French · 7 years on Samui
French motorcycle tour guide living on Koh Samui for 7 years. Marc leads group rides across southern Thailand and knows every road on the island.
Updated: May 2026
The Hin Lad waterfall trail starts on tarmac behind the temple compound 2 kilometres south of Nathon and drops 80 metres over 2.5 kilometres of laterite, root crossings, and one stream ford. I rode it on the ADV 160 last October in the dry season - the best time, when the laterite is firm and roots are dry. Total trail time: 25 minutes down, 35 minutes up. The ADV 160 completes both directions without technical difficulty for a rider with two or more years of scooter experience.
Above the Nathon rubber plantation, a network of farm access roads extends 8 kilometres into the hills before tracks narrow to bicycle width. I explored the full accessible section last November on the ADV 160: red laterite, concrete ramps at the steeper sections, and one stream crossing requiring walking pace. The route is unmarked and unsigned - a feature, not a problem. GPS with a downloaded offline map, two litres of water, and the ADV 160 makes this network a full half-day's exploration.
The northern coast between Mae Nam and Bangrak has three beach access tracks leading from the ring road through rubber plantation land to the shore. I mapped all three on the ADV 160 last January: the longest is 1.2 kilometres on a combination of concrete and sand. Two of the three have loose sand sections requiring the ADV's semi-knobby tyres for reliable passage. All three are closed to wider vehicle traffic by local agreement - rental motorbikes qualify, tuk-tuks do not.
Silver Beach south of Chaweng has a 600-metre access track that transitions from concrete to gravel to sand. I rode it on the ADV 160 last February without stopping: the tyre profile found traction on each surface type without requiring technique changes. The track to the southern cape beyond Laem Sor extends 8 kilometres of mixed terrain to a viewpoint above the Gulf. Both routes are best ridden in the dry season - October through February - when sand sections are firm and laterite carries traffic without rutting.
The road network above Nathon and the west coast plantation land is the longest continuous mixed-surface riding available on Samui - 14 kilometres of accessible track before routes narrow. I rode the full network last March in a single morning session on the ADV 160: tarmac transitions to concrete to laterite over the first 3 kilometres, then maintains laterite quality for the remainder. Elevation gain produces views of Nathon bay and the west coast that no ring road section reaches.
Seven years of off-road guiding on Koh Samui has produced one definitive ADV 160 day: start at Nathon with the plantation network above the west coast, descend to the ring road, south to Hin Lad trail for the waterfall section, north to Silver Beach access, and finish at Bang Po beach. Total distance: 62 kilometres including off-road sections. Off-road percentage: 40 per cent. This route is only possible on the ADV 160 or a dedicated trail bike - no other rental scooter completes all sections.
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First-hand road and trail guides written by our local team - where to go, when to ride, and what to watch out for.
