Beautiful Beaches and Nature Walks
Sentosa is a resort island at the southern tip of Singapore, a top draw destination for visitors and tourists alike despite it is a man-made attraction. You will need to set aside 1 full day for this Island. Average Singaporeans do not usually visit Sentosa as it does not offer the two top national past time that Singaporeans crave for: food and shopping.
Having said that, Sentosa’s Siloso Beach, with its beautiful white sand beach and man-made island landscape and free shower facilities, attracts the young beach goers on the weekends where bikini-clad babes play beach volleyballs and the all night party crowd in the evening. There are a sizeable number of beach bars and restaurants located close to the tram stops. The foam and beach parties that are held in the evening for special events such as Christmas and New Year are something you don’t want to miss if you are a party animal. There is also a bicycle rental shop nearby the Siloso beach for you to explore the island on the two-wheel machine.
If you are interested in Singapore history, you may explore the Pioneers of Singapore, Surrender Chambers and Fort Siloso. Not highly recommended.
For nature-lovers, you may want to visit Butterfly Park which is home to 2,500 live butterflies from over 50 species and a Nature Walk that leads through lush jungle to the summit of Mount Imbiah, from where Singapore’s neighboring islands can be seen. A visit to the Sentosa Orchid Gardens may be of interest to you as well, with beautiful and colorful exotic orchids and a pond containing about 1000 rare and beautiful Kois from Japan.
Underwater World, Asia’s largest tropical oceanarium houses over 2,000 species of fish and has a submerged perspex walkway which allows visitors to watch within inches of sharks, stingrays, Weedy Sea Dragon and moray eels.
With the opening of the Resorts World Sentosa in 2010, Sentosa is a great place for family outings both for visitors and locals.
If the activities above sounds interesting to you, you may want to check into one of its two luxury resort hotels for a night or two. Remember to finish you day by watching the free musical fountain show “Magical Sentosa” at 7.40pm and 8.40pm daily.
Click here for the Sentosa official website. A nice animation giving a glimpse of all the activities that is happening in Sentosa can be found here.
How to get there?
Sentosa can be reached by air, land or sea. Cable cars (closed for upgrading till Q2,2010) leave from Mount Faber to Sentosa, a ride which offers a panoramic view of the Singapore harbor. Sentosa can also be reached via ferries from the Harbourfront or by land via the Sentosa Gateway bridge.
Take the North-East line MRT to the HarbourFront station. From there, you may either go to the 3rd level of VivoCity shopping mall, transfer onto the Sentosa Express or follow the signs to the HarbourFront Bus interchange. Hop onto the orange Sentosa bus and you’ll be on your way to Sentosa.
There is a monorail/shuttle buses to bring you to various attractions within the island. Sentosa Express, which is a light rail system, is highly recommended. It costs S$3 per person per day.
More updated info on getting to Sentosa such as car parking fees and entrance fees can be found here.
Related links:
- More reasons to spend more time at Sentosa (Mar 2010)
- Save with Sentosa’s ‘Day Play Pass’
- To Sentosa, by foot
Updated 15 Feb 2011
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