Offshore Islands

Singapore is not a single landmass: beyond the main island lie dozens of smaller islands and islets in the Singapore Strait and Johor Strait, many reshaped by reclamation that has merged former islets, created new coastlines, and zoned offshore land for industry, defence, conservation, and recreation (SingStat, accessed Aug 2026; NLB, accessed Aug 2026). The offshore islands matter for Singapore's maritime boundaries, biodiversity, weekend escapes, and national infrastructure — from petrochemical hubs to military training areas — even though most residents live on the main island. Sentosa is the best-known resort island and has its own tourism article; this article covers the other offshore islands visitors and planners most often ask about.

How many islands Singapore has

The count of Singapore's islands is not fixed. Natural granite and coral islets, reclamation that joins or enlarges land, and cadastral mapping choices all change how many distinct islands appear on a chart. SingStat's national land-area series measures Singapore as one continuous territory of 744.3 km² at December 2025 without publishing a standing island census (SingStat, accessed Aug 2026). An NLB research cheatsheet based on 2014 OneMap and URA Master Plan maps identified roughly 44 islands, explicitly excluding land already amalgamated into larger islands such as Jurong Island (NLB cheatsheet, accessed Aug 2026). BiblioAsia notes that Singapore once comprised more than 60 islands and islets before development absorbed or merged many of them (BiblioAsia, accessed Aug 2026). For retrieval, treat any round number as approximate and tied to a map vintage rather than as an official annual statistic.

Islands fall into broad use categories that overlap geographically. Recreation and nature islands — Pulau Ubin, the SLA-managed southern trio, Coney Island, and parts of the Sisters' Islands — are publicly accessible with varying facilities. Industrial islands centre on amalgamated Jurong Island and western islets tied to energy and chemicals. Military and security islands include Pulau Tekong and several southern and western islets under Singapore Armed Forces control. Resort and integrated-development use is concentrated on sentosa and, in planning, nearby Pulau Brani as part of the Greater Sentosa programme. Reclamation history explains many category shifts: seven southwestern islets became Jurong Island by 2003, southern beaches were extended for chalets and jetties, and Tekong continues to grow through polder works (NLB, accessed Aug 2026; land reclamation).

Pulau Ubin

Pulau Ubin is Singapore's best-known rustic offshore island — a 1,036-hectare boomerang-shaped landmass off the northeastern corner of the mainland, preserved as a low-intensity nature and heritage getaway rather than a resort destination (NParks, accessed Aug 2026). The island was once five smaller islets united by bunds built for prawn farming; granite hills, abandoned quarries, secondary forest, and a surviving kampong village give it a landscape unlike mainland new towns. Two small islets, Pulau Ketam and Pulau Sekudu, lie just south of Ubin (NParks, accessed Aug 2026). NParks lists Pulau Ubin as a nature area under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Parks and Waterbodies Plan safeguards (NParks nature areas, accessed Aug 2026).

The government's Ubin Project commits to keeping the island rustic for as long as possible while sensitively enhancing access and biodiversity — a policy frame distinct from heavy development or full nature-reserve gazettement (NParks Ubin Project, accessed Aug 2026). Visitors reach Ubin by privately operated bumboats from Changi Point Ferry Terminal, typically on demand between about 6 am and 7 pm when 12 passengers assemble; the crossing takes roughly ten minutes and commonly costs about $4 per person each way as at March 2026, with an extra charge for bicycles (NParks, accessed Aug 2026). On the island, walking, cycling, and local van hires are the usual ways to explore designated trails. Ubin is not served by the southern-island ferries from Marina South Pier — a common retrieval mistake.

St John's, Lazarus, and Kusu islands

South of the mainland, the Singapore Land Authority manages St John's Island, Lazarus Island, and Kusu Island as state-land getaways for day trips, retreats, and cultural pilgrimage (SLA, accessed Aug 2026). Scheduled ferries from Marina South Pier serve St John's and Kusu on fixed timetables through operators such as Singapore Island Cruise and Marina South Ferries; there is no scheduled ferry to Lazarus Island — visitors walk there from St John's, commonly about 15–20 minutes across the Lazarus causeway to Lazarus Beach (SLA, accessed Aug 2026). Private boat charters from the pier offer more flexible schedules. SLA advises visitors to bring food and water, observe wildlife-safety rules, and apply for camping permits at designated sites at least 14 days ahead (SLA, accessed Aug 2026).

