Whale Watching in China: Weizhou Island's Bryde's Whales
Every December a small group of Bryde’s whales moves into the Beibu Gulf, about 24 nautical miles south of Beihai in Guangxi, and stays until April. They feed in the water around Weizhou Island, a volcanic island of black rock, coral beaches and a Catholic church that French missionaries built in the 1860s. On 13 October 2026 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs designated 335.43 square kilometres of that water as China’s first important habitat for Bryde’s whales.
That designation is not a tourism award. It came with a fishing closure from December to April, the exact months the whales are in the gulf, stacked on top of the annual South China Sea moratorium. It also arrived in the middle of an argument nobody has settled: the whale watching industry built on top of these animals has grown much faster than the rules written to protect them.
If you want to see a baleen whale in China, this is the place. It is also the only place, and the trip takes more planning than the photos suggest.
What you are actually watching
Bryde’s whales are baleen whales, roughly 12 to 15 metres long, with a flat head and three ridges running along the top of the snout. They feed on anchovy and herring, which is why the gulls matter: when you see a cloud of gulls diving at the surface, the whales are usually underneath, driving fish upward.
The population here is small and has been studied since 2018. More than 70 individuals have been identified, and researchers describe a stable structure across juveniles, subadults, adults and older animals. This is, according to the Beihai city government and reporting in China Daily, the only large baleen whale population that can be watched consistently in Chinese coastal waters.
The animals are not hard to find in the right months. In September 2026 researchers recorded at least eight whales including two mother-and-calf pairs, the eighth consecutive year they appeared before the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the first days of November 2026 a survey by the Fourth Institute of Oceanography photographed 16 whales over two days, including a rare frame with six of them feeding together.
When the whales are off Weizhou
The season runs from December to April, with January to March the months when sightings are most consistent. December and late March are the sweet spot if you care about the whales more than your own comfort: fewer boats, calmer queues, and the animals are already there.
Chinese New Year is the worst possible week to go, and also the most popular. During the 2026 Spring Festival, 42,800 people went out to watch whales from Weizhou, on 4,537 boat trips, an average of more than 500 departures a day. Reports from that period describe more than 20 boats surrounding a single pod, some closing to within 20 metres. If you have any flexibility at all, use it.
Summer is not an option. The whales leave, the typhoon season arrives, and the ferries get cancelled.
The boats, and what a seat costs
Whale trips leave from the south side of the island, mainly from Nanwan Marine Sports Park and the yacht club at Lantau Bridge. Most boats run west from Nanwan toward the small island of Xieyang, where several operators say the feeding is most consistent in January and February. Departures cluster around 09:00, 13:30, 14:00, 15:30 and 16:00 depending on the operator, and a standard trip lasts about 90 minutes.
| What you pay for | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Whale trip, official peak price | ¥398 per person | The rate quoted by the scenic area; Hongxing News checked this in April 2026 |
| Whale trip, shared yacht | ¥258 to ¥298 per person | 8 to 11 passengers, about 90 minutes, hotel pickup on the island |
| Whale trip, third-party sellers | ¥298 to ¥888 per person | Includes ¥588 packages that promise a refund if you see nothing |
| Premium trip | ¥560 to ¥598 per person | Three hours, guide, afternoon tea, photographer |
| Private charter | ¥3,000 to ¥5,000 per boat | Ten passengers |
| Island entry ticket | ¥98 per adult | Valid seven days, covers the main scenic sites |
| Ferry, standard cabin | ¥150 one way | ¥300 return; business ¥180, VIP ¥240 |
Two things about those numbers. First, the official price is the ceiling, not the floor: agents, guesthouse owners and taxi drivers will offer you a seat below it, sometimes with no registration and no ticket. Second, the price you see online is rarely the price you pay once island transfers and insurance are added. Ask what is included before you hand over cash.
The scenic area hotline for whale trips is 0779-6015900 or 0779-6015700, staffed from 08:00 to 18:00. It is a Chinese-language line.
