Haikou Banana International Youth Hostel

Haikou Banana Hostel offers great value and convenient location. We are in walking distance of Haikou Old Town, South Gate night snack food street, and Baishamen park and beach. We welcome all guests including solo backpackers and families with children.

We offer simple, clean rooms with modern amenities and private bathrooms. You can stay in either the dormitory or a private room. Our rooms consist of a bed, desk, private shower, toilet and sink etc. All rooms have air-con and free Wi-Fi.

The ground floor is a communal area. There a pool table, shared kitchen, and a garden area where you can sit outside.

Look at a map of Haikou and you can see the Banana hostel is located in a geographically interesting area in the north of Haikou called Haidian Island (海甸岛, Hǎi diān dǎo). It is actually a separate island about 3 x 5 km in size. 30 years ago Haidian Island was little more than a fishing village and grazing pasture. Today Haidian Island is rapidly developing and has become a popular, convenient place to stay.

1.7 km to the north of Banana Hostel is the new Baishamen Park, stroll a few hundred metres through the park and you arrive at the sea. Walk 1km south of Banana Hostel and you arrive at Haidian River, where lots of traditional wooden fishing boats anchor. In the afternoon the boats return and sell their catch in small markets on the river shore. Cross the bridge over the river and you arrive at the Bell Tower (钟楼, Zhōng lu) and the start of the historic old centre of Haikou. Here you can explore the maze like network of the distinctive decaying Qilou architecture and find real life community temples hidden in the back alleys. You can also discover weird and exotic food for sale at the Dong Men market in this area (live Cobra snakes for example). Continue south and you will see East Lake and Haikou Park. If you are interested in Chinese martial arts you can see local practitioners of Push Hands (推手, Tuīshǒu) at Haikou Park in the morning. Cross the road from the park and you are in one of the main busy shopping areas.

Banana Hostel suggests you rent one of our bikes and cycle through the city to the west coast. You must be careful cycling through the city, but after a few kilometers there is a long coastal path with the sea, beach, and palm trees in sight.

Banana Hostel is very close to the main campus of Hainan University (海南大学, Hǎinan daxue). If you want to improve your Mandarin, the University has lessons for foreigners of all levels. We are less than 1km from both the south and east gate entrances. The south gate entrance (南门, Nan men) is also a bustling street food area. In the evening there are many street snack foods to try. There is also a long line of tropical fruits stalls, Chinese restaurants, and a KFC on the same road.


If you want an inexpensive place to sleep and maybe meet some other people, you are welcome to stay at the Haikou Banana Hostel.