Budget Breakdown: 4 Days in Haikou

The trip to Haikou was quite a random one. I wanted to surprise WJ with a (very belated) birthday trip, and the nearer countries were all in the midst of their rainy seasons. So I looked a little further and found Haikou, a 3.5 hour flight away. It has supposedly clear weather in November, albeit a little chilly.

Here’s the breakdown of what the both of us spent on for 4 days in Haikou!

Flights: S$564.92

We flew by Scoot on a dawn-breaking early flight at 6.40am. We only got a few hours of sleep before we had to head to the airport, but that also meant a full day in Haikou since we landed at 10am.

The flight back was at 10.45am though, so the day was kind of wasted. And if you’re flying back from Haikou anytime soon, be sure to factor in a long waiting time to check in! We queued for almost an hour before it was our turn.

Accommodation: S$201.40

I specifically chose a hotel that was quite close to Qilou XiaoChi Jie and Qilou Old Street because I figured we’d be spending most of the nights there. The location of Sun City Hotel is great as it’s near ample food choices, and it’s just 10 – 15 walk from the old street, and even less to Qilou XiaoChi Jie!

Although we usually book hotels through Agoda, one of China’s biggest online hotel booking sites is Ctrip. Sun City Hotel on Ctrip was also a teensy bit cheaper than the listing on Agoda, so it was really a no-brainer.

Food: S$158.28

We had to try the chicken rice in Haikou because hey, that’s where Singapore’s mouth-watering Hainanese chicken rice evolved from, right? Turns out not all originals are better (if you get my drift).

But we didn’t just eat chicken rice, of course! Since Qilou XiaoChi Jie was just a short walk away from us, we had giant bowls of porridge and hot tea to warm ourselves up. Better yet, just a street or two away, we stumbled on a snack street aptly named 泰龙𤦺台小吃街.

They had Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai and even Malaysian snack stalls. We definitely stuffed ourselves full there!

Transport: S$94.60

After taking a cab from the airport to our hotel, we figured that there should be a cheaper way to travel. Enter: Didi. It works sort of like Grab and Uber so you can pay by credit cards, and the app even has real-time traffic data so you know if your route has a bad jam.

It’s slightly cheaper and super convenient, but if you can’t speak or read Mandarin, then I’d give it a miss!

Admission Fees: S$91.99

If you like taking selfies at Universal Studios and barely go on the rides, then Movie Town (S$32.65 each) would be perfect for you. The scenic town has a few streets which transport you back to the past, like Nanyang Street that looks just like Singapore in the past, and 1942 Street which brings you back to well, 1942.

There was an avenue of stars with the handprints of Jackie Chan, Zhou Xun and the like. See if you can spot Yao Ming’s gigantic hands while you’re there!

We also went to the Haikou Volcanic Cluster Global Park (雷琼世界地质公园), also known as Leiqiong Global Geopark for a walk into the heart of a volcano that last erupted yearsss ago. It’s near Mei She village with houses made from lava rock! There are still people living there, so we left after a short while so we wouldn’t intrude too much.

Shopping & Gifts: S$31.72

Since Haikou is known for all things coconut, we bought back some coconut coffee sachets (S$4.31 each bag) for our family. We also bought 2 We Bare Bear cups (S$5.13 each) from Miniso.

The Breakdown

Flights: S$564.92
Accommodation: S$201.40
Food: S$158.68
Transport: S$94.60
Admission Fees: S$91.99
Shopping & Gifts: S$31.72

GRAND TOTAL: S$1,142.91 for the both of us!