The ferry and the island ticket
You cannot drive to Weizhou. Ferries run from Beihai International Passenger Port to Xijiao Pier on the island, a crossing of about 24 nautical miles that takes 70 to 90 minutes on a fast boat and closer to 110 on the slower sightseeing ferries.
Tickets go on sale 15 days ahead at 09:00 and sell out fast around holidays. In peak periods the popular sailings can disappear in minutes, so book the return leg at the same time you book the outbound one. The official channels are the WeChat mini-programs for the ferry operator and the scenic area, plus the ticket windows at the port. Everything is real-name, and you board by scanning the document you booked with.
The island entry ticket is separate from the ferry and costs ¥98 for adults, valid for seven days. Half price for full-time students, visitors aged 60 to 64 and children between 6 and 14. Free for anyone 65 and over, and for children under 1.2 metres. Budget roughly ¥398 per person just to stand on the island, before a whale ticket.
Booking with a passport
This is where most international travellers hit friction, and the workaround is not advertised anywhere official.
The ferry operator’s passenger notice lists a passport as a valid document for buying and boarding. The booking mini-program, however, assumes a Chinese ID number. Travellers report that the fix is to go into the mini-program’s service menu, find the document verification section, upload a photo of your passport and wait for manual approval, which usually takes about an hour. After that the normal booking flow accepts you. If the upload stalls, the ticket windows at Beihai International Passenger Port can do it in person, and staff there are used to it.
For the whale trip itself, booking runs through the scenic area’s official platform under the marine activities section, or through the operators directly. You will need WeChat Pay or Alipay; foreign cards generally do not work inside these mini-programs. If that is a blocker, a hotel or guesthouse on the island can usually book for you, and paying them in cash is normal.
One more thing to plan for: this is a Chinese-language destination. Very little signage, almost no English-speaking staff on the boats, and no English-language booking flow. That is workable, but it is not Sanya.
The 300-metre rule
Guangxi’s ecology and environment department published whale watching guidelines in May 2025, and they are worth knowing before you get on a boat, because you are the only person on board who can tell whether the captain is following them.
| Distance | What the rules say |
|---|---|
| 300 metres | Slow to 5 knots or less, hold a steady course, no horn |
| 100 metres | Stop the engine, put it in neutral, drift |
| Feeding, calf present, or whales moving fast | Withdraw beyond 300 metres |
| Time with the animals | 60 minutes maximum, 30 minutes if a calf is present |
| Vessels at one time | No more than 4 boats, speed capped at 6 knots |
Fishing boats are not allowed to carry whale watchers at all. Life jackets are compulsory.
If a captain runs at a pod, cuts across its path, or keeps the engine running at 20 metres, you are on the wrong boat. Ask to go back. You will not get your money back, but the alternative is paying for behaviour that researchers link directly to injury.
Crowded water: what changed in 2026
The rules above exist because the water gets crowded. During the 2026 Spring Festival the island ran more than 500 whale trips a day, and news footage showed pods surrounded by 20 or more boats. Researchers put the average maximum injury rate for the local whales between 2021 and 2023 at 61.4 per cent, mostly from net entanglement and boat strikes. In February 2026 a well-known individual nicknamed Scarface was left with a 50 to 60 centimetre wound along its back after a fishing boat passed over it.
The response has been uneven. On 15 March 2026 the island suspended all whale watching operations for a rectification period, then reopened them. On 8 October 2026 the Weizhou Island tourism area management committee published a draft regulation for whale watching tours, open for public comment until 7 November. It is a draft, not law yet, and it is the first attempt to license operators and enforce distances rather than rely on voluntary guidelines.
For a visitor, the practical result is that quality varies enormously between boats. The official platform and the licensed yacht operators are the safer bet. The boats that solicit you at the dock are not.
