Boundary Island

 

Basic Facts of Boundary Island

Chinese Name: 分界洲岛 Pronunciation: Fēnjièzhōu Dăo

Recommended Time for Visit: 3-4 Hours

Peak Height: 100.9 meters

Occupied Area: 0.41 square kilometers

Address: Niuling Exit of Haikou-Sanya East Line Highway, Sanya City, Hainan Province, China

 

Admission Ticket Fare

	Peak Season (October 1st to April 30th)	Low Season (May 1st to September 30th)
Ticket Fare (including the round-trip ferry ticket)	132 yuan	127 yuan

        
       

• Notice: Children between 1.2m-1.4m tall, minors under 18 years old, and seniors between 60-69 years old enjoy half price; children under 1.2m tall and the disabled are free of charge.
   

• Surcharge Inside the Scenic Spot

Contents		Price (yuan)
Ocean Theater		180
Diving	Line A	560
	Line B	480
Water Sports	Motorboat	170
	Parasailing	300
	Sea Fishing	300

   

Opening Hours

Opening Hours	8:30-22:30
Ticket Office Opening Hours	8:30-20:00

• Notice: The last ferry for leaving the island will be at 22:40. If the scenic area is closed at night, the ferry service will stop at 18:00.

 

Introduction of Boundary Island

Located at Lingshui Li Autonomous County of Hainan Province, the small saddle-shaped island, extending from the northeast to the southwest, is surrounded by the brimless blue sea. The island covers an area of 0.41 square kilometers and is around 1.2 nautical miles (about 2.2 km) away from the nearest coastline of Hainan Island. The Boundary Island Scenic Area opened to the public on May 1st, 2004. Later in January 2013, the scenic area was rated as a national 5A tourist attraction by the National Tourism Administration. Boundary Island is the first and only national 5A island scenic spot in China.
 

As for the formation of Boundary Island, we have to mention the Niuling Mountain, one ridge of the Wuzhi Mountain in Hainan. Since billions of years ago, Niuling Mountain has formed as a watershed after the squeezing of the continental plates. The climate in the north and the south of Hainan Island are different because of Niuling Mountain. On the north of the Niuling Mountain, it is relatively warm with humid air and more rainfall; on the south, the temperature is two or three degrees higher than that of the north part caused by plenty of sunshine and less rain.
 

Boundary Island was originally part of Niuling Mountain. It was recorded that, during the Ice Age, part of Niuling Mountain was submerged by the seawater, thus forming a small isolated island, which is the Boundary Island we see today.
 

Boundary Island has been known as “Meiren Dao” (Beauty Island), “Ma’an Ling” (Saddle Ridge) and “Shuifo Dao” (Sleeping Buddha Island) since ancient times.
 

With the special geographical location, unique topographical features, and distinctive local cultural characteristics, the Boundary Island serves as a natural geographical and climate dividing line. It also acts as a humanistic boundary that divides the habitation of ethnic minority groups, such as the Li Nationality, the Miao Nationality, and the Hui Nationality, from that of the Han Nationality.
 

Visitors will have a good view of Boundary Island when traveling along the Round-Island East Expressway or the East Ring Railway. Standing on the island, visitors can enjoy such scenes that on summer days, the north of Niuling Mountain is rainy while the south is sunny; on winter days, the north is gloomy while the south is sunny with gentle breezes. Visitors can also participate in tourist items such as diving, sea fishing, and motor boating and have intimate interacting activities with marine animals, such as dolphins, sea lions, turtles, and whale sharks.

 

Big Events Happened on Boundary Island

With the integration of the unique marine civilization and local elements, Boundary Island has become a must-visit tourist site for exploring island culture, and attracted numerous celebrities to travel. In April 2011, the former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev visited Boundary Island and praised the beautiful scenery after experiencing the tourism projects.
 

With clean beaches and abundant marine ecological resources, the island has become one of the few islands in Hainan that is most suitable for diving and exploring the world underwater. On October 19th, 2012, Dr. Silvia Earle, a famous American female oceanographer, made a trip to the island for a survey. She believed that the underwater environment resources here are pretty good, and it is worth enjoying a diving experience.
 

Besides, the island has successively hosted several large-scale contests, such as the “New Silk Road Model Contest”, “World Hercules Finals”, and “No.1 Super Mission”. It also provides a place for the large-scale outdoor sports reality show “Running Man” and movie shooting.

