The 14 top things to do in Hainan, China

When people describe Hainan as the “Hawaii of China,” Sanya’s beaches are likely what they are picturing. Famed for white sand and ritzy beachside resorts, this popular resort is the pride of China’s largest tropical island, and the nation’s best-known beach escape. 

But there’s more to Hainan than Sanya’s sands and the surf breaks around Houhai. Beyond the coast lie hot springs, coffee plantations, fascinating temples, dramatic volcanoes, hikes up pinnacles poking through the rainforest, and the historic town of Haikou, with its qilou (row-houses). The island is well worth a week of exploring. 

Tourists from 59 countries are permitted to enter Hainan visa-free for 30 days via the international airports at Sanya and Haikou, making this one of the easiest Chinese provinces to visit. Time your trip to coincide with the best weather – the winter and spring months from November to April see drier skies and more comfortable temperatures, compared to the hot, humid summer. 

For a taste of Chinese beach life and the forested interior, here are the top things to do in Hainan.

1. Bask on Sanya’s beautiful beaches

In imperial times, Sanya used to be known as “the end of the sky and the ocean,” and many officials at odds with different rulers found themselves exiled to its shores. No longer a hardship posting, modern-day Sanya is famed for its beach resorts, from comfortable yet inexpensive family escapes to ultra-luxurious resorts where rooms share walls with massive aquariums.

The sand, of course, is the main appeal. Gorgeous beaches line Sanya's 40km of coastline, spanning Yalong Bay, Dadonghai Bay, Sanya Bay and Haitang Bay. All the beaches are theoretically open to the public for free, but you might encounter people trying to charge for entry to some sections of sand.

For a less crowded beach experience, go to Yalong Bay, lined with beachside resorts with decadent pools. Enter through the resorts to avoid a possible entry fee for access to the public beach. Banana boats, parasailing and Jet Skis add to the beach holiday vibe. Busier but still edged by fine sand and bright-blue waters, Dadonghai Bay is popular with both domestic and international beachgoers, and there's a shady boardwalk for strolling.

Detour: The beaches of Wuzhizhou Island can be accessed via ferry from Tenghai Village at Houhai Bay (30km northeast of Dadonghai Bay), an easy trip by taxi or rideshare. Come here to scuba-dive on the coral reefs or go parasailing; there’s a water sports booking service on the pier where the ferry docks. 

2. Eat like a local on Hainan

Hainanese cooking is light, delicious and creative, and favorite local dishes can easily be found in Sanya’s many restaurants and in street-food areas such as Houhai’s Tenghai St, Yalong Bay’s Liupan Village Ave and Sanya Bay’s Mangrove Tree Seafood Street. 

Seek out Wenchang chicken, a poached dish made from chicken fed a diet of coconuts, peanuts and grains. The coconut chicken hotpot dish known as yeziji is also popular – a fragrant soup made with the water and meat of fresh young coconuts. Other classic Hainanese dishes include baoluofen, a sour pork or beef soup with noodles and peanuts, and steamed crab with ginger and vinegar.

As you might expect, seafood is a big deal in Hainan. Choose your own at Chunyuan Seafood Square in Sanya, one of the top places in China to eat seafood. Go to the bulk-food area first to select fresh grouper, tiger prawns, oysters, sea urchins or clams from the tanks, then take your haul to one of the cooking stations to be cooked. 

Planning tip: If you come for lunch, many of the stalls will be closed, but you won’t have to deal with touts trying to bring you to the stalls they represent. After 6pm, more stalls open and the market gets lively. Expect to pay two separate prices – one for food and one for cooking. 

3. Learn to surf in Houhai

Hainan’s surf breaks have a growing reputation, with the peak surf season running from November to March during the northeast monsoon. On the Sanya strip, Houhai Beach in Tenghai Village is the go-to place for casual surf tourists in Hainan, with a plethora of surf schools and easy-to-catch waves. 

Kick-started by the opening of the Surfing Hainan surf shop in 2008, the scene isn’t quite as bohemian as in some Asian surf destinations, but this is still a great place to find your feet on a surfboard. For more experienced surfers, pro-surf competitions are held in Hainan throughout the year.

Planning tip: Most instructors teach in Chinese, but Jile Surfing Inn can arrange an English-speaking coach. Don’t purchase surf lessons from people who approach you in the street – standards may be lower than promised. 

4. See a mermaid show in Sanya

Fly into Sanya, and you’ll pick up immediately on the city’s enthusiasm for mermaid performances, as evidenced by the mermaid waving to visitors from the aquarium in the baggage claim area. Numerous venues in the city host underwater dance routines by performers in mermaid costumes. 

