March 2021 – Nowhere to go but we feel like travelling somewhere. Thankful for the islands situated in the southern parts of Singapore, we get to go somewhere with a vacation feel.
How to Go to the Southern Islands
So we brought our 4 kids age ranging 4 yo to 11 yo to the Southern Islands in Singapore for a day trip. The kids were certainly thrilled to go on a ferry-hopping journey in the southern part of Singapore.
It was really easy. We took the MRT to Marina South Pier Station to board the Marina South Ferries (“MSF”) from the Marina South Pier.
I did some research in Klook before booking MSF. The ticket prices are the most reasonable even without redeeming our Singapore Rediscover Vouchers. Reviews from customers are mostly wonderful with little complaints.
Marina South Ferries cover Kusu Island, St John Island and Sister Island. There are various ferry timings, the earliest being weekend 9 am from Marina South Pier, and the latest being 6 pm, weekends back from St John Island to the Marina South Pier.
Redemption of tickets to the Southern Islands was convenient. We went up to the MSF booth, showed them our email confirmation for the ferry booking, and they released the physical tickets to us. The counter staff advised us on our ferry route and timing to note, starting with Kusu Island, then St John Island. Seeing 4 young kids with us, they recommended that we simplified our journey with just 2 islands to explore. Skip the Sister Island, we can explore next time.
Keep the tickets securely as you will need to show the MSF staff the tickets before boarding the return ferry in the evening too.
Even though we scheduled our day trip on a weekday, the queues for the ferry were still long, probably because of the March school holidays. We almost couldn’t get a seat on our return trip.
It was much more enjoyable to sit on the upper deck than on the lower deck. The latter was enclosed and filled with a musty stench that the kids found distasteful. Though we were not travelling in the open sea, the waters were still a little choppy.
Tips to survive a ferry ride on rolling waves with little kids
I wanted to avoid starting off our journey with any sick and dirty child.
Thus, I gave them some ginger pills to prevent motion sickness, and no food/milk just before or during the boat ride.
While there is a washroom on the ferry, plan ahead and bring the kids to the washroom before the 20-minute ferry ride.
Passengers are free to stand on the platform while the ferry is moving. It is the perfect location for selfies with a stunning sea view. Take care of your excitedly little ones who may find roaming around the upper deck as the ferry advance across the rough waters.
Kusu Island
One of the better known Southern Islands is Kusu Island, which is 5.6km southwest of Singapore. We took the 10 am ferry and arrived on the island at 10.30 am. The next ferry to St John Island was 12.30 pm. So we had ample time to explore Kusu Island, which means Tortoise Island in Chinese.
With kids, we took 90 minutes to visit the Chinese Taoist temple, tortoise shelter and roaming on the beach under the blazing sun.
The Legend and History
According to the most mentioned legend, a magical giant turtle turned itself into an island to save two shipwrecked sailors – a Malay and a Chinese. It was said the grateful sailors returned to the island to give thanks, giving rise to 3 Malay shrines and a Chinese temple. Soon, the rest followed suit.
Thus in the past, during the Kusu Festival in the Ninth Lunar Month of every year, thousands of devotees would make their pilgrimage to the island to pray for good health, peace and prosperity.
The Chinese temple is conspicuously located in the middle of the island, accompanied by a few pavilions, all covered with fashionably ruby red rooftops that one can spot from far on the ferry.
Whereas the keramats (meaning holy shrines in Malay) are located further away from the temple, behind the vacated hawker centre. To reach the shrine, we need to walk 152 steps up the hill. With 2 preschoolers in tow and a ferry to catch, we decided to give the shrine a miss for now.
Check out this super cool Straits Times article dated 24 October 1948 detailing the pilgrimage and various legends of the island.
Before Kusu was reclaimed, it was made up of two ridges on a reef. As shown from the old photo below, many imaged one ridge as the head, and the other where the hilltop is located, as the back of the turtle.
During the colonial period, the island was used as a burial site for immigrants who died in quarantine on St. John’s and Lazarus Islands. Reclamation happened in 1975, thus the 1.2 ha island became an 8.5 ha island resort.
