PLACES TO GO – The trip to Sanya for me was totally relaxing and work-free, and I didn’t want to do too much except getting some great traditional dishes there and laying on the beach having my coconut water one hand and a book on other hand. Yalong Bay/ 亚龙湾 is the most beautiful one. Wuzhizhou Island/ 蜈支洲岛 was the one I wanted to visit thought I didn’t make it at the end,
WHAT TO EAT – For food, if you’re a meat person, you should definitely get yourself some Hainan chicken rice; it’s one of the famous dishes from the region. There is one dish you MUST TRY while you’re there as you probably wouldn’t be able to find it anywhere outside of Sanya that is Sanya Coconut Rice. The rice is amazingly delicious after being cooked inside a coconut. For restaurants I would recommend ShiWeiGuan/ 拾味館, it’s nice modern design restaurant that provides Hainan cuisine at reasonable prices, and you can take a stroll on the beach after the meal which is just opposite of the restaurant.
WHERE TO STAY – For a beach vacation, you should definitely stay in a nice beach resort if your budget permits. There are lots of nice and luxury beach hotels around Yalong Bay, but expect higher prices and more people around that area since it’s the most popular bay in Sanya. I chose to stay at Sanya Bay for a quieter holiday. Not all of the 5-star hotels are expensive as you thought; I stayed at Days Hotel and Suites Sanya Resort that shows 5-star on the websites but from my own experience, it was definitely not the standard for international 5-star hotels. For the price, however, it was the cheapest “5-star” hotel that I’ve ever stayed so far. To sum up, it was worth for the money.