An adventure to Pulau Ubin, Singapore

A place I really wanted to visit on my recent trip to Singapore was Pulau Ubin, an island in the north east of Singapore that is one of the last rural areas to be found in the country. It is rich in flora and fauna and offers a snapshot into life on the island from years past. I wanted to visit Pulau Ubin since many years ago, but it never fit in my itinerary when I was travelling with someone else. I had an opportunity to visit now that I was travelling solo. It does take a bit of time to get from the city to the terminal where you then need to catch a boat to reach the island. I dedicated a whole day to exploring the island, even though I was not there for the entire day.

There is a lot of history to the island that I won’t detail in this post. A bit of it can be found on the Ubin website and you can of course absorb as much as you can on the island itself. Many of the places of interest and landmarks have signage and information panels, and depending on the day of the week, some local food and drink spots will be open. The population of the island is very small—think of it like you’re visiting a rural town, and most of the open facilities will be those at the Main Village near the entrance. I visited on a weekday, and found that some of the drink stalls around the island were unfortunately only open on weekends.

A view of the sea, on a sunny day, with some clouds in the blue sky and a bit of the headland visible on the left. There is a small multi-passenger boat and some yachts further in the background on the water — Ten minute ride on the boat

Transport to Pulau Ubin is by a bumboat that holds about 12 passengers. Boats departs from Changi Point Ferry Terminal, and generally only depart once the number of passengers has been reached. It costs $4 each way, paid by cash only. If you have a bicycle, you have to pay an extra $2. You should also bring cash to pay for food on the island.

You can explore the island by hiring a bicycle. I actually didn’t do this (more on that in a moment) and explored on foot, but I do recommend the bicycle!

I was prepared with my hat, sunscreen, bottles of water, and lots of little snacks to keep me going throughout the day. I wore activewear and I brought my cardigan with me for the journey, but was sure I’d not need it once I arrived on the island. I do recommend bringing as much water as you can, because I didn’t spot a lot of opportunities to fill up.

After eating breakfast at my hotel, I ordered a Grab (Singapore’s version of Uber) from my hotel to the terminal, which cost somewhere in the $20–30 range for an early morning ride. It took about half an hour to get there. It is a long journey on public transport and is not very direct. You can’t get there with MRT alone and will have to transfer to a bus, which makes the journey longer than an hour from the city area. I didn’t want to waste any time as I wanted to get to the island as soon as possible in the morning.

My Grab driver was lovely to chat to; I asked him questions about more outdoor activities in Singapore, none of which I had time for—but he mentioned a fish farm or something like that, and recommended finding a local guide for that. He also told me a bit about the Rail Corridor (an attraction I’d been curious about)—a long stretch of unused railroad, taken over by nature, but that used to be in operation so you could travel all the way to Malaysia. He did recommend taking a bicycle and not going on foot, and warned me that there would be no cover from the sun and also no lights, so if I were to check it out, I would have to plan appropriately.

That said, he did ask if I had insect repellent—I did not. I said I was just going to cross my fingers. 😂 I did see a suggestion to bring insect repellent, and I should have asked a family to borrow theirs when I got to the island and saw them using it, but I didn’t get a chance.

A map printed on a large display board made from wood, showing an island longer lengthwise than vertically. It is titled Pulau Ubin. — I probably covered a good third of what is shown here!

I mentioned that you can hire a bicycle and that I recommend exploring the island that way. I jumped right into exploring on foot, and started walking in the opposite direction to the bicycle rentals, and soon found myself walking to look at all the landmarks. It is not a terribly long distance to walk between the landmarks, but it does add up. I was personally content with my journey on foot, even though my feet were very tired by the end of the day. It is a lot of walking, some of the roads get boring, and we know Singapore is hella humid (I actually don’t recall if the island’s temperature was a bit cooler than back in the city), so I wouldn’t recommend walking. If you are able to ride a bicycle, that would be the way.

Despite the humidity, the entire island is covered pretty well with trees, so you don’t have the sun beaming down on you a lot of the time. I recommend having some kind of a plan as to what you’ll explore on the island. It is fairly significant in size. There is a whole area dedicated to campsites that you won’t really need to explore, and a whole mountain biking park. I didn’t bother looking; I presumed that even just going to have a look meant I wouldn’t see much, since it seemed like an area entirely dedicated to those who are actually prepared to participate in the activity. The map also showed some beaches on the north side, but they seemed close to campsites and I didn’t head in that direction. The beaches on the south side were small stretches of sand. I also wasn’t prepared for a swim, anyways. 😆

I started my journey by exploring the Sensory Trail, where mosquitoes attacked me almost immediately. At the end of the day, I had quite a few bites, oopsies. 🦟

A tall signpost reading “Beware of falling durians” alongside a display with some durian fruit pictures, situated in a rainforest setting — I did not come across any falling durians.

