gas
- English Speaking Guide (1 guide for every 5 clients)
- Private accommodation and no budget options
- All food
- Drinks (excluding alcohol)
- MX boots, Full Face Helmet, Water Bladder, Knee and Elbow Pads
- Damage Waiver (crashing the motorbike)
Excludes
- Personal Insurance
- Alcohol
Tour Guide
![](https://www.tigitmotorbikes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/giang-150x150.png)
Tigit Guides
Tigit guides are local enduro enthusiasts. Passion lies in driving and motorbikes. A tour is a way to escape the Tigit office and be out there on the roads. Be assured they are enjoying the trip just as much as you are.
We will attempt to match the right tour guide to the right client based on the emails we receive.
The Motorbikes we use
This route can be adapted to any motorbike but for maximum enjoyment we recommend the Honda XR 150 or Honda CRF 250cc. ADV motorbikes will be treated as road motorbikes and there will be little opportunity to go offroad into plantations.