The Coromandel — a two-day peninsula loop on a small adventure bike.

Three hundred and fifty kilometres around one of the great North Island rides. The 309 Road, the SH25 perimeter, the Crown-land camps, and the gravel corner where Hunter and I went down. Practical guide and honest report.

I dropped Hunter on a Coromandel gravel road in March. It was a slow corner on a track I had read as hard-pack and was actually hard-pack-over-loose. The front washed out at maybe twenty kilometres an hour; the bike went down on the right side; I stepped clear; I stood there for a moment looking at the shape of the thing. The rally crash protection earned every dollar that morning. The bike picked up with a dent on the right bar and otherwise was fine. I rode another six hundred kilometres that week. The Coromandel earned that dent. The Coromandel is also the most beautiful piece of motorcycle road in the North Island, and that is what this piece is about.

I am writing this from Pahi, where Hunter lives, three hours northwest of the Coromandel as the gull flies. The peninsula sits on the eastern side of the Hauraki Gulf opposite Auckland; from anywhere in Northland it is a half-day’s ride to the start of the loop. For Auckland riders it is a 90-minute warm-up. The loop itself is what I want to describe.

The short version

The Coromandel Peninsula has two great motorcycle roads. The first is State Highway 25 around the perimeter — sealed, sweeping, with the kind of switchbacks above the sea that make the ride feel cinematic. The second is the 309 Road across the spine of the peninsula — single-lane gravel through native bush, technical in places, with the kauri-walk halfway through. You can do both in a long single day (~350 km), or you can split into two days with a camp at the top of the peninsula. Two days is the right answer.

Day one — Auckland-side to Stony Bay

The southern entrance to the loop is at Kopu, just east of Thames. From Auckland this is 90 minutes via SH1 and SH25; from Pahi via the Auckland harbour bridge it is closer to three hours. State Highway 25 runs north up the western side of the peninsula along the Hauraki Gulf. The road is fast, sweeping, and lined with pohutukawa that flower red in December. I rode it in March; the trees were past flower but the cover was still summer-thick.

From Coromandel Town — the largest settlement on the peninsula, about 60 km up SH25 from Kopu — you have the choice. Continue north on the perimeter SH25 to Colville and then onto the gravel road that goes to Stony Bay and Fletcher Bay at the very tip. Or take the 309 Road inland across the peninsula. I did the perimeter first and the 309 on the return. This is the order I’d recommend.

Past Colville, the seal ends and the road becomes a well-maintained gravel that runs north along a dramatic coastline of small bays and headlands. Stony Bay DOC campsite is about 25 km north of Colville, right on a beach with a small creek and the kind of flat grass that takes a tent peg easily. Twenty dollars a night, no power, long-drop toilets, cold tap water from the bore. The closest other campsite is at Port Jackson, another 8 km further along the coast.

I made Stony Bay around five in the afternoon. Pitched under a pohutukawa, made a fire from manuka driftwood I had collected on the walk down to the beach, and ate a dehydrated meal while the sun went into the Hauraki. The closest other camper was 100 metres away. The cicadas were louder than the surf.

The drop, on day two

I left Stony Bay at seven the next morning, the auxiliary lights still on through the bush road for the first ten minutes. The plan was to ride up to Fletcher Bay (the road-end at the very northern tip of the peninsula), back down through Colville, then take the 309 Road across the spine back to SH25. The drop happened on the back road between Stony Bay and Fletcher Bay — about three kilometres in, on a corner that drops to a stream and re-climbs. I had read the surface as hard-pack from the previous day’s tracks. It was hard-pack with a thin layer of loose stones on top, the kind that washes the front out the moment you lean. I leaned. The front went. The bike went over on the right.

I was wearing armour, gloves, a full-face helmet. I stepped clear as the bike fell; nothing touched me. I stood there for a moment, picked the bike up by the foot peg and the seat (the back-to-the-tank lift, learnt at the Stay Upright course), checked: front brake fluid present, levers straight, no leaks, the right-side rally bar with a fresh indent, the radiator guard unmarked. Started the bike. Idled fine. Rode on.

The lesson, as ever, was a small one and a familiar one. Wisdom requires scars. Read the surface, not the tracks. On a gravel corner in the wet, ride the camber, not the line. Brake before, not in. None of which I had not been told. All of which I needed reminding of, which is what a slow drop on Coromandel gravel teaches.

Fletcher Bay, twenty-five minutes later, is a spectacular thing. A grass field at the road-end, with the open Pacific Ocean to the east and Great Barrier Island visible on the horizon. The campground there is more exposed than Stony Bay; the road-end car park has space for maybe ten vehicles. I parked the bike, walked down to the beach, and stood looking east for a long time. Then I rode south.

