Supertree Observatory

A restaurant moved out, and the Gardens gave the best table in the building to everyone.

The Supertree Observatory is the high point to choose if you want the whole bay in one look, and the rooftop is what the ticket pays for: open to the air, 50 metres up, the highest point in the Gardens. Go up at dusk on a clear day, then come down for the light show. The compromises are the weather, since the rooftop closes in storms, and the indoor deck below it, which is the weaker half.

The pod crowning the tallest Supertree, roughly the height of a 16-storey building, used to be a restaurant: IndoChine moved out in April 2019. Gardens by the Bay didn't re-let the table. It opened the space to everyone instead, and the Supertree Observatory welcomed its first visitors on 27 December 2019. If you never got round to dinner up there, this is the view without the bill for the wine.

A lift hidden inside the trunk carries you up, and its ceiling plays a multimedia show meant to feel like zipping up through the tree. You step out on to the Observatory deck: an air-conditioned, glass-walled room with a digital message on climate change, wrapped by an outdoor walkway with signboards naming the buildings you're looking at. Read the signs, then keep going.

A flight of stairs takes you to the point of the whole thing. The open-air circular rooftop gives you a full 360°: the domes, Marina Reservoir, the city skyline and, straight down, the OCBC Skyway with its people crawling between the trees like ants on a branch. Capacity was set at 120 visitors when it opened, so the rooftop is not large; book ahead if sunset is the reason you're going.

The Observatory or the Skyway? They're cousins, not twins. The Skyway is about moving through the canopy at 22 metres; the Observatory is about standing still above it. Buy one, not both. Choose the Observatory if you'd rather orient yourself, spot where you're walking next and watch the light change over the water; choose the Skyway if the walking is the thrill.

Don't count on a sundowner up top. The official page points you to The Social Kitchen for drinks and snacks, and although the 2019 launch mentioned a café up here, check what's running before you plan around it.

It suits skyline collectors, photographers who'd rather not pay hotel-bar prices for a view, and anyone who wants to understand the Gardens' layout before walking it. Bayfront is the nearest MRT. Go up at dusk, come down for the light show.

Good to know The official page gives 9am–9pm (last admission 8.30pm) and tickets of S$10 for resident adults and S$14 for non-resident adults. The rooftop is open-air, so check the weather, and check the official site for maintenance closures before you go. Nearest MRT: Bayfront.

Now that you've seen the layout from the top: our guide to Gardens by the Bay…

Supertree Observatory | 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953 | Nearest MRT: Bayfront