Most packing lists for a motorbike day trip are written by people who have never had to fish a soaked passport out of a scooter seat. Ours comes from the other side of the counter. Every morning we hand bikes to riders heading for My Son, the Hai Van Pass or a beach they found on Instagram, and every evening some of them come back sunburnt, out of cash, or with a phone that died at the one junction where they needed the map. This packing list is what we have learned from those evenings.

It is built for Hoi An specifically: the heat on the Duy Xuyen rice plains, the October downpours, the monkeys at Son Tra, the parking attendants at An Bang, and the traffic rules that changed on 1 January 2025. Use the one-screen list in section 1 if you are in a hurry, and the rest when you want to know why.

The one-screen motorbike day trip packing list

Screenshot this table. Everything on it fits in a 15-litre daypack and the scooter’s seat box, and nothing on it is there just to look thorough.

If you only read one line: licence, helmet, poncho, water, cash, charged phone. The rest of this packing list makes the day more comfortable; those six decide whether it happens at all.

Documents: what police can actually ask for

Traffic police around Hoi An and Da Nang do stop foreign riders, most often on the roads to Da Nang, on the coast road and around My Son. A stop is usually short and polite (our guide to a police stop in Hoi An walks through one). What makes it long is a missing piece of paper, so this is the part of the packing list to get exactly right.

Your driving licence and the right IDP

To ride anything above 50cc you need a Vietnamese licence, or your home licence together with an International Driving Permit issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention. Vietnam joined that convention in 2014; it does not recognise the 1949 Geneva permit that the United States and a few other countries issue. The trap we see every season: a perfectly valid 1968 permit that is only stamped for category B (cars). It does not cover a motorbike. Check that A (or A1) is stamped before you fly. Our full guide to the licence you need to ride a motorbike in Hoi An has the country-by-country table.

The bike’s registration card

Every motorbike in Vietnam has a small registration card, the cà vẹt. Police ask for it together with your licence. Rental shops keep the original or a certified copy with the bike; ask where it is before you ride off, and put it back in the same place every time.

Passport: a photo, not the original

You do not need to carry your passport on a day ride, and a passport in a rain-soaked backpack is a problem that ends at an embassy. Keep a clear photo of the photo page and your visa or entry stamp on your phone, and a paper photocopy in the seat box. At Anh Khoa we photograph your passport at the start of the rental and give it straight back; we do not hold it as a deposit, and we suggest you never leave it with any shop.

The rental contract and insurance

Take a photo of the signed contract, with the shop’s phone numbers visible. If you bought cover, photograph that page too; our note on motorbike insurance in Hoi An explains what a typical rental policy does and does not pay for, and why your travel insurance may exclude riding without the right licence.

Helmet and riding gear

Since 1 January 2025, Decree 168/2024 sets the fine for riding without a helmet, or with the strap left open, at 400,000–600,000₫. The same fine applies if your passenger is not wearing one. Police do check the strap. More importantly, the worst head injuries we hear about involve a helmet that was either off or unbuckled. Put the helmet on your motorbike day trip packing list even though the shop provides it: check the size, fasten it until two fingers fit under the chin, and do not hang it on the mirror while you ride the “short bit” to the beach.

• Half helmet or three-quarter? Most rentals come with a half helmet, which is legal and cool. For the Hai Van Pass or any ride over 100 km, ask for a three-quarter helmet with a visor.
• Eyes: sunglasses by day, clear glasses at dusk. Insects, grit and rain at 50 km/h hurt, and a half helmet has no visor.
• Shoes: closed shoes or sturdy sandals with a heel strap. Flip-flops slip off the footrest and do nothing for the hot exhaust pipe on the right side of most scooters.
• Sleeves: a thin long-sleeved shirt beats sunscreen alone. Local riders wear full-length sun jackets and arm sleeves for a reason.
• Gloves: optional on a scooter, useful on a manual bike or a long day, and they save your palms if you slide in gravel.

Sun, heat and rain: packing for Hoi An weather

Hoi An has two riding seasons and your packing list changes with them. Our month-by-month Hoi An weather guide has the numbers; the short version is below.

The poncho that actually works on a bike

Convenience-store ponchos are made for walking. On a scooter they balloon, rip at the neck and funnel water into your lap. The Vietnamese answer is the áo mưa cánh dơi, a “bat-wing” poncho with a long front panel that drapes over the handlebars and covers your knees, and a clear window for the headlight. Two-person versions have a second head hole. Our riders get one with the bike; if you are renting elsewhere, any market stall sells them for less than the price of a coffee.

Heat is the bigger risk

From May to August the risk is not rain but heat on open roads. The ride to My Son crosses the Duy Xuyen plain with almost no shade, and the temple site itself is a sun trap after 10:00. Drink before you are thirsty, stop every hour for something cold, and plan the day so that the hottest two hours are spent under a roof. A scooter’s airflow hides dehydration until you stop.

Money, phone and navigation

Cash, in small notes

Outside the Old Town, almost everything on a day ride is paid in cash: parking, entry tickets, fuel at small stations, a bowl of mì Quảng at a roadside stall. Carry 500,000–1,000,000₫ split between two pockets, and make sure a good part of it is 10,000₫ and 20,000₫ notes. Parking at An Bang beach is officially 5,000₫, but riders are often asked for 10,000₫; small notes make it a non-issue. Big notes are hard to break in villages.