A wide dirt track in a rainforest, with skinny trees allowing sunlight to pass through. Lots of leaves are scattered through the dirt path — Much of the Sensory Trail looked like this, well shaded and with a dirt track

A lagoon with a colour of a mix of blue, green, and brown. There is some green leafy vegetation in the foreground and behind the lagoon — Some swampy areas had a bright blue-green muddy colour

The Chek Jawa Wetlands is definitely worth stopping by; it is on the south east portion of the island. When I visited, unfortunately one of the lookouts was closed for construction, so I wasn’t able to see the entire area, and I don’t know if the lookout would have made for a terrific view or not. However, the mangrove boardwalk was open and offered a beautiful view of the water and looking back on Singapore’s main island. The weather was exceptional when I visited; I couldn’t have asked for better! 🌞

A low brown wooden signpost reading Chek Jawa Wetlands, with a taller signpost next to it to indicate directions. — A lot of the landmarks are cleraly signposted with the same style sign

A boardwalk with railings on either side, snaking to the left side of frame and turning to the right. The sea under the boardwalk is bright blue and the sky is mostly clear. There are some people standing on the boardwalk holding open umbrellas — Beautiful day to be by the water

A waterbank with some rocks near the water’s edge, and the water a light blue, almost clear colour. There are some bushy plants on the land, and a big lizard slightly camouflaged by the vegetation — Spot the giant lizard?

A boardwalk with no railings, set a short height above water with some mangroves to the side. The edges of the boardwalk are designed to be jagged and not flush — Walking through the mangroves, very peaceful

A view of the mangroves from the previous photo, direcly facing the mangroves so their roots can be seen — Up close and personal with the mangroves

A village hut with white walls and brown tiled roof, with a path leading up to it and a short stone wall around the entrance. There is a cutout sign just in front reading “Chek Jawa” — Small visitor centre

A boardwalk extending straight out and then turning slightly to the right before its end. There is a rocky area in the foreground and some trees to the sides. The boardwalk leads out onto a view of the sea where the water is a rich light blue colour. — Another boardwalk behind the visitor centre, leading out to a nice view

Puaka Hill is the highest point on the island, located roughly in the middle, and is a moderate climb. You get an average view from the top, so don’t expect much. There is a drinks stand not far from the starting point of the climb, but it is only open on weekends. I was disappointed when I realised it was closed, because I was looking forward to a sweet drink. 😅

A narrow, slightly steep path on a hike, consisting of mostly rocks, with a green-painted wooden railing on the right — A short, rocky climb up Puaka Hill

A high view of the canopy of many trees in a forest, with a bit of the sea visible in the view. The foreground consistst of light yellow coloured, dusty rock — Not the most amazing view from the top, but peaceful

I also spotted a few very cute and agile otters, as well as roosters and monkeys. There are multiple warnings to warn you about the monkeys—if you have food, keep it out of sight to avoid them coming at you. They are harmless so long as you leave them alone and don’t startle them. 🐒

An otter by the edge of a swamp, with half its body in the water, and its neck outstretched. The swamp has some lily pad shaped leaves on its surface — Bless this cute otter! It wasn’t the only one I spotted, either

Two small monkeys crawling along a dirt path — lil monkeys!

A narrow stretch of road with trees and a lot of fallen leaves on either side of the road, with a couple of monkeys on the road in the distance — I walked a lot of roads like this and saw monkeys and roosters alike

As I explored on foot, most of the roads were quiet. On the roads that were narrower, I had to move across for the occasional vehicle, but I enjoyed the peace and listening to the sounds of nature as I walked. As you can see, the roads are generally flat and easy to walk, but you do need to be prepared for all that walking, with the right shoes, and of course bring enough water to stay hydrated.

A quiet road with the traffic marking “slow” painted on it in stretched letters — Little reminder to take it slow 😉

There is also a spot called Butterfly Hill where you can encounter different butterfly species—hang around long enough and you will spot many different kinds, but they move fast.

A close-up of some plants with some orange-and-white winged butterflies fluttering in the air nearby — Managed to snap a couple butterflies 🦋

Me in the same outfit from a previous photo, posing with one hand holding onto the edge of my hat. The background has a couple of large green trees of different species — Took a photo of myself at the Butterfly Hill

Before I left the island, I made sure to have a spicy seafood stir dry fry noodle, and fresh coconut water. Straight from the coconut itself! 🥥 That drink makes me feel complete.

A couple of buildings in an village, painted white and with aqua coloured fencing and details. There are a few people with bicycles around the area, and there is some seating in the shaded part in front of the buildings — The spot I ate at is the one in the centre of this photo

A selfie of me indoors, with my hair in braids, cheeks flushed from the heat, with a fresh coconut in front of me and a straw and metal spoon sticking out of the top — Yessss 🥥

An oval plate of yellow egg noodles cooked with spices, some vegetables, and seafood pieces — Spicy and delicious seafood noodles

After getting one of the bumboats back to the terminal, I ended up getting a Grab back to my hotel. I simply wanted to shower after such an adventurous day! I returned at about 4:00pm and I was properly exhausted. Pulau Ubin might not be a place that I would necessarily visit again, but it was such a lovely break from the city life in Singapore. I’d set out to spend more time outdoors in Singapore, compared to previous visits, to push myself out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. I think I succeeded in this challenge. 🌞🌴 I failed on the insect repellent, so I will take that recommendation seriously next time.