Koh Larn by Motorbike: Ferry, Parking and Rental

Let us be straight with you from the first line, because this page exists to answer one question honestly. We do not rent motorbikes on Koh Larn — we have no office and no fleet on the island. And you almost certainly cannot take a rented bike across: the Bali Hai boats to Koh Larn are passenger services and do not carry vehicles. There was a time, years ago, when a bike could be loaded onto the ferry; that stopped, and today a scooter simply does not board.

So the workable plan is the one every regular visitor uses: rent the bike in Pattaya, ride to Bali Hai Pier, park it there, and cross on foot. On the island you either walk, take a songthaew, or rent a scooter locally from an island shop. That is the whole logistics of a Koh Larn day trip, and everything below is the detail that makes it go smoothly.

Koh Larn itself lies about 7–8 km off Pattaya — a low, green island with half a dozen beaches: Tawaen, the busiest and the one with the water sports; quieter Samae; small Nual, often called Monkey Beach; Tien and Thong Lang on the far side. Distances on the island are short but the hills are steep.

Rental prices in Pattaya

These are our Pattaya rates — the bike you will use to get to the pier and around the city. From 7 days the daily rate falls to 150–230 ฿. The full table is on the prices page.

How to get to Koh Larn from Pattaya

Everything leaves from Bali Hai Pier, at the southern end of Walking Street. There are two ways across:

• The public ferry — the slow, cheap and pleasant option. The crossing takes roughly 40–45 minutes and a one-way ticket costs on the order of 30–40 ฿ per person, paid at the kiosk or on boarding. Two destinations: Naban, the main village, and Tawaen Beach, and you may return from either regardless of where you arrived.
• Speedboat — 15–20 minutes, in the region of 150–200 ฿ per person on a shared boat, or roughly 1 500–3 500 ฿ to charter one depending on size. Quick, but genuinely bumpy in any swell.

Indicative ferry times, which you should always confirm at the pier: Bali Hai to Naban around 07:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:30, 17:00 and 18:30; Naban back to Bali Hai around 06:30, 07:30, 09:30, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 17:00 and 18:00; Bali Hai to Tawaen around 08:00, 09:00, 11:00 and 13:00, returning early afternoon to late afternoon. Timetables and fares change, and rough weather cancels sailings — check the board at the pier and plan to be on an earlier boat than the last one. There are no evening ferries: miss the last return and you are staying the night.

Can you take a rented motorbike to Koh Larn?

In practice, no — and we would rather you hear it from us than at the boarding ramp.

• The scheduled Bali Hai–Koh Larn boats are described and operated as passenger services. Vehicles are not accepted on the route; the crossing is for foot passengers.
• Carrying bikes on these ferries was possible many years ago and was stopped. Occasional stories from that era still circulate online; they no longer describe how the pier works.
• Even if some operator offered it, a rented bike taken to an island by sea is a different matter entirely from a road trip. We do not agree to it, and we ask you not to try: a bike that is stuck on an island, damaged in loading, or dropped in the water is a problem with no good ending for anyone.

The honest conclusion: rent the bike in Pattaya, ride to the pier yourself, and leave it there. Nothing about a Koh Larn day actually needs the bike on the island — it is small, and the island has its own transport.

Where to leave the bike at Bali Hai Pier

This is the practical part. Bali Hai is the busiest pier in the city, and on weekend mornings it is genuinely crowded.

• Motorbike bays around the pier and the plaza are the obvious choice: the fee is small, in the order of a few tens of baht for the day. Pay, keep the ticket if you are given one, and note the row you are in.
• There is also a paid car park at the Bali Hai end for cars, at a considerably higher day rate. You do not need it for a scooter.
• Free spots exist on the streets around the pier, but they are the first to fill and the most exposed. If you are leaving the bike for eight hours, the paid bay is worth the price of a coffee.
• Arrive early on weekends and Thai public holidays — Songkran and New Year especially. The area fills up in the morning, exactly when the island boats leave.
• Leave nothing under the seat or in the hooks. Take a photo of the bike and its surroundings: at the end of the day the rows look identical and will have shifted.
• Do not park against the Walking Street barriers or on red-and-white kerbs. Our full city guide is where to park a motorbike in Pattaya, and the neighbourhood itself is covered on our Walking Street and Bali Hai page.

