Located on the southernmost tip of Hainan Island, Sanya is the most famous tropical resort in China, wonderful in the baking summer months and also a popular spot in winter too. Sanya stands the latitude between 18-09 and 18-37, almost the same as Hawaii. Thus, it's often called "the Hawaii of China" or "Orient Hawaii". And it is the beaches that are the biggest attraction here. Sanya has some of the most beautiful and well-maintained stretches of sand not just in China but in southern Asia. The sand here is white, palm trees provide shelter from the sun and the sea is wonderfully blue and warm. Sanya is a great place to soak up some seaside atmosphere and the night market here is especially vivid with seafood thrown on the streets, stores selling all types of weird and wonderful wares and huge tea warehouses, all adding to the lively feeling about this place.

         
Attractions        
         
   
Sanya Bay   Luhuitou Park   Dadonghai Beach
         
   
Yalong Bay   Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone   Nanwan Monkey Island
         
   
Zhujiang Nantian Hot Springs   Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone   Sanya Romance Park


         
Travel Guide        


How to Get to Sanya

Plane-The most convenient way to get to Sanya is flying to Sanya Phoenix International Airport, which is 10 miles west of the city center and offers connections to cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, and even distant cities such as London, Moscow, and Kiev. Buses from the airport take 40 minutes to get into town and the fare is CNY4-5. Expect taxis to cost CNY30-40.

Train-Trains run on a daily basis from Guangdong to Haikou on Hainan island via the Yuehai Ferry. After that, you can take a high-speed train from Haikou to Sanya, which takes just under 2 hours and costs around CNY85. The station is a few miles outside town, and most visitors take a taxi to their hotel at a cost of around CNY25.

Car-If you're driving from the mainland via Haikou, you can get to Sanya via the G98 (it's around 3 hours and 30 minutes from the ferry port to central Sanya).

Bus-Public buses run regularly from Haikou East to Sanya's bus station at JieFang Erlu, with a journey time of around 3 hours and fares of approximately CNY49-79.


Best Time to Visit

Sanya enjoys a tropical climate, hence it is warm all four seasons and is one of the cities where the sun shines nearly 300 days of the year. But being in the tropics also means that Sanya has wet and dry seasons too. Summer is the wet season, with chances of typhoons, so remember to take rainwear with you. The hottest month is June, with an average temperature of around 28 ℃ (82 °F), but on some days, it could rise to 36 ℃ (97 °F). While warm weather remains throughout the winter months, the coldest months are January and February, but the average temperature still remains around 20 ℃ (68 °F). It is worth noting that in the winter months, the sea can be pretty cold in the mornings and evenings.Because of Sanya’s mild and pleasant winter weather, the best time and peak season to visit is between September and February. While the rest of China, especially up in the north where it is below zero and often covered in snow, Sanya’s tropical climate is particularly alluring.