Singapore Day Trips: The Five Real Options
Singapore Day Trips: The Five Real Options
Singapore is about 730 square kilometres with no rural interior to escape to, so a “day trip” here doesn’t mean the countryside the way it would from London or Bangkok. It means a ferry, a causeway, or a strait crossing. There are five of these, not an open-ended list of neighbourhoods dressed up as excursions.
Sentosa
Technically still Singapore, but far enough offshore in character to work as a day-trip-style outing. The Sentosa Express monorail runs a flat SGD 4 fare; driving over costs SGD 6 during the day (7am to noon, 2pm to 5pm) or SGD 2 off-peak, charged per vehicle at the Gateway gantry. The Singapore Cable Car SkyPass covering both lines is SGD 35 adult round trip, or SGD 17 for the Sentosa Line alone, though that line is closed for scheduled maintenance through 18 September 2026, so check the operator’s current status before planning around it.
Pulau Ubin
The last kampong-era island, off the northeast coast. A bumboat from Changi Point Ferry Terminal costs SGD 4 per person one way, cash only, plus SGD 2 if you bring a bicycle, and departs once 12 passengers are aboard, roughly 6am to 7pm. Cycling and the Chek Jawa wetlands are the real draw; there is deliberately little else built up here.
The Southern Islands
St John’s, Lazarus, and Kusu, reached by ferry from Marina South Pier for around SGD 15 adult covering the full loop, 30 to 45 minutes per leg. St John’s own jetty has been under repair since April 2025, so service currently reroutes through Lazarus Island’s jetty instead, a routing detail rather than a closure of the islands themselves. Kusu’s temple and shrine, and Lazarus’s quieter beach, make this a slower alternative to Sentosa. Search Southern Islands ferry tickets on GetYourGuide .
Johor Bahru, Malaysia
A real border crossing over the Woodlands Causeway, today by bus (schedules on BusOnlineTicket ) or the KTM shuttle train ; the RTS Link rail connection is targeted for December 2026 but isn’t running yet, so don’t plan around it. Bring a passport either way.
Batam or Bintan, Indonesia
Ferries run from HarbourFront (Batam) or Tanah Merah (Bintan). Search Bintan and Batam ferry and resort packages on Viator .
One island genuinely doesn’t belong on this list: Pulau Hantu is a dive-charter reef site reached by private boat, not a beach a general ferry gets you to, whatever you may have read elsewhere. A Kuala Lumpur day trip is technically possible by air but isn’t realistic for a single day; if KL interests you, it belongs in multi-day trips instead.
Official ferry schedules for Pulau Ubin are on NParks’ site .
Tip: Bring cash for Pulau Ubin’s bumboat and bicycle rental. Card readers are rare on that particular jetty, unlike almost everywhere else in the city.