Beach Day — Yalong Bay & sunset at Luhuitou
A slow morning on white sand, an afternoon swimming in warm water, a hilltop sunset over the city at Luhuitou, and fresh seafood to close the day.
Day one in Sanya is not a day to rush. Sleep in, eat breakfast at the hotel, then head to the beach. Yalong Bay is the prettiest, widest swimming beach in Sanya — fine white sand curving for more than seven kilometres, and water that grades from pale blue to deep turquoise. The sea here is warm all year and the surf is gentle, which makes it a place for floating and wading rather than surfing.
If you are already staying at a Yalong Bay resort, you can walk straight down to the sand. From Dadonghai or downtown it is about a 40-minute DiDi ride. Rent a lounger and umbrella, or spread a mat under the coconut palms — the morning, before the sun gets fierce and before the afternoon crowds, is the most comfortable time to be on the beach.
For lunch, try a beachfront restaurant or your resort. To keep costs down, take a DiDi back into Dadonghai, where restaurants are denser and prices friendlier. Then give the afternoon to the sea — swim, float, walk the shoreline for shells, or read under an umbrella. This is exactly why people fly in from across China to escape the northern winter.
If you want more than lying around, Yalong Bay has water sports — jet skis and parasailing. If you are after serious snorkelling over coral, save that for a Wuzhizhou Island day on a longer trip (it needs a full day). Today, keep it easy.
About an hour before sunset, take a DiDi up to Luhuitou Park — a seaside hill that looks out over the whole of Sanya city and Dadonghai bay below. At the top is the "deer that turned its head" statue, from a Li ethnic-minority love legend that gives the city its name. The golden-hour light here is the best of the day — the city slowly lights up as the sky changes colour, an ideal way to close out a beach day.
Back down the hill, it is seafood o'clock. Sanya is known for fresh, well-priced seafood. The most popular spot is the First Market (第一市场) in town — buy your own prawns, clams, crab and fish, then pay a nearby restaurant to cook it (a system called jiagong). Seafood restaurants throughout Dadonghai are an easy alternative. Do not miss the garlic scallops, lobster and steamed crab.
