About Sanya
What to see and do in Sanya
Weather in Sanya
Airport in Sanya
Visa

Sanya

Sanya is the southernmost city in Hainan province, China. It has an area of 1919.6 square km and a population of 536,000 (2006). After Haikou, it is the second most populous city of the island. Sanya is renowned for its tropical climate and is a popular tourist destination. It is also the focus city for China's Utsul Muslims. It is the site for training of the Chinese national beach volleyball team.

Billed as "China's Hawaii", Sanya has long stretches of beach, water sports such as snorkeling and jet-skiing, rainforest hiking, and innumerable hotels ranging from one to five stars. However, Sanya is becoming more crowded and more polluted (refuse from tourism, unchecked construction) as each year passes. Islands and beaches that could have been compared to Hawaii a few years ago are still beautiful, but no longer pristine or secluded.

Even in January, temperatures hover around 30 C and the ocean is still warm enough to swim in without a wetsuit. Thus, Sanya is a popular escape for Russians fleeing sub-zero winters. Russians primarily stay at Dadong Hai(Great East Sea). Sanya is also a very popular vacation spot for Northern Chinese to escape cold, arid weather. Especially around Chinese New Year, the city will overflow with tourists. Fireworks will sound constantly, often being carelessly thrown around by children, for the weeks leading up to and the weeks after Chinese New Year.

In the last years Sanya developed to become a getaway from Hong Kong and a relaxing place for extending a holiday without a long trip back home. The first international Resort hotel was opened and managed by Swiss hotelier N.C. Solari in 1999, in Yalong Bay.

Nowadays, international hotel chains have established in what is becoming a world-known destination, especially following the Miss World beauty pageant in Crowne Plaza, a hotel along Yalong Bay. The resort in Sanya Bay, the Palm Beach Resort and Spa welcomed the first Miss China beauty pageant in modern times. The organizer Julia Morley was decided by Sanya to welcome the international pageant the following year. Sanya attracts many Russian tourists as can be seen by many Russian signs throughout the city. There is a butterfly museum and a shell aquarium.

What to see and do in Sanya

Cape Tian-Ya-Hai-Jiao (The end of sea and sky.)(The end of the Earth)

Lu Hui Tou (Deer turns its head) A large stone statue above Sanya harbour telling the story of a hunter pursuing a deer to an isolated headland in the sea. When the deer could not escape, it turned to look at the hunter and became a beautiful woman. The hunter could not kill her and instead fell in love with her. Luhuitou is a place for lovers; many people leave a padlock on a chain at the top of the mountain in the hope that their love will last as the lock remains.

Yalong, Dadonghai (big east sea), Sanya, Haitang, and Yazhou are the five major bays in Sanya.

Wuzhizhou Island.

West Island

Dongtian Park

The Tiger and Crocodile centre.

Perfume Bay (xiangshui wan)
Two hours from Sanya by bus (see the bus station, tickets less than RMB 30) plus a short 100m walk from the freeway (ignore all motorbike offers, or pay less than RMB 4 per person), this stretch of beach is rather undeveloped and thus delightfully peaceful (it will probably be only you for a good kilometer on either side). Visiting here is a delightful and mind-cleaning day trip, especially if joined with some hiking around the surrounding farms. Watch out for strong rip tides and pack snacks.

Dadong Hai (Great East Sea)
Predominantly Russian. Dadong Hai has Sanya's best balance between development and natural beauty. The town behind Dadong Bay is more expensive than Sanya, but has better restaurants and a gorgeous beach. The shopping, however, is not as good as Sanya city's. The ocean has algae blooms that vary the water from thick green to tropically clear. However, even when "tropically clear" the ocean bed is just sand with a rare school of fish or eel. See the beach both in the morning, at sunset (sets gorgeously over the hills), and at night (when people are very scarce). Check out the trails that lead between tide pools along the Westernmost rocks of the beach. The tip of the trail has a dramatic view of the ocean and a deep and deadly ocean cave.

Nanwan Monkey Island
Actually a penninsula, Monkey Island is home to about 1800 endangered Macaque monkeys whose habitat you get to roam freely through. Be careful, these monkeys will jump on humans (playful) or attack for sweet drinks or food (hungry and thirsty). There are also some circus-style comedy shows featuring monkeys doing stunts. Entrance ticket is RMB 68 and a round-trip ride on the gondola is another RMB 60, but well worth the quiet, long, and smooth ride over gorgeous ocean-top fishing villages and jungle. From Sanya, take the Lingshui bound bus from the bus station and then switch to the Xincun bus and ride it to the end of the line. The park entrance will be 300 meters away.