Sanya Romance Park showcases mermaids in its three daily "Romance Shows," exploring (somewhat fancifully) the history of Hainan. Midway through the show, a large, clear slip-n-slide-style screen slides over the audience, as mermaids breakdance above. 

To see mermaid competitions, go to the Sanya Atlantis hotel, where the world record for the largest mermaid performance was set in 2021, with 110 mermaids dancing in the aquarium!

Detour: Another legendary figure graces the waterfront just west of Sanya. The Nanshan Temple is dominated by a causeway-linked island with a 108m-tall statue of Guanyin, the Buddhist deity of compassion, frequently depicted in female form in China.    

5. Hike the pinnacles of Seven Fairy Mountain

The seven pinnacles of Seven Fairy Mountain (Qixianling) in Mt Qixian Hot Springs National Forest Park offer hikers a magnificent 360-degree view of the surrounding rainforest and hills. The 2.3km hiking trail to the top takes you through a stand of verdant rainforest with crabs sidestepping across the path’s stone steps, while electric-blue butterflies flit alongside you. Plan for an out-and-back trek of around 3.5 hours to return to the entrance.

There’s an extra charge at the top to access the last 100m of the trail, which requires a near-vertical scramble using a safety belt and carabiners to hook onto the safety cables on either side of the route. If you want to hike less on the return, a metal slide can take you part of the way down for an additional charge. 

Planning tip: To reach the Forest Park, a green golf-cart shuttle runs from Narada Resort & Spa (20 minutes each way) for a small fee.

6. Walk to a hot spring in the rainforest

For an alternative way to access Seven Fairy Mountain, with the added bonus of an alfresco soak in the rainforest hot springs, join a nature walk led by a guide from the Li community on a stay at the Narada Resort & Spa.

Guests have access to two hot-spring areas – the upper one has pools infused with Chinese medicinal herbs, salt and green tea, while the lower area has lounge chairs where you can sit back and scan the forest for wildlife. On the nature walk, guides will talk you through key facets of Li culture, introducing you to native plants and their uses (you’ll even get to try wild fruit from the forest).

Planning tip: The jungle can be hot and humid and mosquitoes are common in the forest so bring insect repellent. 

7. Chill out away from the tour groups in Ri Yue Bay

Along the east coast of Hainan, Ri Yue Bay (Sun and Moon Bay) is the place to unplug. Many Chinese surfers moved to Tianxin Village just behind the bay after other surf spots on the island became over-touristed. If you stay in town, it's only a 10-minute drive to the beach, which is a popular surf spot by day and a nightlife hangout from sunset till late. 

The best way to experience Ri Yue Bay is to rent a motorbike from one of the stalls along the town’s main drag, which will give you easy access to the beach and the surrounding ricefields. During the day, you’ll have your pick of cafes set among the fields, with lush mountains and roaming cows in the distance. You can also book a surf lesson with Shaka Surf or a massage at Cozy Moon Spa. 

Planning tip: For an inexpensive snack before you visit the seafront, you’ll find street-food options along the main road in Tianxin Village, offering cheaper eats than the restaurants by the beach.

8. Sample Hainan coffee culture at Shimei Bay

At Shimei Bay, coffee lovers will be delighted (and perhaps a little bewildered) by the M1 Coffee Dream Factory. The three-floor complex houses an interactive exhibition space detailing the history of coffee production, featuring quirky exhibits such as a replica coffee bush that produces fog-filled bubbles, an activity station for making art out of coffee grinds, and a coffee-soap-making area. After trying out the activities, you can sample locally grown and roasted coffee in the cafe. 

Planning tip: Allow a couple of hours to make the most of the experience; there’s a restaurant if you need to top up on calories. 

9. Cruise around a floating village in Lingshui

Xincun Port in Lingshui acts as the gateway to the so-called “floating village” – a community of Danjia people, an ethnic group who traditionally lived on their boats. Housing 10,000 residents, the village is set completely over the water and is made up of houseboats connected to fish farms by plank walkways. 

The only way to reach the floating village is by boat. Ferries to the Nanwan Monkey Islet on the other side of the harbor will take you through part of the village, but to see more, speak with one of the owners of the boats docked at the islet to negotiate a private boat tour of the village. Look for flying fish jumping out of the water near the docks. 

Planning tip: Have a translation app ready as most boat owners do not speak foreign languages. If you’re lucky, your guide might invite you to visit their houseboat or join them harvesting sea urchins – a popular local delicacy.

10. Soak up the mood of old Haikou

When Hainan became a province in 1988, Haikou was named as its capital, but the city was already an important port for the island. Recent years have seen a massive wave of construction, but Haikou’s Old Town will make you feel like you’ve traveled back a few centuries with its whitewashed qilou (row-houses). The best-preserved can be found in the Qilou Old Street area, along Zhongshan Lu and surrounding streets.

