Things to do in Sanya
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Sanya
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, 20 to 28C, low humidity and calm clear seas. Best beach, diving and golf.
Late April to June shoulder, hotter and more humid with falling prices, except the May Day spike.
Hot, wet typhoon season. September is the wettest month and ferries, dives and flights can cancel.
Transition month. Typhoon risk fades, seas clear and late October is often the best week of the year.
What's on
- Chinese New Year / Spring Festival late Jan-Feb
Fireworks and temple fairs at Nanshan, prices triple and every sight queues. Book months ahead or avoid.
- National Day Golden Week 1-7 Oct
The other blackout festival week. Days immediately after are a connoisseur's window.
- Hainan Island International Film Festival typically Nov-Dec
Screenings and industry events add a cultural layer to a November beach trip.
- International Wedding Festival December
Mass ceremonies and wedding photo spectacles at Tianya Haijiao.
- San Yue San Third Day of the Third Month (lunar)
Li and Miao folk dance, song and festival food, the most culturally distinctive timing in the calendar.
- Hele crab season Sep-Nov
Hele crabs at their fattiest, the food season that matters most in Sanya.
Best things to do in Sanya
Yalong Bay Beach
Sanya's best beach, with the finest sand and clearest, calmest swimming water of the four bays.
Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone
A vast Buddhist park centred on a 108 metre Guanyin statue standing in the sea, Sanya's top cultural sight.
Wuzhizhou Island
Sanya's prettiest island, with powder white sand, clear glass sea, coral reefs and a coastal loop.
Luhuitou Park
A forested headland with a sunset panorama over Dadonghai, Sanya Bay and the city lights.
Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park
Rainforest hills above Yalong Bay with a glass bridge, film location bridges, zipline and bay views.
Atlantis Sanya
Aquaventure waterpark and the Lost Chambers Aquarium, the top family day out in Haitang Bay.
Coconut Dream Corridor
A free 20 km palm lined promenade along Sanya Bay, best for a sunset walk or bike ride.
Sanya Romance Park
A Song dynasty style park built around the Sanya Eternal Love song and dance spectacle.
Where to stay in Sanya
Yalong Bay
first trip, beach first base
Best sand and water in Sanya, self contained resorts and the Forest Park on the doorstep.
Dadonghai
value, food, nightlife and independence
Walk to the beach, dozens of restaurants and bars, with older, smaller hotels than Yalong.
Haitang Bay
resort staycation, Atlantis and duty free
Newest, biggest hotels and Wuzhizhou nearby, but swimming is restricted and there is little street life.
Sanya Bay
airport convenience, sunsets and cheap sea view rooms
Lowest sea view prices and superb sunsets, but the murkiest swimming water of the four bays.
Houhai Village
surfers and backpackers
Cheap, social surf hostels in a fishing village, walk to surf and eat where locals eat.
Tianya Town
cheap stay with charm, slow detour
Whitewashed lanes, sea view balconies and cafes, better for two slow nights than as a main base.
Think twice about
- First Market and older Jiefang Road streets
Sanya's densest tout zone with seafood solicitors, older budget hotels and traffic fumes at night.
- Haitang Bay if you will not taxi everywhere
Not unsafe, isolating. Pool only swimming and resort priced everything strands first timers.
- Far west Sanya Bay airport strip motels
Flight noise, little within walking distance and a murky beach. Fine only before an early flight.
- Roads behind Yalong Bay sold as Yalong Bay
Hotels on Longhai and Longtang roads without a beach or shuttle are not in Yalong Bay in any useful sense.
Best restaurants in Sanya
Taiqiong Zaopocu Seafood Hotpot
The best introduction to Hainan flavours, a tangy fermented vinegar hotpot with seafood and Wenchang chicken.
A Lang Seafood
The safe classic seafood dinner, with posted prices, live tanks and a detailed bill.
Haiya Restaurant
The locals' Hainan home cooking institution for Wenchang chicken and the Four Treasures.
Sanya DiaDia Coconut Chicken
Coconut water hotpot where Wenchang chicken is poached in fresh coconut broth opened at the table.
First Market
Buy live seafood in Sanya's biggest market and have a nearby processing restaurant cook it for a fee.
