I’m taking a long weekend trip to Hainan Island (7/10-13) and wondering if anyone has suggestions or tips on places to stay, drink, and eat, or places to avoid?
Flying in to Haikou on a Saturday evening. Want to bus it down to Sanya in the morning. Just about ready to hit CLICK on booking a hotel called the Landscape Beach Resort in Dadonghai.
I’m not a backpacker / hostel type (a bit too old for that) and generally aim for mid-range comfort, but not terribly fussy about things other than location.
Any tips, advice or suggestions would be very welcome. Thanks in advance. P.S. I’ve exhausted most of the online travel sites (Wikitravel, Lonely Planet, etc).
Dadonghai is pretty hectic these days with 1500 new apartments being erected but if you want a beachy vacatio it’s fine.
I was in Hainan for 3 weeks last month so can fill you in. Don’t recal the landscape, but make sure wherever you stay is right on the beach because of the construction. I stayed at a little family run place called Sunny Sanya. Nice mid-range comfort. Good little restaurant right on the premises with an English menu.
The Thai restaurant on the main boardwalk at Dadonghai is great. There’s a cafe near Sanya Bay on the 11th floor with fantastic views. I’ll try to find the name. Rainbow Bar & Grill is by the river and a decent place to drink as is Fat Daddy’s out at Sanya Bay.
In general I like Sanya Bay better for strolling in the evening as it’s more local and people are actually having fun whereas dadonghai is a little pretentious and cool.
The Yanoda tropical rain forest is beautiful but really annoying as every staff member has to make the peace sign when they see you and shout Yanoda!!! I kid you not.
If you surf or want to try there is an American guy who runs a surf shop in Dadonghai. He also does a Sunday morning paddle across the bay to Yalong (where the 5 star hotels are) for breakfast.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]Dadonghai is pretty hectic these days with 1500 new apartments being erected but if you want a beachy vacatio it’s fine.
I was in Hainan for 3 weeks last month so can fill you in. Don’t recal the landscape, but make sure wherever you stay is right on the beach because of the construction. I stayed at a little family run place called Sunny Sanya. Nice mid-range comfort. Good little restaurant right on the premises with an English menu.
The Thai restaurant on the main boardwalk at Dadonghai is great. There’s a cafe near Sanya Bay on the 11th floor with fantastic views. I’ll try to find the name. Rainbow Bar & Grill is by the river and a decent place to drink as is Fat Daddy’s out at Sanya Bay.
In general I like Sanya Bay better for strolling in the evening as it’s more local and people are actually having fun whereas dadonghai is a little pretentious and cool.
The Yanoda tropical rain forest is beautiful but really annoying as every staff member has to make the peace sign when they see you and shout Yanoda!!! I kid you not.
If you surf or want to try there is an American guy who runs a surf shop in Dadonghai. He also does a Sunday morning paddle across the bay to Yalong (where the 5 star hotels are) for breakfast.[/quote]
Awesome! Thanks, Mucha Man. And yes, it’s all about the beach, so I’ll give Sunny Sanya a shot. P.S. LP Taiwan was my bible when I moved to Taiwan. Thanks for that, too.
I looked at the landscape website so I think I have an idea of what you want. The fact it is 5 minutes from the beach is worrying as it could be back where all the construction is. I would look at ResortinTime, always one of the best mid-range resorts in Sanya. And right next to the beach.
www.resortintime.com
Sunny Sanya is a lot cheaper, around Y250 a night, and has nice rooms with a bit of tropical character, but no pool, or any other ammenities other than a simple but very good restaurant.
Oh, and the cafe is called Bud, on the corner of Sanyawan Lu and Jixiang Lu. I think it’s owned by a taiwanese guy. Anyway, 11th story view over Sanya. Outdoor deck too.