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Offshore exploring from Singapore

To feel like you’re on holiday, we suggest a day-trip off the coast! Here’s a look at eight of Singapore’s 60 or more islands. Some you can get to by small boat or ferry – or you can hire a boat with seven friends and see a bit more! Tip: Weekdays are nice and quiet. #1 St John’s Island

Situated around 3km south of Sentosa, St John’s Island is a pretty place to find peace and quiet, and some interesting history. The island is also well known for its flora and fauna.

Getting there: Take a 30-minute ferry ride from Marina South Pier. (You can buy your tickets on the spot at the pier.) The return ferry ride costs $15 for adults and $12 for children (one to 12 years). The afternoon ferry may stop off at Kusu Island on the return home.

What to do: Lay your picnic mats by the beach for a leisurely picnic while the kids build sandcastles. Walk off those calories by taking your little ones exploring in the mangroves; you’ll find an abundance of marine life, including hermit crabs and sea urchins. Overnight camping and stays at St John’s Island Lodge are also available, though bookings are still temporarily suspended on account of pandemic restrictions. Check the Singapore Land Authority website (sla.gov.sg) for updates.

Tips: Don’t forget to take food, lots of water, books and toys – there are no kiosks or shops on the island.

#2 Lazarus Island

Another of Singapore’s Southern Islands group, Lazarus is just a bridge away from St John’s Island.

Getting there: Hop on a ferry to St John’s and take the 15-minute walk across the link bridge to the island.

What to do: If you’re looking for a little more peace and quiet than St John’s, which can get crowded, this is a great place to go for a picnic, to sunbathe or build sandcastles on horseshoeshaped Lazarus Island Beach, or to take a dip in the clear water. With a laidback vibe, the island is generally untouched and offers one of the best nearby escapes to nature from Singapore.

Tips: Like on St John’s Island, there are no stores selling food and drinks here, so pack whatever is necessary. The nearest toilet is about a five-minute walk from the beach.

#3 Kusu Island

Kusu Island is located less than an hour away from mainland Singapore and is especially popular with devotees who travel to the island’s renowned temple for annual pilgrimages.

Getting there: Take a 45-minute ferry ride from Marina South Pier. You’ll stop off at St John’s Island before reaching Kusu.

What to do: Explore the small island’s surprisingly rich culture and heritage, and visit its sacred sites. These include the Da Bo Gong Temple, which is almost 100 years old, and three Malay keramats or shrines, which can only be reached by climbing 152 steps! While you’re there, pay a visit to the wishing well near the temple. Pack a picnic basket or prepare a barbecue for a relaxing afternoon meal. Keep the kids occupied and take them to see turtles at the Turtle Sanctuary or have a refreshing swim.

Tips: You might want to avoid the months of September to November as this is the busiest time for the island’s annual pilgrimage.

#4 Sisters’ Islands

A kilometre or so to the west of St John’s, and boasting rich reefs and marine life, the Sisters’ Islands are part of Singapore’s first marine park, established in 2014. They’re also home to some long-tailed macaques.

Getting there: Small Sister’s Island is a conservation zone and not open to the public; to get to Big Sister’s Island you can charter a boat from various piers and marinas, including Keppel Bay and ONE°15 on Sentosa; there’s also an occasional inter-island ferry from St John’s and Kusu. Note: No berthing is allowed at the jetty on the island, which is open daily from 7am to 7pm.

What to do: For the past five years, there have been regular guided walks on the islands to see sea creatures including starfishes, octopuses and clams. These are now on hiatus while National Parks carries out a review of the activities it hopes to offer in the marine park. In the meantime, find a shady spot to enjoy your picnic lunch, or see what treasures you can spot on the shoreline.

#5 Pulau Ubin

Popular with cyclists and explorers, this rustic island is home to some of Singapore’s last kampongs. It’s located off the northeast coast, close to Changi Airport. Be sure to bring along your hat, sun cream, water and insect repellent.

Getting there: Take a 15-minute bumboat ride from Changi Point Ferry Terminal. It costs $4 per person (the price has gone up recently to compensate for the smaller number of people allowed on each boat), though you may have to wait some time for enough passengers to arrive before departing.

What to do: Rent bikes for the family and take off on a self-guided tour of the island’s trails and kampongs. From mountain bikes and tandem bikes to tricycles and bikes with side carts for the kids to ride along in, you’ll be able to find one to suit your family. If you prefer your own bike, bring it along, but take note of the extra $3 fee for the bumboat ride.