Fuel

Since 1 June 2026 the pumps sell E10 RON 95 in place of the old mineral RON 95, and it is fine for every scooter we rent. Fill up before you leave the city rather than counting on the next village. Searching Google Maps for cây xăng (petrol station) finds far more stations than “petrol station” does. Our page on petrol in Vietnam explains the grades and prices.

Phone, mount and power

• Download the offline map for the whole province in Google Maps before you leave the hotel Wi-Fi. Signal drops in the hills around Deo Le and on parts of the Hai Van Pass.
• Use a mount, not your hand. Holding and using a phone while riding carries an 800,000–1,000,000₫ fine and licence points under Decree 168. A handlebar mount with the route already set is the answer; if you need to change it, pull over.
• Power bank and cable: navigation with the screen on will drain a phone in four or five hours.
• A zip bag for the phone in the rain. Mounts are not waterproof, and water in the charging port is the usual way phones die on day trips.
• Save two numbers as contacts: your rental shop’s WhatsApp and its roadside line. Ours are +84 935 206 306 and +84 766 766 087 (24/7).

The bag, and why the seat box is not a safe

A small daypack of 10–15 litres is enough for a day trip. Wear it, or strap it to the rack or the footboard with a bungee cord; do not hang it from the handlebar hook, where it swings into the front wheel on bumps.

The seat box under a scooter saddle is useful, but it has two problems nobody mentions. First, it sits right above the engine and gets hot after an hour of riding in the sun: phones overheat, sunscreen separates, chocolate melts and power banks should not live there. Second, it is not a safe. A seat box opens with the ignition key, and in busy car parks keys get left in bikes. Put water, the poncho and the paper copies in the seat box; keep your phone, cash and cards on your body.

Packing list by route

The general list gets you through any ride. These are the extras that each classic route from Hoi An asks for. Distances are measured with Google Maps from our shop at 84 Phan Chau Trinh; for more ideas, see our Hoi An motorbike routes.

A note on the Hai Van Pass: the road over the top is open to motorbikes, the tunnel underneath is not. If you are riding one way to Hue, pack as for a full day and leave space in the bag; our rental covers one-way rides from Hoi An to Hue with the bike collected at the other end.

A day trip goes wrong in the first ten minutes or the last ten kilometres: a helmet left on the mirror at the start, an empty tank and a dead phone at the end.

What to leave at the hotel

A good motorbike day trip packing list is also a list of what not to bring. Everything below is safer in the hotel safe or your room.

• Your original passport — a photo and a photocopy do the job on the road.
• Most of your cash — take the day’s budget plus a small reserve, not the trip money.
• Laptops and big cameras — heat, vibration and rain are hard on them, and a heavy backpack tires your shoulders on a long ride.
• Jewellery and a nice watch — they are the first thing that gets scratched in a small slide.
• Anything you cannot let get wet — assume that from September to December, everything will.

One more thing to leave behind: alcohol. Vietnam applies a zero limit to motorbike riders, the fines are heavy, and a cold beer with lunch in the countryside is exactly how people get caught. Have it back in Hoi An, with the bike parked.

The two-minute bike check

Every bike we rent is serviced and checked before it leaves the shop. Check it again yourself, with the shop owner watching, before a long ride. It takes two minutes and turns most roadside problems into things you notice in the car park.

1. BrakesSqueeze both levers; they should feel firm and stop the bike when you push it.
2. TyresPress with your thumb. Look for tread and for nails in the rear tyre.
3. Lights and hornHeadlight on low and high, both indicators, brake light, horn. You will use the horn more than you think.
4. FuelLook at the gauge yourself; do not assume the tank is full.
5. MirrorsAdjust both so you can see behind you, not your own elbows.
6. PhotosWalk around the bike and photograph every scratch with the time stamp on. It protects you and the shop.

If something goes wrong on the road, pull over, switch on the hazard lights and call the roadside line before trying to fix anything. Local mechanics (sửa xe) are everywhere and fix a puncture for a small fee, but the shop can tell you whether it is cheaper to swap the bike.

Packing for an e-bike or bicycle day

An electric bicycle or a bicycle is the right choice for the Old Town, Tra Que vegetable village, Cam Thanh coconut forest and the beaches. The packing list gets shorter, but three things change.

• Range, not fuel. An electric bicycle typically covers 40–60 km on a charge, less with two people or on hills. Plan the day as a loop that stays within about 20 km of the shop, and ask where you can swap or charge a battery. Our electric bicycle rental page has the details.
• Electric scooters are further. The VinFast Evo200 Lite in our fleet is rated for far more than a round trip to the beaches, but we still plan around 100 km with two people, and send riders to Phu Ninh or the Hai Van Pass on petrol.
• More water, more sun. On a bicycle you are slower and working harder, so add half a litre per person and a hat that fits under the helmet.
• A lock — bicycles come with one; use it even for “just five minutes” at the market.

No licence is needed for a bicycle or an electric bicycle, which is why they are the honest choice for riders without the right IDP. If you want flat, quiet routes, our Hoi An cycling routes start from the shop door.

Motorbike day trip packing list FAQ

Fines are from Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, in force since 1 January 2025. Distances measured with Google Maps from 84 Phan Chau Trinh, Hoi An. Weather ranges are typical for Hoi An, not a forecast. IDP rules change; check your own country’s issuing body before you travel. Photos: hoianit.com.