The Tua Pek Kong Temple
Before reaching the temple, we were greeted by a wishing well, where visitors in the past would often throw in a coin and make a wish. Looking at the number of coins in the wishing well, it seems like no one does it these days anymore.
This temple was built in 1923. It worships the Tua Pek Kong (大伯公), the God of Prosperity, and the Goddess of Mercy.
An old photo of how the Chinese temple looked like before reclamation!
The interior of the temple is very tidy and by the look of the interior arrangement, it was a popular spot for worshippers in its glorious days.
Tortoise Shelter
This is where the kids get excited for a while.
The Beach
There is nothing much for us to do in the Kusu Island except for luxuriating in the sea breeze, watching the waves carelessly dribbling onto the sand, and definitely not in the noontime like what we did.
The kids took pleasure baking themselves in the sun though, playing with the crystal clear waters and even collected some sand and water home as sourvenirs.
We were surprised to find more tortoises basking under the sun. These little guys are wary of human beings, they bolted into the waters the moment the kids approached them.
If you want to enjoy the morning sun on the Kusu Island beach, take the weekend 9 am MSF ferry from Marina South Pier to St John Island. The same ferry will bring you to Kusu Island at 9.30 am. If you take the weekday ferry like us, the earliest ferry is 10.30 am.
St John’s Island
We took the 12.30 pm ferry to St John’s Island. I suspect the ferry deliberately circled around St John’s Island to give us a better view of the sanctuary.
The public can access about 35% of the island as a good part of it is used for research and holiday lodge.
Lazarus Island
We headed straight towards Lazarus Island that is well-known for its pristine beaches with tons of sand imported from Indonesia. It took us about 20 minutes to arrive at the oasis from the pier.
The beach was filled with people who have cleverly packed a picnic mat along with them. Most have found themselves good spots under the shady trees to chill under while the kids ran about making sandcastleS and playing with the pellucid seawater.
Note that there is no toilet facility nor rubbish bin on the Lazarus Island. Bring your rubbish back to the St John’s island for disposal. You can also find washing facility in St John’s island, located just before the causeway joining the both islands.
By the time we were done with time, it was 2 plus. We made our way back to the pier and joined the long queue for the return trip at 3 pm.
Honestly, we won’t be able to cover the entire St John’s Island and Lazarus Island by foot. I haven’t even mentioned that Seringat island which is connected to Lazarus Island via reclaimed land!
More things to do on St John’s Island
Bike Around St John’s Island
With or without small kids, covering all the 3 islands within a single day is challenging. However, if we travel by bike, we can cover a lot more areas.
I found this bicycle booth operated by GoGreen at the start of the causeway towards Lazarus Island.
Want to book a bike too? To ensure availability, you may wish to book the bikes via Klook here. The vendor has currently 2 bikes with training wheels. So if your little ones need these, do drop the vendor a note to reserve these bikes after you make your bookings.
The Marine Park Outreach and Education Centre
The Marine Park Outreach and Education Centre is one of the highlights for most visitors as well. The gallery showcases the rich marine biodiversity in Singapore’s waters and provides an overview of the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park in the Southern Islands.
The Marine Park spans about 40 ha around Sisters’ Islands and along the western reefs of both St John’s Island and Pulau Tekukor. The park aims to protect Singapore’s coral reefs, which support an ecosystem inhabited by rare and endangered species of seahorses, clams, sponges and other marine life.
Due to social distancing measures, the Marine Park Outreach and Education Centre only allows 20 visitors per 30 minute-visit, and there are 6 visiting sessions per day. Do book online to get your visiting time slots. No walk-in is accepted.
Free Guided Walk in St John Island
If you are the type who prefers a guide to bring you around, sign up for the ever-popular 1.5 hr guided walk organised by NPark. The walk is held on the first Sunday of every month.
No luck with signing up? Do your own walks instead. Download this DYI trail guide here.
Practical notes for visiting the Southern Islands
No vending machines for food and water available, make sure you bring tons of water along. I would suggest at least 1 litre per person.
Bring lots of snacks to tide you through the day. My clever mum prepared hard-boiled eggs that kept our tummies filled for the afternoon.
Apply lots of sunscreens on your face and shoulders, wear rash guard to protect your skin against the sun if possible.
Apply lots of insect repellant too.
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