Southern Island Cruise!

Went with a group of nature guides at 6 apr to bring a group of foreigners to explore our southern islands! It was a breathtaking one, beautiful weather, great audience, sun, sea along with the other experienced guides.. what else can I ask for? haha(:

Beautiful skyline we have. & of course we can see the Singapore Flyer as well.

Singapore once consisted over 60 offshore islands and patch reefs, mostly found at the southern part of Singapore. Singapore's coastlines has since changed drastically at the 1960s due to land reclaimation. Currently, we have a combined land area of 690km2- a 10% increase from its original size.

Singapore currently supports one of the world's busiest ports and one of the largest oil refining centres. Despite all these rapid developments, our reefs(remaining) are still very much alive!

Kusu Island is only 15 mins away from the city centre.

It is said that a magical giant turtle turned itself into an island to save two shipwrecked sailors- a malay and a chinese. The grateful sailors then returned to the island to give thanks and others continued the tradition every year. Before it is reclaimed, people say the island looked like the shape of the turtle. One ridge the head, the other (where the hilltop is) the back of the turtle. There are now two Malay shrines and a Chinese temple on Kusu Island. There is also a Tortoise Sanctuary houses hundreds of tortoises.

Kusu is ringed by reefs with a wide variety of hard and soft corals. Commonly seen animals include clown anemonefish(nemo!), anemone shrimps as well as other fishes and crabs seldom seen on other southern shores.

As you can see, Lazarus Island has lush tropical vegetation, golden sands and aquamarine waters. the reef flat is rich as well hence it is earmarked by the STB for development into a tropical beach island resort! This island however is not accessible to the public yet.

Folktale state that pirates once used St John Island as a hideout. It is a former penal settlement for political prisoners and ringleaders for secret societies. In the central portion of the island, the ruined remains of housing remain for the unfortunate folks remain.

Swimming and picnicking are the most popular activities on the island. The island has plenty of beaches and shelters. There are also holiday bungalows that are fairly comfortable and include cooking facilities.

There is an unusually large number of land hermit crabs and sea cucumbers. There are also some of the most exquisite corals and other reef life but the shores are rather delicate so please be gentle when visiting them.

Sisters Island(the two small islands at the right side)The Sisters Island are home to some long-tailed macaques. These monkeys can be quite aggressive, so do be mindful of them. The two sisters island are seperated by a narrow channel. It may look harmless BUT the currents through this channel are very strong and deep so it is NOT possible to swim across them. Commonly encountered animals include giant clams, seahorses and octopuses.

One of the man-made lagoon at sisters.

The Indonesian mountains.

me, Aye(from Myanmar) and Agnes!

We dropoffed at Pulau Semakau where we had a landfill tour.

Semakau landfill is the world's first offshore landfill! It was created when Singapore's last remaining landfill was exhausted. It is expected to last beyond 2o45. The landfill is not filthy smelly or anything. As care has been taken to protect its natural surroundings, it smells of flora and fauna with a tint of refreshing sea breeze! It is also open to public for nature related recreational activities such as bird-watching, sport-fishing and intertidal walks(that is us!).

After the trip, lunched at masonic club(cheap food and cool place)-ginger beer-masarai-home(:

P.S thanks aye and agnes for the pics!

LK and all the other guides for the info as well!