Hainan · China
Sanya travel guide
Sanya is a city in Hainan, China, home to about 1,031,000 people.
- Best months
- December to March
- Nearest airport
- SYX11 km · Sanya Phoenix International Airport
- Currency
- CNYrenminbi
- Time zone
- Asia/Shanghai
- Language
- Chinese, Putonghua, Standard Chinese
About
About Sanya
Sanya is a resort city and the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. It is a major tourist destination with several large scale resorts and contains the Sanya coral reef, a national protected nature reserve spanning 4000 hectares.
While tourists come in every season, the peak season starts from 1 October to the end of winter after Spring Festival. During the winter, Sanya is a popular escape for Russians, who primarily stay at DadongHai (大东海 Dàdōnghǎi), and Northern Chinese who have migrated south to escape freezing winter weather. In the Chinese New Year, the city will be flooded with tourists and expect everything to be extremely expensive and overly packed: traffic is often a nightmare.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Sanya
See
- DaDongHai (BigEastSea)
- Luhuitou Park
- Dongtian Park
- Paddy Field National Park
- Phoenix Hill
- Tianya Haijiao
- Yalong Bay International Rose Valley
- Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park
- West Island
- Wuzhizhou Island
- Jingrun Pearl Museum
- Sanya Natural History Museum
Do
An English Corner is an informal regular gathering where locals meet to practice their English. If you show up and are visibly foreign, people will sometimes be eager to talk to you (outside of Dadonghai area). This gives you a chance to meet some locals and socialize even if you don't speak much Chinese. As of 2026, these are mostly extinct.
- Mystic Springs Golf Club
- Yalong Bay Golf Club
- Insight Adventures
- Gelball Gun Games (Airsoft)
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Which part of Sanya to stay in
As a general rule, accommodation prices in Sanya are very expensive, particularly during the winter months due to the huge influx of wealthy tourists from northern China. In Sanya city and Dadonghai there are many small, clean moderately priced inns and hotels (¥50-100, even in high season, for 1-3 beds). Some may be located in alley ways just off Sanya's beach street, sometimes several floors up without an elevator (but the view is worth it!).
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Hotels in Sanya
1 hotel within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin Oriental, Sanya Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group | 2009 | 5.7 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Sanya
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Sanya are December to March. June is the warmest month, with average highs of 32 °C; September is the wettest, with about 307 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Sanya: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX), about 11 km from the city centre in a straight line; Qionghai Bo'ao Airport (BAR, 141 km) is also within reach.
Getting around
Many people stay in beach areas with more-or-less everything within walking distance. Sanya has over sixty bus routes, operating from around 06:00 to 23:00. The ticket prices follow a distance-based fare system, ranging from ¥2 to 20. In addition, there are many privately-operated shuttle buses. Darting in, around, and between Sanya city and Dadong Hai is best done by the city bus lines 2 (fastest) or 4 (adds some stops around Sanya River) for ¥2. For trips farther out of town, you can buy bus tickets at Sanya city's bus station or just hail buses on the road that runs along Sanya's beach.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
SYX · Sanya Phoenix International Airport
BAR · Qionghai Bo'ao Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Sanya
Eat
There are plenty of good Chinese regional-food restaurants, including many Sichuan, Cantonese, and DongBei places. There are also a few foreign / Western food restaurants, especially Dolphin and Young Bar, and of course the ubiquitous McDonald's (DaDongHai [3] and Jiefang Lu), Starbucks (in Summer Mall) and KFC (105 Jiefang Lu; Duojialian; 63 Guoxing Dadao; Renmin Lu). Seafood is of course also a mainstay in the cuisine of Sanya, and DaDongHai is filled with overpriced seafood restaurants. Inspect the tanks for freshness before eating and beware of the different charges that are often handled by different people at the restaurant (fishery, cooking fee, and sitting fee can be separate).
Drink
The vast majority of coffee shops here open around 10:00 or 11:00. There is a Starbucks in the Summer Mall (in DaDongHai). The Jiefang Lu (解放路) McDonald's has thus become a morning pilgrimage for some Westerners.
Stay safe
Sanya exists solely for tourism which is accompanied by annoyances including pickpocketeting and overcharging. Before arrival, travelers should be wary of getting the right address and most up to date telephone number for their hostels/hotels. Some hostels are located in a new district whose roads have just been laid out. Not many people, including the police, know where specific locations are in new districts. When you get lost, always ask drivers to call the staff. Para-sailing, diving, snorkeling and boating are popular but operators may not be trained or certified. If you go for diving, always check air tank pressures before.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Sanya: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Sanya?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Sanya are December to March. June is the warmest month, with average highs of 32 °C; September is the wettest, with about 307 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Sanya?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX), about 11 km from the city centre in a straight line; Qionghai Bo'ao Airport (BAR, 141 km) is also within reach.
What currency is used in Sanya?
renminbi (CNY).
Nearby
Destinations near Sanya
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.