Dig deeper into Haikou’s story at the Five Officials Memorial Temple (Wugong Ci), a Ming-era temple where you can learn about the many officials, scholars and writers who were banished to Hainan during the Tang and Song dynasties, after falling foul of the imperial authorities. The complex covers multiple temples and halls, alongside a spring excavated by the banished poet Su Dongpo in 1097. 

Discover more a few kilometers west at the Hainan Museum (Hainansheng Bowuguan), where exhibits explore Hainan's Intangible Cultural Heritage and its ethnic-minority groups. Entire wings are dedicated to artwork and instruments native to the island, such as the nose flute, log drum and ye hu (coconut fiddle). 

Planning tip: For an introduction to traditional Hainanese Qiong opera, visit the opera house at the Hainan Museum, or look out for tourist-oriented performances at weekends in the atrium at Haikou Qilou Snack Street in the center.   

11. Hike into a volcano near Haikou

For a taste of the geological forces bubbling away below Hainan, the Haikou Volcanic Cluster Geopark is only 15km from central Haikou, an easy trip by taxi or rideshare, and it includes 40 dormant volcanoes and 30 lava caves within its 108 sq km expanse. 

The main draw here is hiking into the Mt Fengluling Crater, passing solidified lava flows, sculptures and villages with buildings made from volcanic rock. Once you arrive at the crater, hike along the rim to see views of Haikou, two parasitic volcanoes and the Qiongzhou Strait. Three paths lead down to the crater floor, ending at a fern-covered cave. 

Planning tip: This is an easy hike, and you can see the sights in a few hours; allow a bit of extra time if you detour to Mei She Village with its tall gun tower, and Rong Tang Old Village, the gateway to the park’s lava cave system.  

12. Bask at the world's largest hot springs spa

Around 15km west of Haikou’s international airport, Mission Hills Resort (Guanlan Hu) is listed by Guinness World Records as the largest spa resort in the world. Its 168 hot and cold spring pools are spread over an area of more than 176,000 sq meters. 

The six hot-spring zones are themed after world continents – there are pools infused with tequila in homage to the Americas and pools scented with jasmine and cloves in tribute to Angkor in Cambodia. The lymphatic-drainage water massage in the Americas zone and the gemstone steam room with amethyst in the Oceania zone are definitely worth your time. 

Planning tip: Come after lunch – the pools open at 1pm, with most areas closing at 10pm, except for the Asia section, which closes at 11pm. Tea, water and towels are provided throughout the complex.

13. Swing by Bo’ao’s collection of temples

Between Haikou and Sanya, the coastal town of Bo'ao has some interesting temples. Where the Wanquan River meets the sea at Yudaiwan Beach, you’ll find the salmon-colored Mazu Temple (Mazu Miao), dedicated to the eponymous sea goddess, a deified form of the 10th-century Fujian shaman Lin Moniang. Big celebrations are held here to mark Mazu’s birthday on the 23rd day of the third lunar month (in late April or early May). 

The imposing Bo’ao Temple (Courtyard of Eastern Culture) is most famous for its statues and the 55m-high Ten Thousand Buddha (Wangfo) Pagoda, but the best part of this complex is not seen but heard. Visit around 4pm to listen to the chanting of resident monks during the daily dharma services. If the pagoda is open, climb to the top for a 360-degree view of the surrounding river, bay and villages. A massive statue of Sakyamuni Buddha spans the uppermost floors of the pagoda, while images of Guanyin dot the grounds. 

Planning tip: Trains provide easy access from Haikou to Bo’ao in around 45 minutes; allow an hour coming from Sanya. 

14. Cycle Hainan’s Central Highlands

Hainan has many cycling routes, the most challenging of which is the Central Highlands route, covering some 310km, coasting through stretches of rainforest and Li and Miao communities, including the towns of Tunchang and Qiongzhong. Many cyclists visit with a bike rented in Haikou; hostels and cycle shops such as 517 Cycling Station can get you set up. 

The classic route goes from Haikou to Tunchang (95km), Tunchang to Qiongzhong (50km), Qiongzhong to Wuzhishan (85km) and Wuzhishan to Sanya (80km). Much of the trail is along well-paved on extremely steep mountain roads, but the opening section around Tunchang is more level. It’s possible to complete the route in three to four days.

Planning tip: The optimal time for cycling in Hainan is October through April, when the weather is cooler. If you’d rather cycle with support, tour company Sunny Hainan offers guided cycling trips. 

This article was adapted from the China guidebook published in August 2025.