Singapore's Southern Islands: a ferry, four islands and almost nobody

Singapore has one of the highest population densities on earth, and a twenty-minute ferry from the city centre reaches islands where you can spend an afternoon and see perhaps thirty people.

Singapore Island Cruise runs the ferry from Marina South Pier. One round-trip ticket covers both directions and works as a hop-on hop-off across the islands on the route — there is no separate charge for coming back.

It is the cheapest genuinely good day out in this country, and the least-known.

The two things you must plan around

Everything else on this page is optional. These two are not.

1. The St John's Island main jetty has been closed since 24 April 2025 for essential repair works. Ferries are rerouted to Lazarus Island's Pulau Seringat Jetty, which is a 15 to 20 minute walk from St John's. That walk is exposed and it is not signposted the way a mainland trail would be. Build it into your timings in both directions, and check whether the closure is still in force before you travel.

2. On weekdays the last ferry from Kusu back to Marina South Pier is 16:15. There is no other way off these islands. On weekends the operator advises against arriving after 3pm because of passenger volume, and Big Sister's Island sailings have been temporarily suspended on weekdays.

Miss the last boat and you are not inconvenienced, you are stranded.

What is on each island

Kusu Island is the one with things on it. A Chinese temple, three Malay keramat shrines up a flight of steps, and a tortoise sanctuary — the island's name means Tortoise Island. It fills an hour comfortably and it is where most first-time visitors get off.

Lazarus Island has the lagoon beach, and this is the real reason to make the trip. It is the best stretch of sand accessible from Singapore without chartering a boat: a sheltered curve of pale sand and calm water with essentially nothing built on it. No lifeguards, no facilities, no beach club.

St John's Island has walking trails, a marine research station and a long low coastline facing the city. It is connected to Lazarus by a causeway, so once you land at Pulau Seringat you can walk to both.

Sisters' Islands carry a marine park, with weekday sailings currently suspended.

Bring everything

There are no shops and no food stalls on these islands. There are toilets and shelters and that is close to the extent of the infrastructure.

Water, more than you think — the walk between the Lazarus jetty and St John's is exposed and Singapore is 31°C with high humidity.

Food, because there is nowhere to buy any and the day is five or six hours long.

Sun protection and a hat. Shade is limited on all three.

A rubbish bag. Facilities are minimal, and the islands stay good only because people take their litter home.

Swimming things, if you intend to use the Lazarus lagoon.

Timing

Take the earliest sailing you can. The schedule is short, the return deadline is hard, and every hour you lose at the start is an hour off an already tight day.

Weekdays are the quiet version and the constrained version — fewer people, but the last Kusu ferry is 16:15 and Sisters' Islands sailings are suspended.

Weekends have more sailings and far more people, and the operator's own advice is not to arrive after 3pm.

Avoid the ninth lunar month. Kusu Island hosts an annual pilgrimage season, when tens of thousands of devotees visit the temple and the shrines. It is genuinely interesting if that is what you came for, and completely wrong if you came for an empty beach.

Check the weather. Sailings are weather-dependent and there is no shelter to speak of once you are out there.

How to save

This is already the cheap option. One round-trip ferry fare buys a whole day, and the islands themselves charge nothing.

One ticket, both ways. Do not buy two singles — the round trip is the standard product and covers the return leg.

Bring food rather than planning around it. There is nothing to buy, so the day costs you the ferry and a supermarket stop.

Skip the speedboat tour unless you specifically want the water. It is faster and more expensive and it does not give you the empty afternoon on Lazarus, which is the whole point.

Pair it with nothing. Do not try to add another attraction to this day. The ferry timings will not allow it and the attempt is how people miss the last boat.

How to get there

Marina South Pier, 31 Marina Coastal Drive. Marina South Pier MRT (NS28) — the last station on the North South Line — puts you directly at the terminal.

From Orchard or the city centre, allow about twenty-five minutes on the MRT, plus check-in time at the pier.

What is nearby

Marina South Pier is a terminal rather than a destination, but it sits close to Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands — a natural way to spend the evening after you land, since you will be back on the mainland by late afternoon.

For the other island day, Pulau Ubin is on the opposite side of Singapore, reached by bumboat from Changi, and it is bigger, greener and covers different ground. Sentosa's beaches are the version with facilities, crowds and a monorail.