Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Mountaineering Association, Xu Chao
In early this year, 23 backpackers took a fishing boat from Sanya to the Yongle Islands in the Xisha Islands for a trip. Due to rough seas, the fishing boat failed to return after several attempts, and the captain had no choice but to anchor outside Jinyinhua Island. After being stranded for several days, the backpackers on board sought help via Weibo. Thanks to the full rescue efforts of the Haikou Search and Rescue Center of Hainan Province, the endangered backpackers were safely transferred to a coast guard vessel. On January 11, the rescue ship safely delivered the 23 backpackers to Sanya Port.
A thrilling sea trip to the Xisha Islands touched the hearts of the Hainan Provincial Government, various media outlets, and tens of millions of backpackers. After the incident, the Hainan Tourism Commission issued a special notice, stating that tourism to the Xisha Islands is not yet open. Out of respect for the safety of tourists' lives and social responsibility, the public is advised not to travel there privately. Although people naturally yearn for the sea and have an innate love for water activities, the unpredictability of the ocean, along with the complexity of tides, monsoons, and currents, makes the risks far higher than those on land or in the mountains. Moreover, this sea voyage covered several hundred nautical miles, and the destination was an undeveloped, deserted island, which inherently carried numerous safety hazards. In short, these backpackers made their first major mistake: choosing a place they shouldn’t have gone to.
According to reports and our understanding, before setting off, these backpackers had assigned a so-called “pathfinder” to Sanya for a supposed route survey. However, driven by their desire for this particular route and lacking knowledge about maritime travel, they hastily sought out an unlicensed tour guide to “show them the way,” allowing this person to mislead them with false claims and overconfident promises, resulting in a cursory and superficial survey. For a seven-day sea journey, they actually rented a single-engine wooden fishing boat that was extremely rudimentary. The unlicensed guide, blinded by greed and indifferent to the backpackers’ safety, rented the basic fishing boat, avoided maritime surveillance, and set sail hastily from a small port under the cover of night. This marked the backpackers’ second major mistake: wrongly choosing an unlicensed black guide as their local guide. According to the official advisory from China’s Maritime Search and Rescue Center, renting a sea vessel for tourism purposes is dangerous, illegal, and will result in corresponding penalties from the authorities.
From online reports, these 23 backpackers came from cities such as Wenzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, and Chongqing. Before this trip, the backpackers did not know each other. After gathering in Sanya from different places, the black guide sent them to this small fishing boat in batches, so the backpackers didn’t have a chance to meet or gather before boarding. Once aboard, they found the situation was vastly different from what had been promised. Some backpackers were too exhausted from the journey to stay alert, some were captivated by the vast ocean and forgot the principle of safety first, while others harbored doubts but clung to a sense of luck. Truly, they had boarded the wrong boat without a voice. Even as risks repeatedly emerged during the return trip, this group of backpackers from all walks of life still failed to form a cohesive team or present a strong, unified stance. This represents the third major mistake among backpackers: having no leader, everyone acting on their own, and disorganization driven by individual calculations. When strangers come together for the same activity, it’s essential to elect a capable and responsible leader to unify the group’s understanding and actions.
In summary, although this incident ended without tragedy, it was still a close call that consumed significant public resources and captured the concern of many. With regret, we still have to say: outdoor adventures are captivating, but traveling requires caution. Reflecting on this experience, we also want to remind everyone: go where you should go, and find the right local guide.