Wuzhizhou Island
A popular spot for snorkeling and scuba diving, this island has fallen victim to it is popularity. Water is less clear and fish less plentiful than before, so choose dates and times to maximize visibility when visiting. Scuba diving will cost around ¥400-500.
Nanwan Monkey Island
Actually a penninsula, Monkey Island is home to about 1800 endangered Macaque monkeys whose habitat you get to roam freely through. Be careful, these monkeys will jump on humans playful or attack for sweet drinks or food hungry and thirsty! There are also some circus-style comedy shows featuring monkeys doing stunts. Entrance ticket is ¥68 and a round-trip ride on the gondola is another ¥60, but well worth the quiet, long, and smooth ride over gorgeous ocean-top fishing villages and jungle.
Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone '''å诺达é¨æ'''
Yanoda, meaning 123 in Hainanese, is a newly developed rainforest park, well organised and nicely landscaped, and as yet not too crowded. An electric bus an optional 40 RMB ferries groups of ten to the first base station. Wooden paths then take you on a 40 minute hike up a forest valley, past 1000 year old trees that have grown around rocks, with optional light absailing and rope river crossing. At the top, you enter a landscaped lakeside park with lotuses, colourful flowers and a canteen offering a nourishing herbal buffet mostly for tour groups. The path continues up into the hills, past labelled jungle trees with huge palms overhead. This park is fairly good value, and in keeping with its subject matter, reasonably natural. At least you know the developers couldn't have manouvered the hefty trees into place, even for the reputed price of ¥3 billion that the park cost to civilize.
Sanya Nanshan Temple
Purposefully-constructed tourist trap began in 1998 with a gigantic statue of Guanyin a Goddess of Mercy on a sea-top platform. The park has few interesting spots save a monastery bells that you can "gong" but demands a hefty entrance fee over ¥150. A trolley car can shuttle you around the park for extra cash, but it is best enjoyed without the trolley as it really is not that big. Nanshan is about an hour outside of Sanya city by city bus, which can be grabbed at the bus station or along the city's beach-side roadway ä¸äºå¼¯è·¯. The surrounding countryside is much more interesting than the park itself, which is a must-miss.
Dadong Sea
Predominantly Russian in visitors and signage, there is little English here! Dadong Sea has Sanya's best balance between development and natural beauty. The town behind Dadong Bay is more expensive than Sanya, but has better restaurants and a gorgeous beach. The shopping, however, is not as good as Sanya city's. The ocean has algae blooms that vary the water from thick green to tropically clear. However, even when "tropically clear" the ocean bed is just sand with a rare school of fish or eel. See the beach both in the morning, at sunset sets gorgeously over the hills, and at night when people are very scarce. Check out the trails that lead between tide pools along the Westernmost rocks of the beach. The tip of the trail has a dramatic view of the ocean and a deep and deadly ocean cave.
Xisha Archipelago
Gorgeous, remote, and brimming with tropical life, one of this chain of islands was formerly on exotic vacation spot that is now off-limits to travelers, reportedly due to territorial disputes.
Perfume Bay
This stretch of beach is rather undeveloped and thus delightfully peaceful it will probably be only you for a good kilometer on either side. Visiting here is a delightful and mind-cleaning day trip, especially if joined with some hiking around the surrounding farms. Watch out for strong rip tides and pack snacks.
Betel Nut Ethnic Minorities Park
Hainan is home to a large population of ethnic minorities, predominantly the Li é» and Miao è Ethnic Groups, and you can find out more about them at this park, about 30km outside of Sanya. The park is very commercial with a large number of shops, snacks for sale and paid opportunities for photographs with locals in traditional costumes or with indigenous animals. Despite this, it appears that there has been a genuine attempt to show the traditional life and customs of the two minoritiese, and the park appears less tacky than some other similar attractions elsewhere in China. It is probably also a relatively good way for money to be returned to the local community. There is a steep entrance fee approximately ¥150 per person but the park is huge and there are a wide variety of shows; it will take you 3-4 hours to see in its entirety. Be prepared though to fight your way through Chinese tour groups shouting "Blong" as often as they can, the Miao word for hello, and try to eat before you leave as the restaurants outside the park are overpriced. Rental of a taxi from Sanya and backshould cost approximately ¥200 including the wait in between, but you should negotiate this with the driver before departing. There are also one-day tours on offer in all the hotels, which will offer a discount on the overall price of transportation and entrance tickets, but you will be constrained to the timing of the rest of the group and may be taken to shops on the journey there and back.