The terrain is generally manageable both for bike and on foot. Take a rest at a quarry and enjoy the serenity. Fuel up by picking up some drinks and old school snacks at the many shops and cafés on the main drag. Before leaving, make a trip to Chek Jawa (about 3km from the jetty) to explore its wetlands and learn about its rich marine life and biodiversity. There’s even a hardcore mountain bike course for keen cyclists.

Tips: The island has no ATMs, so bring some cash!

#6 Coney Island

Located off Punggol, Coney Island is one of Singapore’s newest nature destinations. The island boasts a variety of habitats, including lush forests and mangroves.

Getting there: Walk onto the island through connecting bridges at either the East entrance at Lorong Halus or the West entrance at Punggol Promenade Park Connector.

What to do: Burn off some energy at the Casuarina Exploratory where kids can hop and jump over uprooted trees and stumps. Sadly the island’s resident Brahman bull passed away a few years ago, but you will at least have the chance to see a wide variety of bird species and plenty of interesting flora.

Tips: Wear long pants and shoes, and apply insect repellent to prevent bites. Also, keep an eye on the kids – the rugged terrain may be a little tough for younger ones to navigate.

#7 Pulau Hantu

Made up of two small islands, Hantu Besar and Hantu Kechil – you can walk from one to the other at low tide – Pulau Hantu is located around 10km west of St John’s and Kusu. Literally meaning “island of ghosts”, this serene spot is known for its rich coral reefs and beautiful beaches.

Getting there: Unlike for most of the other islands, there are no daily ferry services to Pulau Hantu, but you can privately charter a boat from various private marinas and public piers.

What to do: Explore the lovely beaches and lagoons on the island. Set up a picnic lunch in one of the timber shelters, and cool off with a dip in the water. Check out the mangroves and try to spot some of the wide variety of marine life.

Tips: Pulau Hantu is one of the most popular dive spots in Singapore, and there are several operators who you can book dives through; search online and find one that suits your needs.

#8 Pulau Semakau

Also located south of the main island of Singapore, Pulau Semakau houses Singapore’s first offshore landfill. You may be surprised that it also boasts loads of rich flora and fauna.

Getting there: You can only enter Semakau with a permit from the NEA (National Environment Agency), which you can get by booking the tour outlined below.

What to do: Wondering where all your trash goes? Once pandemic restrictions ease, book a Semakau Landfill Visit with the NEA. It includes the ferry ride as well as a guided tour of the incineration plants and landfill, so you can find out more about how Singapore tackles the issue of waste management. There are plenty of interesting marine animals and plants along the island’s shore, too

Tips: Keep up to date on the status of tours through eportal.nea.gov.sg.

Name Games: The old Malay name for the Island, Pulau Sakijang Pelepah, referred to a type of deer and a type of palm tree, but the origin of the newer name isn’t known.

Guided Walk: NParks volunteers host a free 90-minute guided tour on the first Sunday of every month, taking in some of the 2.8km St John’s Island Trail; there’s also a DIY guide to the trail available at nparks.gov.sg.

Turtle Trivia: “Kusu” means “turtle” or “tortoise” in the Hokkien dialect. Two species of sea turtle are commonly encountered in Singapore’s Southern Islands: the green turtle and the hawksbill.

Lots of Coral: The Sisters’ Islands Marine Park is home to 250 of the region’s 500 types of coral.

Kampong Life: It’s hard to find precise statistics, but most commentators suggest that the current population of Pulau Ubin is somewhere between 30 and 100.

Flashback: The island once belonged to the Burmese-Chinese entrepreneurial brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Park (of Haw Park Villa and Tiger Balm fame). They sold it in the 1950s to an Indian businessman who intended to create an amusement park in the style of New York’s Coney Island. (But don’t expect to find a rollercoaster!)

Island Battleground: According to Malay legend, two warriors once fought to the death at this spot – their ghosts are said to remain on the island. (We’re wondering if that’s why an anagram of “Hantu” is “haunt”…)

Room for More: Semakau can hold 63 million cubic metres of rubbish; this was originally thought to be enough to accommodate Singapore’s needs until 2045, though that figure was more recently revised to 2035. A facility was launched in Tuas in 2015 to free up more room on Semakau by extracting usable metals from the waste.