Thirty minutes south of the city, Singapore stops being a city. The container ships give way to green islands, the skyline shrinks to a silver line behind the wake, and the water turns from harbour grey to something you would happily swim in. This is where a charter actually goes, and the Southern Islands are the reason a day on the water here is better than most people expect.
Here is the run of islands, what each one is for, and how a day is built around them.
Lazarus Island
The one everyone means. A clean crescent beach on the eastern side, sheltered water, and nothing built on it. It is the default anchor for a swim day and the stop on more than half our charters. No shade, no shops; bring both. Its full day is worth its own read.
St John’s Island
A short hop from Lazarus and a little wilder: walking trails, old lagoon pools, and a quiet that feels a long way from Sentosa. Good for guests who want to go ashore and stretch the legs between swims.
Kusu Island
The most characterful of the four. A Chinese temple and Malay shrines share the island, and during the ninth lunar month it fills with pilgrims. Outside that season it is calm and green, with sheltered swimming lagoons. Worth the stop for the temple alone.
Sisters’ Islands
The furthest and the clearest. Singapore’s first marine park sits here, and the water is the best snorkelling in local waters. The crossing is longer and the conditions need to be right, so this is a full-day destination, and one the captain will judge on the day.
How a day is built
A four-hour charter comfortably takes in Lazarus and its bay. A full eight-hour day lets you string two or three islands together: Lazarus in the morning while it is empty, St John’s or Kusu at midday, and the sunset run home. The captain sets the order by the tide, the wind and the light, so you arrive at each in its best hour. You do not plan the route. You tell us the feeling you are after, and matching it to the map is our job.
Tell us the kind of day you want, and we will chart it. Enquire for dates. Read next: the Lazarus Island day, hour by hour and the reef and snorkelling day.