Fresh
The benchmark resort fine dining name in Yalong, listed at about US$104 per person.
Haijiao Pavilion
Open air Hainan seafood by the sand at the Mandarin Oriental, with a signature seafood platter.
China Harvest
Quiet luxury hotel dining in Yalong, noted for Wenchang chicken at about CNY 200 per person.
Outdoor things to do in Sanya
Wuzhizhou Island
China's flagship coral diving, with clear water, protected reefs and intro dives for non certified divers.
Houhai Village
China's friendliest beginner surf village, with small sandy bottom waves and lessons from about CNY 200.
West Island
A coral reef reserve island with diving, sea fishing platforms and a 400 year old fishing village.
Yanoda Rainforest
A rainforest day trip with waterfall valley hiking, a long zipline, glass platform and suspension bridges.
Yalong Bay Golf Club
An 18 hole championship course by the Yalong resort strip, a former Asian Tour host course.
Sun Valley Sanya Golf Resort
A desert style hills course above Yalong, famous for its 828 yard par 6 18th hole.
Visun International Yacht Terminal
Sanya's main yacht terminal for sunset cruises and private charters with swimming stops.
Taiyang Bay Coastal Road
Sanya's most beautiful short coastal drive, a cliff hugging scenic road best at golden hour.
Best hotels in Sanya
Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort
A secluded, art filled luxury resort on its own quiet cove, the connoisseur's Sanya hotel.
The Sanya EDITION
A stylish mega resort with a huge ocean pool lake, beach club energy and strong restaurants.
Rosewood Sanya
A sleek, serene luxury resort with a spectacular rooftop infinity pool and bar at sunset.
Atlantis Sanya
A huge family resort where the room rate includes Aquaventure and Lost Chambers access.
The Ritz-Carlton, Sanya, Yalong Bay
Classic Yalong beachfront luxury with family capable service and top in hotel Cantonese dining.
Mandarin Oriental, Sanya
A secluded resort in Coral Bay that is still 10 minutes from Dadonghai dining.
Hilton Sanya Yalong Bay Resort & Spa
A Yalong workhorse resort with big pools, kids club and direct beach access below flagship prices.
Sanya Marriott Yalong Bay Resort & Spa
A beachfront Yalong resort with big pools and a praised beachfront Fish Bar.
Is Sanya expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥450 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥1,450 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥4,250 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone: a few days ahead
- Wuzhizhou Island: a few days ahead
- Atlantis Sanya: a few days ahead
- Sanya Romance Park: a few days ahead
- Wuzhizhou Island: a few days ahead
- Yanoda Rainforest: a few days ahead
- Yalong Bay Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Sun Valley Sanya Golf Resort: a few days ahead
- Hotels at Chinese New Year, Golden Week and Christmas to New Year should be booked months ahead.
- Book Wuzhizhou ferry and entry a day ahead in high season and diving at the same time.
- Book Atlantis day tickets, Romance Park main show and Nanshan a few days ahead for weekends.
- Book golf, private yachts and skydiving several days ahead in October to April.
Is Sanya safe?
- Swim only in lifeguarded, roped areas and respect Haitang currents and jellyfish after storms.
- Sun is the main medical risk. Use SPF 50, a hat and reapply after swimming.
- Typhoons roughly July to October can stop ferries, flights and parks for one to three days.
- Drink bottled or boiled water only and carry passports, not photos, for hotel check in.
Sanya travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Never eat seafood at a place a driver or tout recommended. Use named places with posted prices.
- Weigh seafood drained, photograph the scale and agree processing fees before cooking.
- Ignore cheap dive touts. The cheap dive becomes expensive underwater photos and equipment extras.
- Buy pearls and specialties at fixed price supermarkets or duty free, not beach vendors or shopping stops.
Getting around Sanya: public transport and more
- Use Didi as the default. It removes fare negotiation and has in app translation and pin drop.
- Cluster sights by geography: west for Nanshan and Tianya, east for Wuzhizhou and Houhai, central for Yalong.
- Bus 28 runs downtown to Houhai and Wuzhizhou for about CNY 12. E scooters cost about CNY 50 per day.
- Set up Alipay with a foreign card before arrival and carry small cash notes for market stalls.
Who Sanya suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Sanya your trip
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