Map›China›Sanya, Hainan›Yalong BaySanya, Hainan
Yalong Bay
Hainan - Sanya · Haitang District
also known as No.1 Bay Under Heaven, Gallong Bay, 亚龙湾
Riding essentials
Season
Jun–Sep
Months riders and schools name
How windy
12-20 kt
Character: mixed · cross-shore
Room to launch
ok
access rules on record, below
Water
chop
29 °C in summer
Hazards
7
Reported by riders
Level
Beginner to intermediate
With a caveat: see Your level
Crowds
high crowds · busy Jul Aug Sep Nov
Schools
1
named at this spot
From the airport
30 min
International Airport (SYX)
When it fills in
Sunny days can build through the day with mountain/sea-breeze thermal influence; exact local onset time unconfirmed.
Nearbystraight-line distance
Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.
- Sanya Bayno page yet
- Haitang Bay / Houhai
- Wuzhizhou Island Wharfno page yet
- Tengqiaono page yet
- Monkey Islandno page yet
- Boao / Tanmen
The spot
Wind Reliability
Crowding and Alternatives
The wind
locals call it cross-shore, thermal-enhanced
Direction
Dominant direction
S-SW in the summer monsoon for Sanya Bay/Yalong Bay; monthly windy-day counts elsewhere instead point to an Oct-Dec higher-wind window.
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
The quiver, in words
Sizes logged for the bay run 9-15 m. For a 75-85 kg rider that means a 12 m as the everyday kite, a 15 m for the many light days, and a 9 m only on the strongest October-December afternoons.Bring the big end of your quiver or foil gear: this is a light-wind bay far more often than a powered one.
Character
Average strength
4-7 kt is the all-days monthly average here, in every month of the year. Only 49 days a year reach 12 kt or more: 1-3 a month from January to September against 9-11 in October, November and December. The 12-20 kt band is what one of those windy days gives you, not what an average day gives you.
Typical strength
12-20 kt when the local southerly/thermal setup works; lighter or unsuitable days are common.
Check the forecast
Forecast
Live forecast
Month by month
- Jan73
- Feb53
- Mar42
- Apr17
- May13
- Jun, riders' month22
- Jul, riders' month24
- Aug, riders' month32
- Sep, riders' month22
- Oct56
- Nov80
- Dec87
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- 73%Jan23°
- 53%Feb23°
- 42%Mar24°
- 17%Apr26°
- 13%May28°
- 22%Jun29°
- 24%Jul29°
- 32%Aug29°
- 22%Sep28°
- 56%Oct28°
- 80%Nov26°
- 87%Dec25°
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted
Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal.
Every figure, month by monthWindy days · Force 4+ · 12 kn or more · Knots · Wind from · Peaks at · Air · Water · Readings
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | Wind from | Peaks at | Air | Water | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 73% | 92% | 82% | 15.8 kt | ENE | 15:00 | 22.2 °C | 23.3 °C | 62 |
| Feb | 53% | 63% | 58% | 14.8 kt | ENE | 16:00 | 22.8 °C | 22.8 °C | 57 |
| Mar | 42% | 50% | 47% | 12.7 kt | E | 16:00 | 25 °C | 23.9 °C | 62 |
| Apr | 17% | 45% | 27% | 11 kt | SSE | 14:00 | 27.2 °C | 26.1 °C | 60 |
| May | 13% | 37% | 27% | 10.6 kt | S | 14:00 | 28.3 °C | 28.3 °C | 62 |
| Jun | 22% | 43% | 32% | 10.8 kt | SSW | 13:00 | 28.9 °C | 28.9 °C | 60 |
| Jul | 24% | 47% | 35% | 11.8 kt | WSW | 14:00 | 28.3 °C | 28.9 °C | 62 |
| Aug | 32% | 37% | 37% | 11.5 kt | WSW | 14:00 | 28.3 °C | 28.9 °C | 62 |
| Sep | 22% | 38% | 37% | 11.2 kt | W | 13:00 | 27.8 °C | 28.3 °C | 60 |
| Oct | 56% | 71% | 68% | 14.1 kt | ENE | 15:00 | 26.7 °C | 27.8 °C | 62 |
| Nov | 80% | 87% | 83% | 15.9 kt | ENE | 15:00 | 25 °C | 26.1 °C | 60 |
| Dec | 87% | 92% | 90% | 16.6 kt | ENE | 15:00 | 22.8 °C | 25 °C | 62 |
How this is modelledmodelled · 2023-2024
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.
