Sisters' Islands Marine Park

The marine park was declared in 2014 around Big Sister's and Small Sister's islands and covers about forty hectares of reef, seagrass and intertidal flat. Singapore has lost most of its reef to reclamation and shipping, and what remains here is protected and monitored, with a public dive trail on Small Sister's and a hatchery on Big Sister's where hawksbill turtle nests found on Singapore's beaches are relocated. Guided intertidal walks run at low spring tides.

Background

Singapore's first marine park covers 400,000 square metres, taking in the land and waters of the Sisters' Islands along with the western coasts of St John's Island and Pulau Tekukor. Guided walks began in August 2014, each for no more than 45 people, the Marine Park Public Gallery opened on 15 July 2015, and 2 dive trails followed in September 2015. Rare sponges were moved here, among them Neptune's cup sponge, thought extinct since 1908 until it turned up again on St John's Island in 2011. To build 500 square metres of artificial reef, eight structures of concrete and fiberglass, each 10 metres, were planned, and the first went down to the seabed in November 2018.

Source: Wikipedia, "Sisters' Islands Marine Park"

The landscape

• The dive trail - a marked underwater route on Small Sister's reef.
• The turtle hatchery - relocated hawksbill nests incubated on Big Sister's.
• The intertidal flats - reef exposed at low spring tide on guided walks.
• The surviving coral - reef persisting despite a century of reclamation.

When to go

Year round; guided walks run at low spring tides and must be booked, often months ahead. Public ferries run only on selected days. Visibility for diving is poor by regional standards.

Before you go

Access is limited: public ferries run infrequently and guided walks book out far ahead. Underwater visibility is often only a couple of metres because of sediment. Landing is restricted on parts of the islands.

Nearby

St John's and Kusu are nearby, and Pulau Hantu is west.

Key facts