Yalong Bay is a 7.5-kilometre crescent of fine white sand about 25 kilometres east of central Sanya, and it is the reason most foreign tourists end up in the city. The water is the clearest and most turquoise of any beach in the area, the sand is whiter than at Dadonghai or Sanya Bay, and the entire bay is lined with international resort hotels — Hilton, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, Mandarin Oriental, St Regis — each with their own private stretch.
For all the development, the bay itself remains genuinely beautiful and the water quality is high. Public beach access exists at Yalong Bay Central Square at the western end, which gets crowded with day-tripping Chinese tourists. The eastern half is quieter and the resorts here control most of the beachfront. There is a coral reef offshore for snorkelling, a glass-bottom-boat tour, and the usual jet ski and parasailing operators. The Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park on the hills above the bay has cable cars and viewing platforms that look down on the entire crescent.