Sanya: At the Southern Tip of Hainan, the Sea Changes Into Three Colors

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In December 2025, I set off from Shenzhou Peninsula in Wanning and drove 112 km south along the east coast into Sanya. This was the southernmost point of the whole Hainan island loop — and the only stop where I stayed in a hotel. In Haikou I stayed at a friend's home, in Shenzhou Peninsula I stayed at a friend's home; in Sanya, a hotel.

Sanya's first impression is one of arrival: Haikou was where the trip began, Wanning was the base I settled into, and Sanya was the destination itself. Three bays spread out, an island floats offshore, and further inland, in the mountains, there is a village that has stood for three thousand years.

1. Three bays, three kinds of stay

Sanya Bay is closest to the airport and the city center — convenient, and best for first-time visitors who want to wander around town. Yalong Bay has the best beach and the clearest water, with resort hotels clustered together — best for a pure beach holiday. Haitang Bay is newer, home to the duty-free mall, and mostly large resorts. For a first visit, I would suggest Sanya Bay or Yalong Bay: Sanya Bay for convenience, Yalong Bay for the beach.

On the evening we arrived, we went to Sanya Bay to watch the sunset. As the sun sank, the whole bay turned warm gold, with a band of light trailing across the water. The good thing about staying in a hotel is that the sea is right outside the door; the bad thing is that the next morning you don't want to leave — but the island was still waiting, so we had to go.

2. Wuzhizhou Island: give the sea a full day

The whole second day in Sanya went to Wuzhizhou Island: a boat ride over, clear water, fine sand, and the water sports — snorkeling, diving, parasailing — all gathered here. The island is small, but the sea is genuinely blue — not the blue of a doctored photo, but the kind of blue you see standing on the beach, looking out and seeing straight to the bottom.

Visitors who sunburn easily or get seasick can go to Yanoda Rainforest instead — boardwalks, waterfalls, tropical plants, half a day is enough. We chose the island, and chose right: the 62 seconds in the music video are the sea from that day on the island.

Back in Sanya Bay that evening, we ate seafood. Staying somewhere with a kitchen of your own is nice, but in Sanya, a meal of seafood bought and cooked on the spot is part of the trip too.

3. Binglanggu: a village in the mountains, the island's other face

Sanya is not only the sea. About 28 km from the city center, on the border between Sanya and Baoting in the Ganshiling area, lies Binglanggu: thousands of betel nut palms shading thatched houses scattered across the hills, with white-haired grandmothers sitting at waist looms weaving brocade in front of their homes.

The Li people are Hainan's earliest inhabitants, and their brocade-weaving craft has been passed down for more than three thousand years. The boat-shaped houses have roofs like boats turned upside down on land — legend says the ancestors crossed the sea by boat, came ashore, and turned their boats over to shelter from wind and rain; later generations built houses in the shape of boats to remember the crossing. The details of the brocade and the boat-shaped houses have their own piece, on Binglanggu and the Li people; here, one line is enough: see the sea in Sanya, then go into the mountains to see this village, and only then have you seen half of Hainan.

4. Luhuitou: climb up and take in the whole city

The last stop was Luhuitou Park: climb up for a full view of Sanya and the sunset. Standing up there, the three bays, the city, and the sea all come into one frame — arriving, they were separate place names; leaving, they join into a single picture.

In the evening we left from Sanya Phoenix Airport. You can also stop at the duty-free shop on the way — with a departing flight ticket you get duty-free prices, and you pick up the goods at the airport, so don't misjudge the timing.

5. A final note

Sanya took three full days: one evening for the sunset at Sanya Bay, one whole day for Wuzhizhou Island, half a day for Binglanggu and half a day for Luhuitou. The pace was unhurried, one focus a day — the way the whole island loop worked: settle somewhere, radiate outward, which is easier than changing hotels every day and more like living than a check-in tour.

Next stop: leaving Sanya, heading north to Wuzhishan.

🎬 Video version: the Wuzhizhou Island music video (62 seconds) is live

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