 

Must-visit Attractions at Boundary Island

Dolphin Bay

Dolphin Bay is currently the largest natural wild marine animal world in China. Visitors can find lovely dolphins, the largest fish - the “tender marine giant” - whale sharks, soaring sea lions, table-sized turtles, and ferocious giant groupers.
 

Every morning, visitors can watch two dolphin shows. With brown back and gray abdomen, the dolphins which provide shows are pan-tropical spotted dolphins, a rare species that mainly live in tropical and warm temperate waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the South Atlantic Ocean. Under the instructions of the animal keepers, they will dance and jump like divers with music. The excellent performance by the lovely fairies always wins applause from the audience!
 

Diving Dock

One of the activities you can never miss at Boundary Island is diving! Endowed with a good underwater environment, the island is the heaven for diving lovers. They can experience two types of diving: offshore diving and deep-sea diving.
 

For offshore diving, divers can see coral reefs and swim with various tropical fishes. For deep-sea diving, divers can explore the most dynamic marine ecological system in the distant ocean where various colorful corals including the soft corals and the hard corals are well-preserved.

 

Story of Boundary Island

As a legend had it, there were five rivers in the Wuzhi Mountain, flowing into the sea where the Dragon King lived. However, one day a flood brought dirt mud and rocks into the sea that incurred complaints of the Dragon King as he believed that the seawater was polluted. The Dragon King then complained to the Jade Emperor.
 

Being afraid that the sea would be contaminated, the Jade Emperor then determined to block the Lingshui River, one of the five rivers, which had the maximum water flow. Jade Emperor led a cow, brought himself with an ax, and flew to the Wuzhi Mountain in a hurry. He chopped one part of the Wuzhi Mountain with his ax and commanded the cow to drag the chopped mountain ridge to fill the Lingshui River.
 

After days and nights of arduous work, the cow was fatigue to death, and the small mountain ridge evolved into the Boundary Island while the cow evolved into the Niuling Mountain.

 

Suggested Travel Route

Enter from the Dock→ Ocean Theater→ Diving Dock→ Swimming Area→ Happy Beach→ Mountain Theme Park→ Exit from the Dock

 

Best Travel Time

The Boundary Island is worth visiting from October to April as the temperature is not that hot on summer days. Visitors, especially diving or water sports lovers, can experience a wonderful traveling time here under the warm sun.

 

Warm Tips

The Boundary Island is an islet scenic spot to which the ferry is the only means of transportation. Since the conditions of the sea are changing, visitors may get seasickness due to the jolted boat. Considering visitors’ health and safety, the scenic spot does not receive visitors who are above 70 years old (including 70 years old), pregnant women, children aged below 8 years old without the accompany of an adult, or visitors who are diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart disease, epilepsy, or other sudden diseases.
 

Visitors who want to experience diving or water sports at the Boundary Island should pay attention to the local weather forecast, because those activities may be canceled due to bad weather conditions.
 

Visitors under the following health conditions are not allowed to participate in water sports: those who had recent surgery, or have asthma, colds, bronchitis, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, otitis media, sinusitis, epilepsy, phobia, unhealed trauma, or other diseases, and pregnant women, children, and the elderly.

 
For visitors who conceal their actual health conditions, they will be responsible for the consequences.

 

How to Get to Boundary Island

Since Boundary Island is an outlying island, tourists should buy tickets and take ferry to the island when arriving at the Boundary Island Scenic Area.
 

By Bus

Take Sanya Intercity No.3 Tourist Bus at Sanya Railway Station, and the fare is 25 yuan. You can reach the Boundary Island Scenic Area within 75 minutes.

Take the shuttle bus at the Sanya Century Grand Hotel and get off at the Boundary Island Scenic Area.

Take the shuttle bus at the Lingshui Railway Station and get off at the Boundary Island Scenic Area.

Take the shuttle bus at the Lingshui Yijingwan Hotel and get off at the Boundary Island Scenic Area.

(Notice: Visitors who take the Shuttle Bus should provide housing and online booking vouchers.)
 

By Taxi

Chinese: 请带我去分界洲岛景区。English: Please take me to the Boundary Island Scenic Area.

If you go to the Boundary Island from Lingshui Railway Station, it takes about 20 minutes (70 yuan).

If you go to the Boundary Island from Sanya Phoenix International Airport, it takes about 75 minutes (250 yuan).