Sanya Nanshan Temple
Sanya Nanshan Temple is purposefully-constructed tourist trap began in 1998 with a gigantic statue of Guanyin (a Goddess of Mercy) on a sea-top platform. The park has few interesting spots (save a monastery bells that you can "gong") but demands a hefty entrance fee over RMB 150. A trolley car can shuttle you around the park for extra cash, but it's best enjoyed without the trolley as it really isn't that big. Nanshan is about an hour outside of Sanya city by city bus, which can be grabbed at the bus station or along the city's beach-side roadway. The surrounding countryside is much more interesting than the park itself, which is a must-miss.

Xisha Archipelago
Gorgeous, remote, and brimming with tropical life, one of this chain of islands was formerly on exotic vacation spot that is now off-limits to travelers, reportedly due to territorial disputes.

Wuzhizhou Island
Wuzhizhou Island is a popular spot for snorkeling and scuba diving, this island has fallen victim to it's popularity. Water is less clear and fish less plentiful than before, so choose dates and times to maximize visibility when visiting. Scuba diving will cost around RMB 400 - RMB 500.

Sanya has never run short of beautiful bays for visitors to enjoy. The Asian Dragon Bay (Yalong Wan), Dadonghai and Sanya Bay are the top three holiday resorts of Sanya. According to their quite different natural beauties and appearance, the Asian Dragon Bay is praised to be a virgin and the Dadonghai represents an elegant lady and Sanya Bay is regarded to be an unadorned fisherman's daughter. You can definitely go to any of them to enjoy your holiday.

The Nanshan Temple in Nanshan Culture Tourism Zone is located 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) away from the west of Sanya City, and is certainly worth visiting. It is the most famous Buddhist temple in Hainan Province, and faces the South Sea and is encircled by mountains on both its sides. There are several ways to guide you to the temple, but the most convenient route is to take the buses that can reach there directly via the Jiefang Second Road of Sanya City. The entrance fee is RMB150 per person.

There are also some additional destinations in Sanya that eagerly await your visit. For example, the Luhuitou Park which is located in the Luhuitou Peninsula of Sanya is noted for its beautiful legend. And the Monkey Island is the only tropical island-type nature reserve for macaques. It also boasts many special scenic spots, such as a long oversea ropeway, unique rafts and a good sand beach.

Cycling
Hainan Bike Tours. Organisation run by expats offering cycling tours around Hainan.

Surfing
Hainan has pretty consistent surf most of the year. In the summer, the south winds bring waves to Sanya's south-facing beaches. In the fall through winter, the peak surf season, Hainan's east coast is the place to go. Hainan doesn't offer world-class waves, but it offers fairly consistent tropical surf, which is almost completely empty. See Surfing Hainan for surf reports, forecasts, and more information on Hainan surf.

Water Sports
Yalong Bay, Dadong Bay, and Sanya Bay all have a collection of jet skiing, parasailing, paragliding, snorkeling, scuba diving, glass-bottomed boat, and beach ATV enterprises. Prices aren't generally very negotiable (save for scuba and snorkeling), but duration of the ride, however, can. Do not go too cheap on scuba, for obvious safety reasons.

Hiking
Sanya Bay and Fragrant Water Bay are kilometers long and can be a very entertaining afternoon's walk. Sanya Bay is touristy near the city, but fades into nearly silent sections filled only with resting fishermen and wedding photographers. Fragrant Water Bay is newly developing and is nearly devoid of humans! Beware of strong rip tides while swimming. Outside of beach hikes, Five Finger Mountain, a couple hours from Sanya, is an excellent place to spend the day. Hire a car to take you around the gigantic park's multiple scenic spots. Motorcycle side-cars can also be hired for the day for 100 RMB and sit two. Bring a sweater to fight the windchill as the motorcycle goes through shaded, windy roads.

Weather in Sanya

Sanya is the roughly on the same latitude as Hawaii, with very warm weather all year around. It is one of the transportation and communication centers of China, and one of the important trade ports in the extreme south of the golden coastline. The daily average temperature is 25.4 C and annual rainfall is 1,279mm.Sanya is the roughly on the same latitude as Hawaii, with very warm weather all year around. It is one of the transportation and communication centers of China, and one of the important trade ports in the extreme south of the golden coastline. The daily average temperature is 25.4 C and annual rainfall is 1,279mm.