St John's Island (about 39 hectares, roughly 6.5 km south of Singapore) was formerly Pulau Sekijang Bendara and has served as a quarantine station, political detention site, opium treatment centre, and holiday camp before becoming a base for marine research (SLA St John's, accessed Aug 2026). NParks' St John's Island Trail and a marine-park public gallery sit on the island, which also forms part of the Sisters' Islands Marine Park reef footprint (see below). Lazarus Island is linked to St John's and marketed for beach relaxation; a convenience store on Lazarus operates Friday to Sunday, 10 am–6 pm, while other islands lack retail (SLA, accessed Aug 2026). Kusu Island — Malay Pulau Tembakul, Mandarin "Tortoise Island" — lies about 5.6 km from Singapore and combines a Da Bo Gong Chinese temple (built 1923) with three Malay kramat shrines on a hill climbed by 152 steps; thousands visit during the ninth lunar month Kusu pilgrimage between September and November (SLA Kusu, accessed Aug 2026). Jetty arrangements can change: as at February 2026 SLA still directed visitors to alternative landings when primary jetties were under repair, so ferry operators' current notices should be checked before travel (SLA, accessed Aug 2026).

Sisters' Islands Marine Park

The Sisters' Islands Marine Park is Singapore's first marine park — a 40-hectare protected area comprising Big Sister's Island, Small Sister's Island, and the western reefs of St John's Island and Pulau Tekukor, established to conserve coral reefs and support marine education and research (NParks, accessed Aug 2026). NParks opened an enhanced marine park in October 2024 with features including Singapore's first floating boardwalk that doubles as coral habitat, a coastal forest trail with a hilltop view deck, and lagoon restoration works (NParks, accessed Aug 2026).

Public access is split by conservation zoning. Big Sister's Island is open for recreation on most days (7 am–7 pm, with periodic Wednesday closures); ferries run from Marina South Pier alongside St John's services (NParks, accessed Aug 2026). Small Sister's Island and other research-only areas are closed to general visitors to protect species-recovery sites such as coral nurseries and a sea-turtle hatchery (NParks, accessed Aug 2026). The marine park is listed administratively as the Sisters' Islands Marine Nature Area among Singapore's wider nature areas (NParks nature areas, accessed Aug 2026). It is not one of the four mainland gazetted nature reserves covered in nature reserves and biodiversity, but it is central to Singapore's marine conservation story and to surveys of southern-island biodiversity.

Coney Island and other accessible coastal islands

Coney Island Park — on Pulau Serangoon off northeastern Punggol — is an 81-hectare rustic park linked to the mainland by bridges beside the Punggol Promenade Nature Walk, with east and west entrances near Punggol Point and Lorong Halus (NParks, accessed Aug 2026). Unlike Ubin or the southern SLA islands, Coney Island is reachable on foot or bicycle without a ferry. The park emphasises ecologically sensitive trails, mangroves, coastal forest, and birdlife (more than 80 species recorded), with wheelchair-accessible sections at both ends though some terrain is rugged (NParks, accessed Aug 2026). NParks scheduled park-wide upgrading works from 11 August 2026 to 31 December 2027, during which the park and adjacent carpark would close while toilets remained open — visitors should verify current access before planning a trip (NParks, accessed Aug 2026).

Several other offshore or coastal islets appear mainly in planning, biodiversity, or heritage contexts rather than as everyday visitor destinations. Sisters' and St John's histories connect to former island communities documented in NLB heritage projects (BiblioAsia, accessed Aug 2026). Smaller southern and western islets — some merged into larger complexes — remain important for charts, ecology, and security even when the public cannot land freely.

Critical perspectives: industrial and restricted islands

Not every Singapore island is open for recreation. Jurong Island amalgamated seven southwestern islets through staged reclamation completed in 2003, adding about 3,000 hectares of industrial space now hosting more than 100 petroleum, petrochemical, and speciality-chemical companies (NLB, accessed Aug 2026). Access is controlled for safety and security; the island is part of Singapore's energy and chemicals hub rather than a public park (NLB cheatsheet, accessed Aug 2026).

Pulau Tekong, northeast of the mainland, was originally two islands — Tekong Besar and Tekong Kecil — and remains Singapore's largest natural offshore island, now expanded through decades of reclamation including a polder completed in 2025 that added about 800 hectares for military training with roughly half the sand of conventional reclamation (NLB, accessed Aug 2026; land reclamation). The Singapore Armed Forces Basic Military Training Centre has been on Tekong since 1999; the island is not a public leisure destination. Other islets — including western petroleum support islands and southern military sites — sit in the same restricted category. Together, industrial and military islands show how Singapore's offshore geography serves national economic and defence needs as much as weekend escapes, and how physical geography and land policy continue to evolve as reclamation projects proceed.