Situated south of Lingshui County, Monkey Island is the world’s only one tropical island-type natural reserve for macaques - a state protected animal in China. The island boasts of so many special sites, such as the longest transoceanic ropeway in China, the charming coconut palms, the enchanting sand beach, the natural bathing place, multicolored coral reefs, and the unique fishing rafts, as well as being the monkeys' paradise.
Riding the longest oversea ropeway, which is 2,138 meters (7,014 feet) long at the speed of 6 meters per second, you will be delighted to find that you have a wonderful view of the ocean, the neatly placed fishing rafts by the bank and the thick chains of mountains on the island with the birds gently singing and the monkeys' shouts reverberating around your ears. Soon the mythical monkey island unfolds his arms in front of you.
Passing through a vegetation corridor, you will be amazed to find seven or eight macaques standing in a line along the path holding triangular flags or saluting to welcome their honored guests. Some naughty ones are wandering with their flags in their hands, and even some are imitating their visitors' odd ways of walking. How funny they are! Walking and laughing, you will see young monkeys chase and fight with each other, and a stout one jump into a pond from quite a tall tree with an excellent 360-degree turn in the air. What perfect spray he has made that only a master sportsman could make! Not only is their jumping skill masterful, but also their swimming technique is quite superb. In the pond, some of them dive, some swim freestyle, and even some do the breaststroke. While watching, you will be amused and amazed, and you won't be able to help yourself applauding and clapping for them. In addition, you will enjoy yourself with the displays given by the monkeys in the circus performances.
If you wish, you can take photos with these cute monkeys and play with them. However, one must remember not to wear red clothes in order to avoid the naughty monkeys who might be annoyed with you, and be careful when feeding them.
Location: in the south of the Lingshui Li Autonomous County, over 10 kilometers away from the county town.
Transportation: Sanya is the starting point to Monkey Island. To get there, you can take a bus from Haiku, which arrives every 30 minutes. The entire trip is around 4 hours, depending on traffic. A much faster choice is a bullet train, which cuts the traveling time to around 30 minutes to an hour.
Ticket: CNY 68
CNY 30 for One-way Ropeway
CNY 60 for Round-trip Ropeway
Opening hours: 8:00—17:30