Houhai Village

A village of boat people

Houhai, also called Tenghai fishing village, lies at the southern end of Haitang Bay, where the boats leave for Wuzhizhou. Around 3,000 people live here. Many of them descend from the Tanka — the boat people who lived on the water for centuries because they were denied the land. When you later see the Tanka's floating village in Xincun, you'll see where these families come from.

Until a few years ago the village lived from fishing. The bay behind it is small, shallow and sheltered, shaped almost like a pocket — and that is exactly what changed everything.

How a board changed a village

Around 2020 Houhai was discovered as a surf spot on Chinese social media, helped by the many visitors who came for Wuzhizhou anyway. Within a year more than 200 new businesses opened: guesthouses, restaurants, cafés and surf clubs. Today there are more than 50 surf schools, and in China Houhai is called “the country's first surf village”.

For many families everyday life has turned upside down. A former fisherman now sells fresh coconuts on the corner of the first lane and, by his own account, takes 400 to 500 yuan a day. Another villager founded his own surf club, employs young people from the village as instructors and earns more than 10,000 yuan a month — more than fishing ever brought in.

The wave for beginners

Surfing mainly happens in Queen's Bay, Huánghòu Wān in Chinese. The bay is surrounded by hills on three sides, the sand slopes very gently, and where you stand up on the board the water doesn't go over your head. The waves are knee- to hip-high, long and even — too tame for advanced surfers, ideal for beginners.

The best time is October to May, when the north-east monsoon brings consistent waves. In late summer typhoons occasionally bring big surf. Besides the sandy beach there's a reef break for advanced surfers and a hidden spot with occasional barrels, which is dangerous because of the sharp coral. On the beach by the pier you often see kitesurfers too.

The flip side

Success has its price. You hardly see old fishermen's houses any more; the village now consists of built-up houses with small attic storeys and brightly painted façades. Many of the first surfers and founders who made Houhai known have since sold their guesthouses and clubs and moved on.

One of the founders told a Chinese magazine that when he thinks of surfing today, he mainly sees crowds of people. In a few years the insider tip has become a mass destination — on public holidays hundreds share the wave.

What to look out for with lessons

A two-hour beginner lesson in Houhai usually costs 200 to 350 yuan, with instructor, board, rash vest and the colourful sun paste the instructors paint on your face. Private lessons cost 360 to 680 yuan; small groups are cheaper. A board alone rents for about 100 to 200 yuan a day.

Be careful with suspiciously cheap offers. Chinese guests report lessons where board hire and showers were only charged extra on the beach, that lasted just 45 minutes, and where the instructor spent most of the time on the shore looking at his phone. Clarify beforehand: how long is the lesson, what's included, and how many students per instructor?

The evening

In the evening Houhai becomes a meeting place. Bonfires burn on the beach, bands play in small bars in the lanes, and locals run barbecue stalls. The food is much cheaper than in the resorts: a big bowl of noodles with crab, prawns and clams costs only a fraction of what you pay twenty minutes away.

Twenty minutes from luxury

Some of China's most expensive hotels stand on the same bay. Houhai shows Sanya's other side: the same coast, the same water — but surfboards instead of loungers, coconut stalls instead of a lobby bar, and a night's stay for a fraction of the price. Experience both on the same day and you understand how wide the range of this island is.