Luoyang Departure Sanya Yalong Bay Wuzhizhou Island 4 Days 3 Nights

The morning flight from Luoyang lands after three and a half hours, and the humidity hits at the aircraft door, so the jacket comes off at once. Straight to the hotel, bags down, short sleeves on. In the evening walk the coconut promenade along Sanya Bay, fifteen kilometres of palms against the water, with the tide far out.

Attraction introduction: Sanya Bay is the longest stretch of coast in the city, its promenade running the full length. The First Market is where locals buy fish, stalls at the back and cooking shops in front, all sold by weight.

Tips: Guests generally find the sun here burns through cloud, especially mid afternoon, so the first day stays dry. In practice swimming waits until day two and only the beach is walked, with sunscreen above factor fifty reapplied on the neck.

Leave at half past seven for the pier and take the half past eight boat. Walk east first, where the lover bridge side is quiet and small crabs work the rocks. Snorkel at ten in a life jacket, fish circling your feet and your shadow printed on the sand below. Lunch on the island, an afternoon flat on the beach, and the four o clock boat back.

Attraction introduction: Wuzhizhou lies north of the city, under two square kilometres, ringed by coral and holding the clearest water in Hainan, with five or six metres of visibility on a good day. Nobody lives there; the loop road runs a little over four kilometres.

Tips: Guests generally find the island bus tour is the weakest value, since the main beaches are walkable. In practice we buy only the entry and boat ticket and walk the loop, and the return is set for four so nobody queues at the pier in the midday heat.

No alarm. Breakfast at half past eight and five minutes to the sand. The sand is ground coral and shell, so it stays cool and fine, and the water runs from clear to green in bands. Back to the room for a nap, then Luhuitou at four by shuttle, where a carved deer turns its head on the summit and the sun drops into the bay around six.

Attraction introduction: Yalong Bay curves in a crescent with hills at both ends holding the swell off, which is why the water stays flat and the sand stays white. Luhuitou sits under three hundred metres on a hill south of town, named for the legend of a deer that turned into a girl.

Tips: Guests generally find the loungers on the public beach carry a charge while the hotel poolside ones do not. In practice swimming is split between morning and late afternoon, and the exposed ridge at Luhuitou calls for a thin jacket.

One last walk before eight, when the beach is empty and the tide has pulled back to leave crab tracks in the sand. Bags at half past nine, airport by ten, and home in Luoyang in the afternoon.

Attraction introduction: The tide here runs twice a day, and at low water the beach widens by a dozen metres, exposing rocks with small shells stuck to them. A mangrove stand at the eastern end of the bay shows only its canopy at high water.

Tips: Guests generally find security at the airport is slow around midday departures, so two hours ahead is the safe margin. In practice luggage is packed the night before, and coconuts are finished at the airport since liquids will not pass.