PULAU UBIN

Description

Essentials about Pulau Ubin in brief

Only about a kilometer of water separates the island of Pulau Ubin from Singapore City, and yet when you arrive on the island you think you’ve arrived on another planet. The contrast between the city and the island could not be greater: On one side gigantic skyscrapers and bustling activity, on the other jungle and tiny sleepy villages.

Characteristics of Pulau Ubin

The island of Pulau Ubin is located in the Strait of Johor between Malaysia and Singapore and is about ten square kilometers in size. Its name means “granite island” in Malay and is a reminder that granite was mined here until the 1970s. After granite mining ceased, the Singapore government launched a resettlement program to turn Pulau Ubin into a nature park. Today, the island is a paradise for nature lovers. Of the more than 2,000 inhabitants who once worked primarily in the island’s quarries, only a good 100 remain today. The remaining islanders live primarily from tourism; they rent bicycles to day visitors, work in restaurants, crab farms or as fishermen.

Nature on Pulau Ubin

Visitors reach Pulau Ubin after a 20-minute boat ride from the Changi Point jetty in northeast Singapore. As a nature park, the island can only be explored by bicycle or on foot. As soon as you leave the village behind at the island pier, you are plunged into a world of dense forests, former rubber plantations, abandoned quarries and isolated coconut palm groves.

On Pulau Ubin, by the way, it is not uncommon to see otters, wild boars or long-tailed macaques crossing the roads. In addition, many rare bird species live on the island. At low tide you should not miss to go to the natural beach Chek Jawa in the east of the island. There you can discover numerous carpet anemones, sponges, coral reefs and seagrass beds.

Mountain biking and temples on Pulau Ubin

By the way, Pulau Ubin is an Eldorado for mountain bikers. The Ketam Mountain Bike Park around the Ketam Quarry offers advanced mountain bikers more than a dozen trails with varying degrees of difficulty. If you don’t feel like mountain biking in Singapore’s sultry climate, you can get spiritual relaxation at the Tua Pek Kong Temple, the Thai Buddhist Temple and the Shrine of the German Girl.