Flying is the easiest way out of Haikou, with the city connected to Sanya and mainland locations between Ürümqi and Hong Kong. Tickets for all airlines can be reserved at CAAC (8am-10.30pm; tel 6763166) on Haixiu Lu, next to the Civil Aviation Hotel. Ferries leave Haikou's New Port about every hour to Hai'an, at Guangdong's southernmost tip (90min; buses meet ferries for the 150km run to Zhanjiang); twice daily to Zhanjiang (3hr); three times a day to Beihai (11hr); and several times a week to Guangzhou and Hong Kong (25hr). Some Beihai services also leave from Xiuying Wharf. Ticket offices at the ports open daily 9am-4pm, and there's usually no trouble in getting a seat for the next service. Various levels of comfort, from bench seats to beds, are available on the longer hauls, and it's definitely worth paying for a cabin rather than spending the trip surrounded by seasick hordes watching non-stop kung fu flicks. Your accommodation will be able to make bookings for boats and planes if you give them at least a day's notice.

The practicalities of getting out by bus depend on where you're heading. Most roads lead to Sanya , with normal services leaving regularly 7am-6.30pm from the long-distance bus station, where you can also buy tickets for luxury buses which speed down the highway from a depot in southern Haikou - there's a free minibus to the departure point from the long-distance bus station. The long-distance station also has daily departures to all of Hainan's larger settlements, and through services (ferry fare included) to the mainland cities of Liuzhou, Guilin, Beihai and Nanning in Guangxi, and to Guangzhou, Hai'an and Zhanjiang in Guangdong. More local destinations are covered by minibuses from depots on the relevant sides of town. To reach these, take bus #6 from Changti Dadao 5km out to the western depot , and buses #1 or #11 from near Haikou Park to the eastern depot , 2km along Haifu Dadao.