St John's Island

St John's, or Pulau Sakijang Bendera, was Singapore's quarantine station for over a century, isolating arrivals with cholera and other diseases, and later a detention centre and a drug rehabilitation site. It is now quiet: lagoons, grass, trails, a beach and the buildings of a marine research laboratory. A causeway links it to Lazarus Island next door, so both are usually walked together on one ferry trip.

Background

Its old name, Sekijang or Sakijang, joins the Malay words si and kijang, the second meaning deer. According to John Crawfurd, members of the Stamford Raffles party misread that local name as St John in 1819. The Malay name later became Sekijang Bendera, bendera meaning flag, after a flagstaff that stood on the island from 1823 to 1833 before it was moved to Mount Faber. An 1892 British Admiralty chart labelled it West St John's, with today's Lazarus Island as East St John's. Covering 0.41 km², 6.5 km off the southern coast, it ranks first in size among the Marine Park islands. It sits on the Jurong Rock Formation, mixes tropical rainforest with coastal habitats and has no permanent residents.

Source: Wikipedia, "Saint John's Island"

What you'll find

• The lagoons - sheltered water on the island's northern side.
• The quarantine buildings - remains of the station that ran for over a century.
• The causeway - the link across to Lazarus Island.
• The quiet - an island with almost nobody on it on weekdays.

When to go

Year round; ferries run to a limited schedule and the last boat back matters. Weekdays are almost empty and weekends busier. Afternoon storms are common.

Good to know

Ferries run only a few times a day and missing the last one means a long problem. There are no shops and everything must be carried in. There is little shade on the open ground.

Nearby

Lazarus Island is across the causeway, and Kusu is on the same ferry route.

Key facts