Luoyang 6-Day Tour: Wuzhizhou Island & Fenjiezhou Island

We fly from Luoyang and land in Sanya, warm air the moment the door opens. Bags and short sleeves, then to the hotel. Down to the beach on bare feet, the water running over the instep and back. Dinner at the First Market, choosing our own seafood and taking it to a shop to cook.

Attraction introduction: Sanya Bay runs along the city for some seventeen kilometres, the easiest stretch for sunset. The First Market is where locals shop, fish stalls in the inner ring and cooking shops outside, charging by weight for preparation.

Tips: The taxi queue at the airport is long. Guests generally find a booked transfer saves the wait. In practice we include pickup so nobody waits. Cooking charges differ by method, steaming cheapest and stir-frying extra, so have the price written down before the fish goes in the pan.

To the pier in the morning, ten minutes across to the island. We walk the coastal loop first, reef on one side and woodland on the other, stopping at Lovers Bridge where the water is clear enough to show ripples in the sand. Lunch on the island. The afternoon is free, snorkelling or simply lying on the sand.

Attraction introduction: Wuzhizhou covers 1.48 square kilometres with a loop road of about four, one of the few islands in Hainan with well developed coral reef, its southeast side deep and fast where visibility for diving is best. The small Mazu temple here is said to date from the Qing.

Tips: There is little shade on the island. Guests generally find the midday sun fierce, so use plenty of sunscreen. In practice the loop is walked before nine, finishing in time to eat in the shade. Test a snorkel mask for seal before use and swap it if it leaks.

Morning at Yalong Bay, where the sand shelves so gently that waist depth is a dozen metres out. Back to the hotel over the two fiercest hours. At four we go to Tianya Haijiao, the carved characters standing on boulders at the water line, reachable at low tide. Sunset back on Sanya Bay.

Attraction introduction: Yalong Bay beach runs about seven kilometres, fine sand with low silt, among the clearer stretches on the east coast of Hainan. The inscriptions at Tianya Haijiao were cut by Qing officials into shoreline boulders, the lower half of which floods at high tide.

Tips: Umbrellas and loungers on Yalong Bay carry a charge. Guests generally find it worth asking first. In practice beach time sits in the morning and late afternoon with a hotel break between, which also keeps children from overheating. Rocks at Tianya are slippery, so wear grip soles and avoid the algae side.

North in the morning, ninety minutes to Lingshui, then a boat to Fenjiezhou. The island is small, forty minutes around on foot. Standing on the Niuling side, the northern water reads grey and the southern blue. Lunch on the island, and in the afternoon back toward Sanya with a stop at Clearwater Bay.

Attraction introduction: Fenjiezhou lies in Lingshui county, and Niuling is the climatic divide between tropical and subtropical Hainan as well as the county line, wet to the north and dry to the south, which changes both sea state and vegetation either side of the island. Clearwater Bay has coarser sand and bigger surf.

Tips: Wind is stronger here than in Sanya. Guests generally find a light jacket worth carrying, and sit mid-boat if prone to seasickness. In practice Fenjiezhou comes on day four once everyone has adjusted, with rest stops on the drive. Surf at Clearwater is too strong for swimming, so we walk the sand only.

Morning at Nanshan, starting at the Guanyin square where the hundred-and-eight-metre three-faced statue stands in the water, its scale only clear when you look up from the base. A vegetarian lunch at noon. In the afternoon Xiaodongtian, boulders piled at the shore and inscriptions cut into the cliff. Back to town by evening.

Attraction introduction: The Nanshan sea Guanyin stands 108 metres, three faces holding a lotus, beads and a sutra box, begun in 1999 and consecrated in 2005 on a platform built out from the shore and joined to land by a bridge. Xiaodongtian sits at Xiaoyue Bay, where Taoists practised from the Song and cliff inscriptions run from Song to Qing.

Tips: The Nanshan park is large. Guests generally find the shuttle to the statue and a walk back the easier order. In practice the statue comes in the morning when crowds are thin and light rakes from the side, defining the figure. Vegetarian meals are served by table; anything uneaten can be packed, so avoid waste.

A slow morning, a walk on the beach behind the hotel, picking up two pieces of coral and putting them back. Check out at noon over a bowl of Hainan noodles, sharp with pickled bamboo. In the afternoon to the airport and back to Luoyang, where the air is already winter.

Attraction introduction: Hainan noodles are a local breakfast, thin rice noodles under a braised sauce with peanuts, pickled bamboo and dried beef, the recipe different shop by shop. Sanya beaches divide by orientation: Sanya Bay and Dadonghai near the city, Yalong and Haitang further out with clearer water.

Tips: Keep the last day clear of water activities. Guests generally find the timing too tight. In practice we leave only two morning hours at the beach and check out before noon. Coral and shells cannot fly, so photograph them and put them back.