The 309 Road — the great Coromandel ride

From Coromandel Town, the 309 Road runs east across the peninsula to Whitianga. It is sixteen kilometres from end to end, of which about 22 km is the unsealed section through the Coromandel Forest Park (the road is officially “sealed at both ends, gravel in the middle”). The unsealed section is what you came for. Single lane. Low-traffic. Mature kauri forest on both sides of the road. A walking track halfway through that takes you to the Siamese Kauri, two enormous trees that have grown together over centuries.

On a small adventure bike with dual-sport tyres the 309 is paradise. The corners are real. The surface is well-maintained but loose enough that the front tyre’s grip pattern matters. The Mitas Dakar fronts I had on Hunter ate it. I spent an hour and a half on a road that takes a faster bike thirty minutes, stopping at the kauri walk and at three other points just to listen to the bush.

The 309 Road is paradise on a small adventure bike. Single lane. Mature kauri. Corners that deserve their reputation.

The route, step by step

Day one (Auckland-side to Stony Bay):

Auckland → Kopu (start of the peninsula): 90 km via SH1 and SH25, sealed.
Kopu → Coromandel Town: 60 km, sealed, sweeping.
Coromandel Town → Colville: 28 km, sealed.
Colville → Stony Bay (DOC): 25 km, gravel.
Total: ~200 km.

Day two (Stony Bay to home, via Fletcher Bay and the 309):

Stony Bay → Fletcher Bay road-end: 8 km, gravel.
Return → Coromandel Town: 60 km, gravel + sealed.
Coromandel Town → Whitianga via 309 Road: 35 km (gravel middle section).
Whitianga → Tairua → Kopu: 95 km, sealed SH25 around the coast.
Kopu → home: variable.

Total ride distance: ~350 km (plus the home run).

Fuel, food, accommodation

Fuel: Coromandel Town has the only full-service station between Kopu and the northern tip; fill up here before going north. Whitianga (east coast) has fuel. Tairua and Whangamata have fuel further south. Carry a small reserve if you plan the northern tip; it’s 80 km of round-trip from the last fuel stop.

Food: Coromandel Town has a bakery, a bottle shop, a small supermarket. Whitianga has more options including a couple of decent cafes. The northern tip has nothing past Colville — bring camp food.

Accommodation: DOC campsites at Stony Bay, Port Jackson, and Fletcher Bay (all northern, all basic). Whangapoua DOC site on the west side is closer to Coromandel Town. Paid options include Coromandel Top 10 in town, several private holiday parks along SH25, and B&Bs in Whitianga and Tairua for riders who prefer a roof.

What I’d do differently

Read the surface harder before leaning. The drop on the way to Fletcher Bay was avoidable. I had the right tyres, the right kit, the right speed. I read the road wrong. Slow down on first-time gravel corners; lean less; brake before, not in. The drill from the adventure-bike course is exactly this and I knew it. Knowing isn’t the same as remembering it under pressure.

Three days, not two. The two-day version is tight. Three lets you take the 309 in the morning when the light is best, swim at New Chums Beach, ride out to Cathedral Cove, and still camp at Stony Bay or Port Jackson with the time to enjoy it. If you can take the third day, take it.

Carry a water filter. Stony Bay’s tap is bore water, which is mostly fine but I’ve had one bad-stomach week from a different DOC campsite tank in Tasmania. I now run an MSR Trail Shot filter on every trip and never regret carrying it.

Compared to other North Island rides

The Coromandel sits in a tier with the Forgotten World Highway and the East Cape as one of the great North Island motorcycle routes. The Coromandel is shorter than either; the riding is more varied (perimeter sealed + 309 gravel + sweeping coast); the camping options are better. For first-timers to NZ adventure motorcycling, the Coromandel is the right starter loop.

For Northland riders, it pairs well with the Cape Reinga route and the Kaipara Harbour loop. A long weekend can take you Cape Reinga, Kaipara, and Coromandel in three days of riding with two camps. That is one of the great Northland-region motorcycle tours and is in everyone’s reach with a small adventure bike and the right kit.

What’s next

The next NZ route guide is Te Araroa to East Cape Lighthouse — a route I have not yet ridden but plan for late autumn. After that, the South Island West Coast loop, late winter 2026. The carnet expires in January 2027, so the South Island has to happen before then.

In the meantime: if you have not ridden the Coromandel and you have a small adventure bike, this is the loop to put on the calendar. Two days. Three hundred and fifty kilometres. The 309 Road through the kauri. The sound of cicadas at Stony Bay. The gravel corner on the way to Fletcher Bay where, if you’re paying attention to the right things, you don’t go down.