Are you looking for a new nature spot?
Next year, you can grab your friends for a day out at the new forest trail and the enhanced lagoon tidal pool opening in Sisters’ Islands Marine Park!
New Forest Trail Opening in Sisters’ Islands in 2024
On Monday (19 June), the National Parks Board (NParks) announced that the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park will reopen in 2024 with a new forest trail.
Simi Sisters’ Islands?
Hais… If the only islands you know of are Tekong, Sentosa and Pulau Ubin, let’s get you up to speed.
The Sisters’ Islands consist of the Big Sister’s and Little Sister’s islands. These two islands, located just by Sentosa, have been closed since 2021 for enhancement works.
However, one of the islands, Big Sister’s Island, will soon be making a grand return to Singaporeans’ Instagram pages as it reopens to the public next year.
You’ll probably be seeing pictures of the new Ocean Network Express Coastal Forest Trail, a 230-metre-long trail running through the Big Sister’s Island’s coastal forest, everywhere on Instagram next year.
If you’re wondering why the trail’s name is so oddly specific, it’s because the Japanese shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) donated $1 million to fund the trail’s development.
The company’s donation will also go towards educating visitors about marine biodiversity on the islands.
Aside from the trail itself, you’ll likely also see pictures of the hilltop viewing deck at the end of the trail, where explorers can get a bird’s eye view of the scenery around the island.
The hilltop viewing deck allows visitors to birdwatch or if you’d prefer, to scout for a potential girlfriend on the island.
It’s like a real-life Tinder but for nature enthusiasts and island hoppers.
Existing Lagoon at Big Sister’s Island Enhanced into Tidal Pool
Are trails not your thing?
Lazy walk, just say lah.
Well, perhaps you should skip the trail and head straight to the lagoon tidal pool at Big Sister’s Island instead, developed with a $1 million donation from Singtel.
You’ll find an existing lagoon that has been zhng-ed into a tidal pool—this means that even after the tide recedes, you’ll be able to find pockets of seawater at the lagoon.
Imagine all the marine creatures you’ll be able to find here.
You can also expect to see mangroves and seagrass gradually making homes out of the lagoon—more wonders of nature for you to marvel at!
It’s not the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest, but it’s mangroves nonetheless. Come on lah. You live in Singapore.
Still not convinced to visit the reopened Sisters’ Islands Marine Park? Perhaps you will be in a couple of years when the lagoon eventually welcomes even more marine biodiversity as it matures into a multi-habitat ecosystem.
We guarantee that visiting the lagoon tidal pool will be an even better retreat than watching university students play orientation games at Sentosa.
If anything, you could always get a “teaser” of what you can find at the lagoon tidal pool by tuning in to the live streams monitoring the lagoon tidal pool.
Yes, you read that right. There will be live streams of the lagoon tidal pool.
Underwater cameras will be installed at the lagoon to make biodiversity monitoring easier for students and volunteers.
Oh, we almost forgot to mention that visitors can also snorkel in the lagoon tidal pool.
Hopefully, we won’t be seeing these snorkelers on the live streams.
The 100,000 Corals Project
These details on the reopening of the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park were revealed alongside the announcement of NParks’ 100,000 corals project launch at the Asia-Pacific Coral Reef Symposium.
Don’t confuse this with the one million trees project.
The 100,000 corals project is literally what it sounds like—it’s a project to plant 100,000 corals to restore Singapore’s corals.
This project is like the sequel to existing coral restoration projects like the Plant-A-Coral, Seed-A-Reef programme.
You can think of the Plant-A-Coral, Seed-A-Reef programme as Squid Game and the 100,000 corals project as Squid Game 2.
Over the years, the Plant-A-Coral, Seed-A-Reef programme planted more than 700 corals at the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park.
Perhaps if you squint hard enough, you’ll be able to see these corals from the new hilltop viewing deck on the Big Sister’s Island.
Anyway, under the newly-launched 100,000 corals project, 100,000 coral babies will be planted in Singapore’s waters.
“By introducing 100,000 corals, we hope that as they grow, they’ll increase in size and contribute to the overall increase in the spatial coral cover within the reefs in Singapore,” Dr Karenne Tun, the director of NParks’ National Biodiversity Centre, shared.
Essentially, try your best and see how lor.
To kickstart the 100,000 corals project, the first few years of the project will maintain an emphasis on scaling up coral cultivation capacities, including expanding existing coral nurseries.
Subsequent phases of the project will see NParks ramping up efforts to transplant mature, cultivated corals onto degraded reefs and other areas.
How to Go to the Sisters’ Island Marine Park
Can’t wait to visit the Sisters’ Island Marine Park to explore the new trail and the enhanced lagoon tidal pool?
Here’s how you can get to the island. And no, we know Sentosa is nearby, but you can’t take Sentosa Express there.
You have two transport options to get to the Big Sister’s Island. We recommend taking a public ferry from Marina South Pier. However, if you’re feeling boujee, you could charter your own boat from West Coast Pier or Marina South Pier.
The frequency of these public ferry services and the number of people allowed at any time on the Sisters’ Islands will be confirmed in time to come.
Whatever you do, just don’t attempt swimming to the Sisters’ Islands.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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