As a Singaporean, I have yet to really explore the southern islands of Singapore. The closest one is probably Sentosa which many of us have had fond memories of the Under water world since we were kids.

Now, we have popular tourist attractions such as the Universal Studios Singapore, Resort World Hotel Sentosa as well as many other places to explore within Sentosa. I have never been to Pulau Ubin or Kusu Island so naturally, I have very little knowledge about these places too. Do you know that Singapore has more than 60 islands today? How many have you visited?



When I heard that I was going on this tour with Yacht Cruise SG touring the southern islands I was so excited. After my experience, I've also decided to pen down my memories on this blog, so that I can look back years later.

We were asked to gather at about 4pm at the Keppel Bay Marina Lobby so my husband and I decided to leave home slightly earlier, in case we cannot locate the place. The nearest MRT to Keppel Bay Marina is HabourFront station. You can then take a bus ride and alight 1 stop later, or in our case we walked from Seah Im Food Centre (Near Vivo City Shopping Mall) to the Marina itself.

It took us about 10-15 minutes as we had a really slow walk and admired the scenery along the way. Signage and directions were clear so it was easy to get to the place. For more information on how to get there, read here.



My husband and I prefer to walk compared to taking the public transport when given a chance especially when the weather permits as it allows us to experience more things along the way and save a couple of dollars when the distance doesn't justify for what we are paying for.



The yacht, "Le Tara" is owned by Fish2go Pte Ltd which mainly deals with seafood wholesale and retail in 2014. In 2016, they invested in Le Tara and started private chartering to the southern island. They have now launched the southern island tour under YachtCruiseSG.

We had a short safety briefing and were told to put on the headsets wherever we are, so that we would be able to listen to instructions and information from our guide as we cruise at land and sea. Do also note that shoes are not allowed onboard any private yacht in Singapore.

The guide onboard with us is licensed with the Singapore Tourist Board and is extremely knowledgeable about the southern island. We were very blessed and thankful to be fed with a wealth of a knowledge during this trip.

The yacht first went past Labrador park where we caught a glimpse of the Dragon Teeth. We recalled having done our wedding photoshoot on this island more than 10 years ago too. It had changed so much since then and we have yet to had a chance to re-visit.



Our touring route on the southern island takes about 2.5 hours with one disembarking location at Kusu Island also known as the tortoise or turtle island, where we were able to give our prayers to the popular gods, a Bo Gong 大伯公 or Tua Pek Kong (Grand Uncle) and Na Tuk Kong(Dato Keramat).



The legend behind the island says that a magical tortoise turned itself into an island to save two shipwrecked sailors - a Malay and a Chinese. We took the opportunity to pray at the temple.


All in the group were game enough to climb up 152 steps to where the three kramats (holy shrines of Malay saints) resides to pray for good health, wealth and harmony. You might want to bring along your mosquito repellent for this. Thankfully our guide was thoughtful to prepare a bottle for all of us to share as I've totally forgotten to prepare.

Kusu Island is flooded with humans in the 9th month of the Lunar calendar as worshippers flock to the island to worship the gods. This is also the only time when the food centre is operating. Do bring along your own food if you visit at any other times of the year.





After this, we were made to return back to our yacht to continue our cruise at sea to learn more about the other islands. Do remember to come back to donate and return prayers if you've got what you had wished for.


Most of the island belong to Nparks now and are opened to the public allowing you to picnic, go for a dive, swim or even learn about the nature or conservation efforts. Bird watching and fishing are also allowed on some of these islands.

The most commonly known island are Pulau Hantu where people learn diving strangely, the two sisters island where beautiful corals and wildlife can be found, Saint John's island where students often go for their camps and Lazarus Island (Island of One Barking Deer and Palms).



Semakau Island is where Singapore's only landfill is located. You can smell the trash from a distance. Plans are in the pipeline to cease its use by 2045 (or earlier) as Singapore aims to become a Zero Waste country. So people, start thinking about ways to reduce waste now.



Spot Pulau Jong, shaped like a junk therefore also known as the Junk Island. Not much to do here as there are no landing jetty, no signs of life or water and mostly only cliffs. The shape of the island had caught our attention.



There are many other island sightings not listed here, while not all are captured by our camera and not all are shared as we were attentively listening to the island stories. It was a very unforgettable and eye-opening trip where we acquired vast knowledge about Singapore Southern Island. If given the opportunity, we would not hesitate to go for another one of these trips!

Thank you all the crew members of Yacht Cruise SG for being such great host and our amazing Tour guide for the day. We would definitely be back given the time and opportunity again.



You can find out more details about the island which we sailed past and learn more about them here.


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Disclaimer:

1)Thank you Yacht Cruise SG for this amazing opportunity to tour the southern island on board Le Tara.
2)This article is solely based on our personal experience. It is in no way sponsored.
3)All photographs on this site belongs to the property of Pearlywerkz unless otherwise credited.
4)Please do not take my photos and use them as your own.
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