How to travel to the Paracel Islands from Sanya
Regular channels: Go to the Haikou Office of the Xisha Working Committee to apply for an entry permit to the Xisha Islands in the name of inspection. After obtaining permission, we will take the Qiongsha No. 2 supply ship on the 28th of each month. The departure point is Qinglan Port in Wenchang and the destination port is Yongxing Island in Xisha. The voyage takes about 16 hours. This way to go to Xisha is the most formal and safe, but in order to ensure a boat seat, you must go through some channels at least half a month in advance to go through the relevant procedures. Otherwise, the shipment will be postponed to next month.
Alternative channels: Charter a fishing boat at the docks in Wenchang, Qionghai, Lingshui and other places in Hainan. This mode of travel is the most fresh and interesting for ordinary tourists, but it is relatively expensive and takes a long time to sail at sea. Since the fishing boats are small and have weak ability to withstand the waves and rough seas, tourists will suffer from seasickness. It is suitable for able-bodied young and middle-aged people to engage in marine experience tourism activities. The inconvenience and limitation of using a chartered fishing boat to travel to Xisha Islands is that you cannot apply for an island entry permit (actually a Woody Island entry permit). It can only be experienced on the outer islands of Xisha Islands. ?
Special channels: Sanya Yulin Military Port has supply ships that go to Xisha regularly or irregularly; Sanya, Lingshui, and Calais military airports also have transport aircraft (usually Yunqi) flying to Xisha. The two military channels for traveling on warships or military aircraft depend on your relationship with the army. The political review is strict, and only a few people can make the trip.
Xisha Islands
1. Introduction to the Islands
1. Xisha Islands (also known as: Jewel Island)
2. Territorial sovereignty: The People's Republic of China
3. Administrative jurisdiction: Southwest Zhongsha Islands Office of Hainan Province, China
Existing Zhaoshu Island Village Committee and Yongxing Island Village Committee and other village-level organizations.
4. Geographical location: northwest of the South China Sea, southeast of Hainan Island, 15°40'-17°10' north latitude, 111°-113° east longitude, with Yongxing Island as the center, about 10 kilometers away from Sanya City Yulin Port and Qinglan Port in Wenchang City are both 330 kilometers away
The Xisha Islands are located in the middle of the tropics and have a tropical monsoon climate, which is hot and humid, but without extreme heat. Taking Yongxing Island as an example, the extreme high temperature is 34.9℃, the extreme low temperature is 15.3℃, and the annual average temperature is 26.5℃. The annual rainfall is 1505 mm. The Paracel Islands are the area most vulnerable to typhoons. The Paracel Islands are one of China’s famous fishing grounds. The sea area is wide and dotted with islands and reefs. The seafood is very rich and there are many precious species. Every year, a large number of fishermen from all over the world are attracted to the island for fishing operations.
Xisha has been China’s territory since ancient times. "Old Book of Tang" records that starting from the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese government began to formally manage the waters south of Hainan Island. In ancient times, this place was called the "Thousand Miles of Changsha" and was the only route for the South China Sea route. As early as the Sui Dynasty, China had sent envoys to Malaysia via the South China Sea, and the eminent monk Yijing of the Tang Dynasty also arrived in India. In ancient times, merchant ships loaded with ceramics, silks, and spices sailed here. It was also called the "Maritime Silk Road."
2. Geographical environment
The Xisha Islands are located on the southeastern sea more than 180 nautical miles away from Hainan Island. There is an island like a star lotus, with pearls floating in the vast blue waves. , that is the coveted and mysterious Xisha Islands.
The Paracel Islands are located in the northwest of the South China Sea and 310km southeast of Hainan Island. The main part is at 15°40'--17°10' north latitude and 110°--113° east longitude. The submarine topography is the Xisha Step on the northern continental slope of the South China Sea. It is a submarine plateau with a water depth of 1500-2000m that is higher than the central abyssal plain of the South China Sea. There are many coral reefs in the Xisha Islands, including 8 atolls, 1 platform reef, and 1 reef beach. The dry reef area is 1836.4 square kilometers, of which the reef flat area is 221.6 square kilometers and the lagoon area is 1614.8 square kilometers. There are a total of 28 gray sand islands developed on atolls and platform reefs. In addition, there is an Early Pleistocene volcanic breccia island called Gaojianshi on Dongdao Atoll.
The Xisha Islands have the most islands among the islands in the South China Sea, with the largest island area (Yongxing Island) and the highest altitude (Shidao). It is the only cemented rock island (Shidao is a late Pleistocene sand dune Rock) and the only abiotic island (High Pointed Rock), and has the largest total land area (more than 8 square kilometers).
Roughly bounded by 112 degrees east longitude, the Xisha Islands are divided into east and west groups. The west group is the Yongle Islands, and the east group is the Xuande Islands. The Yongle Islands in the Western Group include 5 atolls including Beijiao, Yongle Atoll, Yuzhuo Reef, Huaguang Reef, Panshiyu, and Zhongjian Island Reef. Among them, the Yongle Atoll has developed Treasure Island, Kunzai Island, There are 13 small islands including Ganquan Island, Coral Island, Quanfu Island, Yagong Island, Yinyu Island, Yinyu Island, Xianshe Island, Shiyu Island, Jinqing Island, Chenhang Island and Guangjin Island, Panshiyu Atoll and Zhongjin Island. There is a small island on each of the reef flats where the island reefs are built. The Xuande Islands in the Eastern Group include 3 atolls including Xuande Atoll, Dongdao Atoll and Langhua Reef and 1 reef (Pengzhutan). The Xuande Atoll includes Xishazhou, Zhaoshu Island, Beidao, Zhongdao, There are 12 small islands including South Island, North Shazhou, Zhongshazhou, Nanshazhou, Dongxinshazhou, Xixinshazhou, Yongxing Island and Shidao. Dongdao Atoll has 2 small islands, Dongdao and Gaojianshi.
The Xuande Atoll and Dongdao Atoll in the Xuande Islands are incompletely developed, with only a small number of reef flats. Among the atolls with relatively complete development of Xisha reef flats, Yongle Atoll is the largest one with numerous islands. There is a large shallow water area in the lagoon and rich fishery resources. It is an important fishery base and fishermen's residence in Xisha.