St John's Island

No shops, no drinkable tap water and a colony of cats who have clearly found a good thing.

St John's suits a family with a free Saturday and a cool box, or a couple after a quiet picnic with the CBD on the horizon. The compromise is effort: the main jetty is shut, so the ferry lands on Lazarus Island and you walk across, and there is nothing to buy once you arrive. Pack as if it is just you and the cooler bag, and check the ferry schedule before you commit to a day.

The history is a good one. After a cholera outbreak killed 448 people in 1873, the colonial government opened a quarantine station here, and by 1935 it was one of the largest in the world, with room for about 6,000 people across 22 camps. It did not close until 1976, and the island kept a sideline in confinement as a prisoner-of-war camp, a detention centre for political prisoners and a drug rehabilitation centre. Raffles's ship anchored off St John's the day before he landed at the Singapore River in 1819.

Today the place is much gentler. A sandy beach sits below a grassy verge of picnic tables and coconut palms, with a lagoon to the right of the old jetty and the CBD skyline floating on the horizon. Bring frisbees, sand toys and swimwear. There are bungalows to rent, and a resident colony of cats who have clearly found a good thing.

Now the catch. In April 2025 the Singapore Land Authority closed St John's main jetty for structural checks and repairs, saying the first phase alone would take about a year, and gave no reopening date. Marina South Ferries says all St John's sailings land at Pulau Seringat Jetty on Lazarus Island, and SLA puts the walk from there to the old St John's jetty at around 30 minutes. In the midday sun that is a proper walk, so pack more water than you think you need; a scooter or wheeled cart helps if you are bringing small children or a lot of kit.

And you will be bringing a lot. There are no shops or vending machines on St John's, and the tap water is not safe to drink. Lazarus has a few amenities near the jetty, but don't plan around them. Pack sunscreen, hats and a bag for your rubbish, which SLA asks visitors to take back with them.

How to do it well: take an early boat so the walk across is done before the heat builds, set up near the lagoon, and keep an eye on the weather, since bad weather can cancel sailings and weekday boats are limited. Leave the island as you found it; the cats will manage without your lunch.

Good to know Ferries leave from Marina South Pier (31 Marina Coastal Drive; Marina South Pier MRT, Exit B). While the St John's main jetty is closed for repairs, boats land at Pulau Seringat Jetty on Lazarus. Check the operator's schedule and fares before you go: weekday sailings are limited, and bad weather can cancel trips.

St John's Island | Southern Islands | Nearest MRT: Marina South Pier (ferry from Marina South Pier)