Renting a scooter on Koh Larn itself

Scooters are rented on the island by local shops at Naban and at Tawaen, near the piers and along the main streets. Rates are usually quoted at around 200–400 ฿ a day depending on the model and the season, paid in cash.

Three things you should know before you hand over any money, and none of them are ours to control:

• These are not our bikes and not our contracts. We have no fleet, no office and no staff on Koh Larn, and we cannot help with a dispute over an island rental. Inspect the bike, photograph every scratch before you ride, and agree the return time clearly.
• Island shops commonly ask for a passport or ID as security. That is their practice, not ours — in Pattaya we only ever make a copy and the original stays with you. If you would rather not part with your passport, that is one more reason to see the island by songthaew.
• The island's roads are narrow, steep and sandy in places, with no traffic lights and effectively no junction priority. Fuel is often sold from bottles rather than pumps. If you have never ridden a scooter before, Koh Larn is a poor place to learn.

The easy alternative: songthaews run between the village and the beaches for a modest per-person fare, and motorbike taxis will take you anywhere for a negotiated price. For one day on a small island, that is usually enough.

The ride from your hotel to Bali Hai

From most of Pattaya the pier is 10–20 minutes away, but the route matters because the south of the city is a one-way loop: Beach Road runs southbound only, Second Road northbound only. Coming from the north, take Second Road south, turn towards the sea at South Pattaya Road, and follow the signs to Bali Hai. Coming from Jomtien or Pratumnak, you drop down the hill straight to the pier.

Set off earlier than you think you need to. South Pattaya Road is slow, weekend mornings bring everyone else going to the same boats, and you do not want to be hunting for a parking bay five minutes before departure. A 110–125cc scooter is perfectly adequate for this: the ride is short and the priority is a bike that is easy to squeeze into a full row at the pier.

Fuel up before you go — there are proper PTT and Bangchak stations on Second Road and Thepprasit Road. We hand over the bike fuelled and ask for it back the same way.

Police checks, licence and helmets

On the Pattaya side, checkpoints work regularly on Second Road and South Pattaya Road, including the approaches to Bali Hai. Officers check helmets and licences. We do not require a driving licence to rent — your passport is enough — but Thai law allows you to ride only with a category A or A1 licence, Thai or international, and that is what is checked. The fine for no licence is 500–1 000 ฿, for riding without a helmet 500 ฿, and the rider pays it. Two helmets come with every bike.

The same rules apply on Koh Larn. The island feels informal and many visitors ride bare-headed; that does not change the law, and the island's blind corners are a bad place to test it. More detail in our article on renting a motorbike in Pattaya without a licence and on the rental rules page.

Renting and delivery in Pattaya

We have been renting in Pattaya since 2009 and keep a fleet of over 800 vehicles — Honda and Yamaha motorbikes, cars and bicycles. Two offices, both open daily 10:00–20:00: Pratumnak on Pattaya Park Rd (WhatsApp +66 88 520 5496, Telegram @RentMotor) and Naklua on Naklua Rd (+66 65 067 4927, Telegram @rentmotorbikenorth). Pratumnak is the closer one to Bali Hai — five to ten minutes.

Paperwork takes about 10 minutes and needs only your passport: we make a copy, the original stays with you, and we never hold a passport as security. The cash deposit is 2 000 ฿ up to 160cc, 5 000 ฿ for 300–350cc and 1 000 ฿ for a bicycle. Two helmets are included and we stay in touch for the whole rental. We can also deliver the bike to your hotel anywhere in Pattaya in 30 to 90 minutes — delivery is a paid service and the manager quotes the price for your address before you book. What we cannot do is deliver anything to Koh Larn. Contacts and office maps are on the contacts page, and if it is your first rental in Thailand, start with how to rent a motorbike in Pattaya.

Bike rental in Pattaya areas:
Walking Street & Bali Hai · Pratumnak · Jomtien · Central Pattaya · Wongamat · Pattaya motorbike rental