Here the tropical climate blends with the clear, fresh air to create a vacationers paradise, regardless of the season. The average temperature in Sanya is 25 C (about 77F), with temperatures typically climaxing in June (when they often reach 95 F). The warm weather remains throughout the winter months.

January                  25 C to 17 C

February                26 C to 18 C

March                    27 C to 20 C

April                       29 C to 23 C

May                        31 C to 24 C

June                        31 C to 25 C

July                         31 C to 25 C

August                   30 C to 24 C

September            30 C to 23 C

October                  29 C to 22 C

November              27 C to 20 C

December             26 C to 18 C

Airport in Sanya

Sanya Phoenix International Airport is an airport in Sanya, Hainan, People's Republic of China (IATA: SYX, ICAO: ZJSY).

In 2008, Sanya Airport had a 13.1% increase by traffic movements, registering 6,807,235, and became the 19th busiest airport in China. Known for its small size, it plays a vital part in bringing tourists into Sanya.

Fenghuang (Phoenix) Village, Yanglan Town, 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) northwest to Sanya City.

Brief Intro: As one of two international airports on Hainan Island, Sanya International Airport not only enjoys a favorable location by the picturesque surroundings of Luhuitou Peninsula, Tianya Haijiao and the South China Sea, but has provided great convenience for travelers since opening in 1994. In 2002 and 2003, airport expansion was necessary to meet the 20% annual growth of passengers, including the increasing in tourism and in business travel. The airport is now well-equipped with added lounges and dressing rooms for passengers, as well as a business center. In addition, a variety of services such as luggage claim, registrations for unaccompanied children and easy boarding, etc. are now provided. Further expansion of the main terminal and the construction of a new international terminal are now being carried out to increase the airport's ability to handle up to 6,000,000 passengers every year.

Services: Airport Hotlines: 0898-88289114, 0898-88289389 Easy Boarding: A series of paid services including exclusive boarding desks, security pass and first-class lounges to expedite the boarding procedures is greatly favored by passengers. Tel: 0898-8289120

Visa on Arrival: Passengers from countries, which have foreign relations or are engaged in official trade with the People' s Republic of China (PRC) can enjoy the facility of Visa on Arrival (VOA) at Sanya International Airport.

A 'No-Visa' policy is available for travel groups of 5 members or more when they have passports from one of following 21 counties: USA, Singapore, Russia, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Italy, Thailand, Philippine, Indonesia, Germany, Britain, France, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Spanish, Holland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The 'No Visa' policy is valid for a stay of 15 days maximum.

Transportation: There are airdrome buses at the airport's exit to the city zone which cost RMB10. It will take approximately 30 minutes to reach the terminal from the Main Bus Station in the city zone. The last run of the bus leaves the airport 40 minutes after the arrival of the last plane, make sure that you will not miss this bus. You can also take a taxi to the urban area for a fare of about RMB 35. It is something worth mentioning to the driver to choose the Binhai Lu route so as to appreciate the beautiful sceneries of the seashore.

In addition, you can take buses at the airport to Sanya Bay and Dadonghai directly for a ticket fee of RMB 20. The taxi fare to Sanya Bay is about RMB 20, to Dadonghai is about RMB 50 and to Asian Dragon Bay (Yalong Wan) is about RMB100.

Airlines and other destinations of Sanya

Domestic

Air China (Beijing-Capital, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guiyang, Hangzhou)

China Eastern Airlines (Kunming, Nanjing, Shanghai-Pudong, Xi'an)

China Southern Airlines (Beijing-Capital, Changsha, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai-Pudong, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Urumqi, Xi'an, Xining, Zhengzhou)

China United Airlines (Beijing-Nanyuan)

Deer Air (Changsha, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai-Hongqiao, Shenzhen, Xi'an)

Hainan Airlines (Beijing-Capital, Changsha, Guangzhou, Guiyang, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Xi'an, Zhengzhou)

Okay Airways (Tianjin)

Shandong Airlines (Changsha, Jinan)

Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)

Shenzhen Airlines (Guangzhou, Guiyang, Jinan, Nanning, Shenzhen)

Sichuan Airlines (Chengdu, Chongqing)

Spring Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)

United Eagle Airlines (Chengdu)

Xiamen Airlines (Hangzhou, Xiamen)

International

China Eastern Airlines (Seoul-Incheon)

China Southern Airlines (Hong Kong)

Dragonair (Hong Kong)

Hainan Airlines (Seoul-Incheon)

Hong Kong Airlines (Hong Kong)

Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)

Transaero Airlines (Moscow-Domodedovo)

Visa

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