High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024
The water
Type
chop
Standing depth
Depth across the kite area is 0.5-1.5 m over fine sand, so you are roughly waist- to chest-deep through much of it and can stand up to sort your gear out. It is chop rather than a flat lagoon, and no tide-by-tide depth survey exists, so treat the figure as the general shelf rather than a guaranteed walk-out.
Tides
Tidal but not documented as a tide-dependent kite spot; 2026 tide tables for Yalong Bay show roughly 0.3 m lows and 1.5-1.6 m highs on sample August days, while Surfline uses Yu Lin Chiang 5 mi away as the tide port and warns prediction accuracy varies with distance.
Temperature
29 °C summer · 23 °C winter
Modelled monthly average: 23–29 °C
Wetsuit
Boardshorts or rash vest in summer; a thin shorty or light top may be useful for long winter sessions.
Conditions
Your level
not for advanceds here
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
1 school names this spot
On your own
Room to launch: ok
Somewhere else
1 spot nearby
Rescue
Launch
A long, sandy resort beach inside Yalong Bay National Tourism Resort. There is no dedicated kite beach, so where you launch comes down to hotel concessions, swimmers and how the water-sports zoning falls on the day.
Rules & access
1 min read
Sanya regulations
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Schools that ride here
Rider tips
- Check both the Yalong Bay and the wider Sanya forecasts; a 13 km GFS forecast and kite alerts exist for the Yalong Bay coordinate.
- Favour sunny days for the S-SW thermal, and be careful with cloudy northerly or stormy setups.
- Walk the beach before you rig and find the swimmer buoys, the hotel water-sports concessions and your downwind exit.
- Pack the big kites or the foil if you are travelling here for wind, because light or unrideable days outnumber the good ones.
- Ask a Sanya or Hainan kite school where they are currently allowed to teach; no Yalong-specific kite school page is on record.
Getting there
Airport
Sanya Phoenix International Airport (SYX)
Route
Yalong Bay is about a 30-minute drive from Sanya Phoenix International Airport, with taxis, ride-hailing and many hotel shuttles available.
Transfer
30 min
Cost level
high
Staying
Mostly upscale resort accommodation along the bay, with hotels and commercial services concentrated inside Yalong Bay National Tourism Resort; cheaper Sanya/Houhai options exist outside the bay.
No-wind days
Snorkeling/scuba at Yalong Bay Underwater World, kayaking, sailboats, jet skis, beach walking, Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park, golf at Yalong Bay/Red Gorge courses, Sanya day trips and resort facilities.
Photos
FAQ
When is the best time to kite at Yalong Bay?
The summer monsoon window from June to September works best, with cross-shore wind that can build further with mountain thermals on sunny days.
Is Yalong Bay suitable for beginners?
It is listed as a beginner spot with chop conditions, but the busy resort beach and gusty, terrain-affected wind mean supervision is recommended.
What is the wind like at Yalong Bay?
Wind is typically 12-20 knots when the southerly thermal setup works, but only about 49 windy days a year are recorded, so conditions are inconsistent.
What hazards should riders know about?
The bay is shared with swimmers, kayaks, sailboats and jet skis, and gusty or unreliable wind can occur when cloud or northerly flow meets the surrounding mountains.
The bigger pictureEverything about Hainan - Sanya
Last updated: August 2026