香水湾 Xiāngshuǐ wān is the bay on the north side of the 陵水 Língshuǐ coast, between the county town and the headland to the north, and it is a quieter and more rugged stretch than the smooth resort strip at 清水湾 to the south. The name means fragrant water, and legend has it that a piece of fragrant wood washed ashore here once and the water took on the scent. What it actually is today is a curve of sand and rock where the surf comes in over a reef, with the 牛岭 Niú lǐng hills rising behind the road and a number of smallish inns and guesthouses set back among the palms rather than a wall of towers. It is the coast for someone who wants the sea without the resort circus.
The inns here are small and personal. A typical one is a three- or four-storey concrete building with a dozen or so rooms, a small lobby, sometimes a restaurant and always a terrace or a rooftop from which the bay is the whole view. The rooms are basic but comfortable – a bed, air conditioning, a tiled floor, a bathroom with a shower – and the reason to book is the position. Some sit right above the rocks where the tide comes in, others back onto the road but look over the sand, and the better ones face the surf rather than the hillside. It is the kind of place where the owner will tell you where the seafood is fresh that day and which beach to walk to at low tide.
The bay rewards an early morning. The surf comes in all night and the sound is the thing people come here for, so a room above the rocks is a room you fall asleep to the sea in. At low tide a reef is exposed along the north end and the 疍家 Dànjiā and local women gather shellfish in the shallows; at high tide the sand narrows and the water comes up to the steps. Behind the road the 牛岭 hills are crossed by the island ring railway, and the bay’s position on the line between 陵水 and 万宁 makes it an easy stop on the way along the east coast. It is not a place for a long, lazy resort holiday; it is a place for a night or two of the sea.
What the Rooms Are Like
Expect twelve to twenty-five square metres, a firm bed, a tiled floor and a compact bathroom with a shower. A sea-facing room costs more and is the reason you booked; a garden-facing room is quieter but loses the point. Air conditioning is essential in the hot months and usually universal. Wi-Fi is present but can be weak the closer the building is to the water. There is no lift in most of these small buildings, so a top-floor sea-view room comes with a walk up.
Practicalities
Price. A double with a sea view at a 香水湾 inn runs ¥200 to ¥450 a night in the shoulder season, and roughly double in the first week of October and the summer months. The cheapest rooms without a view start near ¥150, and a handful of the nicer places with a restaurant push higher.
Address. The inns sit along the coastal road of 香水湾 in 陵水黎族自治县, on the northern stretch of the county’s coast between 陵水 town and the 万宁 border, roughly half an hour by car from 陵水 and under an hour from the ring railway’s 陵水站.
Rooms. Ask for a room that faces the surf rather than the road, and confirm whether it is above the rocks (best for the sound of the sea) or over the sand. Check whether the building has a restaurant, because eating nearby can mean a drive. Confirm the sea view is not a side view over a neighbour’s roof.
Getting there. From 陵水 town, the coastal road north takes about half an hour; from 三亚, 香水湾 is a good hour and a half. The ring railway’s 陵水站 is the nearest station, from which a taxi covers the coast road.
flowcloud would say that a small inn above the surf, without a wall of towers, is the honest version of a coastal holiday, because the sea decides the rhythm and the place is only a window onto it.
Where to stay: the small inns along the coastal road of 香水湾 in 陵水黎族自治县, between 陵水 town and the 万宁 border. Book a room that faces the surf, confirm the restaurant situation, and come for a night or two of the sea rather than a long resort stay.