Thirty minutes after the engines cut, the only sounds are the water against the hull and the first guest hitting the swim platform. Lazarus Island sits less than five kilometres south of Sentosa, and yet the crescent bay on its eastern side is as quiet as anywhere in Singapore: clean sand, clear water, no bars, no shops, no shade but what you bring. That last part is not a shortcoming. It is the reason to come.
More than half of every day we run includes a Lazarus stop. Here is how the day actually unfolds, hour by hour.
The run out (0:00 to 0:30)
Board at Marina @ Keppel Bay. The captain runs a short safety briefing while the crew casts off and sets out the deck, and you are on the water within minutes. The crossing takes twenty to twenty-five minutes, past Sentosa’s southern shoreline and the container anchorage, with the skyline shrinking behind the wake. It is the best stretch for photos, before anyone is thinking about them.
At anchor (0:30 to 2:30)
The crew drops anchor in the sheltered bay and the swim platform comes down. This is the heart of the day: swim, snorkel, take the kayak or paddleboard to the sand, or simply sit with a drink and watch the light move on the water. If you have arranged catering, lunch is served now, at anchor. The bay is naturally protected and the seabed holds well, which is why we favour it: calm water, and no crowd, on all but the busiest weekends.
The way home (2:30 to 4:00)
The return is timed so an afternoon charter catches the sunset on the run back, the skyline going gold across the water. Guests talk about this stretch more than any other part of the day.
If you have the full day
An eight-hour charter changes the character of it. Arrive at Lazarus in the morning while the beach is still empty, swim and explore at an unhurried pace, take a long lunch aboard, then move on to a second island, Kusu or St John’s, before the sunset run home. The extra hours remove any sense of rushing, which is the whole idea.
Two things worth knowing
Bring shade and sunscreen; the bay has almost none of the first. And leave the timing to the captain, who reads the tide and the light and will have you in the right place at the right hour without you thinking about it.
Tell us the day you have in mind, and we will hold the boat. Enquire for dates. Read next: the full guide to the Southern Islands and what a day on the water costs.