Honest odds
Nobody publishes an official sighting rate, and anyone who promises you a whale is selling something. Operators and travel posts commonly quote 70 to 80 per cent in January and March, which matches the pattern of a resident feeding population, but it is an operator claim, not a government statistic.
What that means in practice: one trip is a coin toss with good odds, two trips are close to a sure thing. Most operators do not refund if you see nothing, which is why the ¥588 “no sighting, money back” packages exist at a premium. Weather matters as much as luck. Wind above force 5 usually means cancellation or a rough, short trip, and the boats refund or reschedule for weather but not for absence of whales.
A calm, bright day with gulls working the surface is the best sign you will get. Bring a windproof layer, take seasickness tablets an hour before boarding, and sit at the stern if you are prone to it.
Who cannot get on the boat
Operators list the following as not accepted, and these are company rules rather than a government regulation: children under three, anyone aged 65 or over, pregnant travellers, people with heart conditions, high blood pressure, asthma or recent surgery, and anyone who has been drinking.
The age cut-offs cause the most arguments at the dock, because the island entry ticket waives the fee at 65 while the whale boats turn that same age away. If someone in your group is near the line, call the operator before you pay for anything.
How many nights you need
Two nights minimum. One for the ferry and a whale trip, one as a buffer for weather. Three is better, and it also gives you time for the volcano park, the beaches at Shiluokou and Wucaitan, and the church at Shengtang, which is the reason the island has a French-Catholic layer at all.
Weizhou is not a resort island. Hotels are mostly guesthouses, seafood is the point of dinner, and the roads are narrow enough that most people rent an electric scooter. If you are building a longer Guangxi route, this pairs naturally with a Guilin and Yangshuo itinerary before or after, and the high-speed rail network connects Beihai with Nanning and Guangzhou. Beihai Fucheng Airport (BHY) takes domestic flights if you are short on time.
If you are choosing between warm winter options, the honest comparison is that Sanya is easier and more expensive, while Weizhou is rougher, cheaper, and the only one of the two with whales. Pack for wind rather than sun; the China packing guide covers the layers that matter on the water.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really see whales at Weizhou Island?
Yes, between December and April. More than 70 Bryde’s whales have been identified in the area since monitoring began in 2018, and researchers recorded 16 individuals over two days in early November 2026. Sightings are not guaranteed on any single trip, and operators quote 70 to 80 per cent odds in the peak months of January to March.
When is the best month for whale watching there?
January to March has the most reliable sightings. December and late March are better for crowds and prices, since Chinese New Year brings more than 500 boat departures a day and the worst congestion on the water. Avoid the Spring Festival week if you can move your dates.
How much does the whole trip cost?
Plan on about ¥398 per person before the whale trip: ¥300 return ferry in a standard cabin plus ¥98 island entry. A shared whale trip adds ¥258 to ¥298, and the official peak price is ¥398. With two nights of guesthouse accommodation and meals, a realistic budget is ¥1,200 to ¥1,800 per person for the island section.
Can I book the ferry with a passport?
Yes. The ferry operator lists a passport as a valid document, but the booking mini-program defaults to Chinese ID numbers. Travellers report needing to submit a passport photo through the app’s document verification section, which is approved within about an hour. If that fails, the ticket windows at Beihai International Passenger Port can book it for you.
Is whale watching here ethical?
It depends entirely on the boat. Guangxi’s guidelines require boats to slow to 5 knots within 300 metres, stop at 100 metres, and spend no more than 60 minutes with the animals, and no more than four boats should be with a pod at once. In practice, enforcement has been weak, and 2026 brought both a suspension of operations and a draft licensing regulation. Choose an operator through the official platform, and get off any boat that chases a pod.
Do I need to stay overnight on Weizhou Island?
Yes. The ferry crossing takes 70 to 90 minutes each way, and whale trips depart in the late morning and afternoon, so a day trip from Beihai leaves no margin for weather. Two nights is the practical minimum, and three gives you a second chance at a sighting plus time for the volcanic coast.
