The Sanya Blog, Hainan, China

“People believe a little too easily that the function of the sun is to help the cabbages along.” Gustave Flaubert

And Flaubert was right, of course, because as any sailor, surfer, windsurfer or kitesurfer will tell you, the sun is actually there to make the wind blow and the waves topple over.

Warm winds have blown through Sanya for nearly a month now, so we recently doused ourselves in sunscreen and headed off to Sanya Bay to try out the latest on offer in sailing and windsurfing.

Competition is hotting up in the windsurf rental market, with the grandly-named Sanya Sailing Windsurfing Association now going head-to-head with the grander-named Sanya International Windsurfing & Sailing Club.

Although both are decidedly under-equipped, the latter beats the former by an “International”, a beach hut, a harness and a 6.9-metre Simmer sail. The name advertises global ambitions. The equipment says not yet.

The Sanya Sailing Windsurfing Association runs the sailing and windsurfing in Dadonghai and in Sanya Bay opposite Coffee Time and Fat Daddy’s. For several weeks now, as the East winds continued to blow, the association’s boards and catamaran have sat idle on Dadonghai Beach, with no sign of anyone there to rent them out.

This is a shame because although the wind is often weaker in Dadonghai than in Sanya Bay, and although the Sanya International Windsurfing & Sailing Club has better equipment, we enjoyed the convenience of just walking down to the beach at Dadonghai and hopping on a board.

Nonetheless, it is worth making the trip to the International Windsurfing & Sailing Club, situated on Sanya Bay beach in front of the Howard Johnson Resort, not least for the use of a newish Simmer sail and a board that doesn’t slip away from underneath you.

We’ve been told that the club’s windsurf equipment is actually the best on offer in the whole of Sanya, including Yalong Bay.

The other good thing about the club is its mono-hull sailing dinghy, which makes a welcome change from catamarans. And this is the only place we’ve encountered so far that lets experienced sailors take a boat out without an instructor on board.

Dinghy rental at the club is 500 RMB for an hour. Windsurfer rental at both the club and the association is 200 yuan per hour or 300 yuan for a full day.

The Sanya Sailing Windsurfing Association has a base at the Western end of Dadonghai Bay (look for the catamaran sail), and in Sanya Bay in front of Coffee Time and Fat Daddy’s. Contact Andy Zhuang (庄加强) by mobile at (0)13976283213.

The Sanya International Windsurfing & Sailing Club has a beach hut in front of the Howard Johnson Resort in central Sanya Bay. Call Call Zhen Ke Xue on (0) 13976962036. There’s also a fixed line number: 0898 88671575.

Tags : beach, china, dadonghai, hainan, howard johnson, sail, sailing, sanya, sanya bay, windsurf, windsurfing, yalong bay