Singapore Day Trips Worth the Ferry Ride
Singapore Day Trips Worth the Ferry Ride
Chinatown and Orchard Road get called “day trips” in some guides, which is a stretch when they’re a ten-minute MRT ride from wherever you’re already staying. A real day trip out of Singapore involves a ferry, a causeway, or a strait, and there are exactly five of them.
Sentosa
Its own monorail, the Sentosa Express, is a flat SGD 4; driving over costs SGD 6 in the daytime bands or SGD 2 off-peak, charged per vehicle at the gantry. The cable car’s Sentosa Line is closed for scheduled maintenance through 18 September 2026, worth checking before you build a day around it; the combined SkyPass covering both lines is SGD 35 adult round trip. Universal Studios and the Singapore Oceanarium, the renamed and much-expanded aquarium that reopened in July 2025, are the two big-ticket draws.
Pulau Ubin
The last kampong-era island off the northeast coast. The bumboat from Changi Point Ferry Terminal is SGD 4 per person one way, cash only, plus SGD 2 for a bicycle, and leaves once 12 passengers are aboard, roughly 6am to 7pm. Cycling and the Chek Jawa wetlands are the honest draws here.
The Southern Islands
St John’s, Lazarus, and Kusu, reached via a Marina South Pier ferry loop for around SGD 15 adult, 30 to 45 minutes per leg. St John’s own jetty has been under repair since April 2025, so the ferry currently reroutes through Lazarus Island instead. Search Southern Islands ferry tickets on GetYourGuide .
Johor Bahru, Malaysia
A genuine border crossing over the Woodlands Causeway, today by bus or the KTM shuttle train. The RTS Link rail link is targeted for December 2026 and possibly later, so it isn’t a current option yet, whatever you may have read. A passport is required.
Batam or Bintan, Indonesia
Ferries run from HarbourFront to Batam and from Tanah Merah to Bintan. Search Bintan and Batam ferry packages on Viator .
What doesn’t belong here: Pulau Hantu is a dive-charter reef site reached by private boat, not a beach a public ferry serves, and a Kuala Lumpur day trip by air is technically doable but too rushed to recommend; save KL for multi-day trips instead.
Current Pulau Ubin ferry information is on NParks’ site , and Causeway train schedules are on KTMB’s site .
Tip: Carry small bills for Pulau Ubin. The bumboat and bicycle rental there are cash-only, one of the last cash-preferring crossings left in the city.