Saturday Deadline.: Sunday’s Best : Pulau Ubin

Sunday’s Best : Pulau Ubin

Yesterday is truly one of my happiest days in Singapore.

Why is that so?

It is because this is the day when Pulau Ubin has been introduced to me.

The island of Pulau Ubin (Granite Island) is a true haven for nature lovers. Contrast to the uberly modernized and industrialized mainland Singapore, this particular island of the country has been just slightly touched by urbanization. Mainland Singapore may have the most updated and modern public facilities there are, but Ubin’s more or less one hundred inhabitants on the other hand still relies on well for their water consumption and on diesel powered generators for their electricity. It has been said that you can practically envision from there alone Singapore during the 1960’s. That’s how pure and virgin the whole of the island is!

How to Get There

You can get to Pulau Ubin by taking first the MRT going to Tanah Merah Station. From there, you just have to board Bus No. 2 to get to the Changi Village Terminal. The bus ride would only take you approximately 30 minutes before you get to the bus interchange. Changi Point Ferry Terminal would only be just a minute walk away upon alighting there.

You can get bumboats to Ubin from the ferry terminal. The ride will cost you $2.50 each, plus $2 if you are bringing with you your bike. Though you should take into consideration that the boat will only depart after it has already been filled up with the needed 12 passengers, fret not since the boat could be easily filled with 12 people. In our case, we waited for only 5 minutes. Nonetheless, you could also rent the boat for $30 if you do not want to wait. The bumboat service operates from sunrise to sunset and you could easily make arrangements with the operators when you want to go to and from Ubin after dark.

Take a heavy meal or buy a lot of water or snacks first before getting in the bumboat if you must. The meals in the island cost twice as much as the price that you will be paying if you take your meal in mainland Singapore. Also, you will be spending your day either walking or cycling around the premise so better be fuelled up!

The boat ride takes only 10 minutes or so.

After which, you are already in Ubin! Yey!

How to Roam the Island

You could visit the information kiosk, located right behind us in the above picture, to get a map of the island. Apart from this, they are also offering free guided walks of Ubin to visitors. How cool is that?! However, because of the recent oil spill that has affected a great part of the island, particularly Chek Jawa, the walks had been suspended for them to monitor first the situation better. I am not sure what the development is now regarding the walks, if it has already commenced again or what, since the incident happened 2 months ago and we have not asked them about it when we were there but if you are interested to know anything about it, you could just freely approach and ask the very accommodating people at the kiosk or you could just visit their site here if you want to know more about it.

The island is 1020-hectare in size and could be toured and enjoyed either by riding a van or cycling. Well, you could also try walking or running if you want to savour all the goodness the island has to offer since the island is really teeming with a wide range of ecological diversity which is buffet goodness for the eyes.

If you opt to go about the island through cycling, bicycle rentals could easily be spotted upon entering the arch. In the shop we had gone into, you could rent their bike for $6, $8 for the fairly new ones, for the whole day (until 6 pm). I would advise you to try going further to check the rental prices of other stores. I was told that they go lower as you go farther from the main entrance.

You could also hire taxis from here. Many of the drivers are experienced and well-versed about the island so might as well use this to your advantage. You could ask them to bring you to places where you want to look for things that you would otherwise not encounter if you will be touring without guide. Rates could be negotiated and they will also willingly give you their calling cards so that you could easily call them just in case you already want for them to pick you up to either go back the village or go to another place.

Where to go There

Chek Jawa Wetlands is one of Singapore’s richest ecosystems. Basically, this is the main attraction of the whole island. You could reach the wetlands with just a 30 minute bike ride, longer if you choose to stop and savour the surrounding or just rest every once in a while.

You do not really need a map since you will never really get lost. The trail is very visitor-friendly with the presence of signboards and all. And there are a lot of people too who goes here, especially on weekends. If you are a bit lost and have not gotten any idea where to go to, you could just basically head to where the flow of people is going.

My mom definitely beats me at this. She can still bike through upward slopes with so much ease! Shocking. Haha.

Sweat a lot after the ride!

Upon arriving the premise of Chek Jawa, it is mandatory that you leave your bike before entering the gate. You could go to the information kiosk, which is found right before the intersection at the end of the path, if you need any prepping up before actually roaming around the area. But as I told you, the place is visitor-friendly so do not be afraid to explore it. They also have a drink store there if you need any refreshment!

DIRECTIONS

This is the intersection and the starting point of all the paths there are. You could go about the wetlands any way you want to but for our case we visited first the viewing jetty then went, after which, to the Mangrove Boardwalk & Viewing Tower and exited afterwards from the Coastal Boardwalk.

Viewing Jetty

You could see a nice Tudor-styled cottage behind us which houses an HSBC sponsored gallery upon arriving at the vicinity. That, by the way, is their visitor centre.

Ooh! That’s already the viewing jetty behind us. This the main view that you will be seeing upon exiting the back door of the house.

Just a perfect amount of sun that day and very windy indeed. I could literally just lie there all day and close my eyes to sleep. Wished we had also seen the place during low tide. The rocks and granite boulders seem lovely to see personally.

Mangrove Boardwalk and Viewing Tower

We transferred to the Mangrove Boardwalk and Viewing Tower after taking in all the view and pleasure the jetty has to offer.

This is the Viewing Tower by the way. I am not really sure why we did not go up there! So high, the view must be amazing.

There is a lot of resting place along the way, just in case you need to sit and just take a break from all the walking, fish and animal spotting and sightseeing.

You are already in the Coastal Boardwalk if you are here.

The trip does not stop there after you had already wandered the whole of Chek Jawa. There are still a lot of trails and obstacles to go through, places to visit and things to do in Pulau Ubin.

You want to try fishing? Well there’s a lake near the main entrance of the island.

You want to camp there for the night? You could also do that since there a couple or more camping sites present in the vicinity! There are also lodges there to accommodate you however long you would want to stay on the island.

You want to kayak? You could kayak all you want!

There’s also a quarry along the trail back to the main village if you want to see and take picture of a breathtaking view.

I even saw a monitor lizard cross the street in front of me. I actually stopped and waited for it to cross to the other side since I was scared I might run over his long tongue and tail. And well I do not want it to get angry with me, it already looks scary to start off! Haha.

Anyway, I just want to say that the possibilities are endless! You would surely see something wonderful and interesting anywhere you choose to set your eyes into. You just have to be open about the experience to see the beauty of it all!

Pulau Ubin is a really nice place for families and groups alike to visit. Both adults and kids will surely enjoy the simple adventure and treat the island has to offer. This is a seemingly good place indeed for you to escape from all the noise and clamour that are going around in the city; a superior place to be in solitude or just to enjoy nature. If you want to experience something new out of Singapore, well, I truly believe that this is the place to be!