Sentosa island is not a theme park and is no where near Disneyland; but most tourists visit this key tourist spot of Singapore. One even told me you have not seen Singapore if you have not been to Sentosa!! Ok ok! Sentosa is a relaxing place to go to, but be prepared to pay entrance fees for most of the major tourist attractions. =P
Recently my buddy gave me free tickets to see this island again. So I went with her. Sounds cheapo right? That’s right! LOL! Perhaps because it’s not the first time I went Sentosa…
Anyway, after looking at our photos from Sentosa, who knows? You may want to see Sentosa yourself too!
How to go Sentosa?
We took Sentosa Express monorail at VivoCity shopping mall on the mainland. Fyi, the nearest MRT to VivoCity is HarbourFront MRT Station. The monorail ride only takes around 4 mins.
You can also reach the island via a short causeway from Singapore mainland. If you drive, park at Cable Car Station Car Park or Beach Car Park. If you take a taxi, drop off at Taxi Drop off point just before the Cable Car Bus Stop.
Photo taken from the monorail while crossing to Sentosa. Look at the gigantic Christmas tree at VivoCity. You know Christmas is around the corner!
If you want to enjoy the view from a higher ground, board the cable car at Mount Faber / HarbourFront Centre to Sentosa. Do you also see cable cars in the picture above?
Sentosa means peace and transquility in Malay. It only has an area of 5km². Do you know that it was named Pulau Blakang Mati, which means “Island (‘Pulau’) of Death (‘Mati’) from Behind (‘Blakang’)”? So as to speak, it was called the island of the dead. One account claims that it was due to an outbreak of disease that almost wiped out the settlers of the island. Anyway, now the island is “growing” due to land reclamation. =D
It’s easy to tour around the island by Sentosa Bus, Sentosa Express and Beach Trams. We headed to Palawan Beach and crossed a suspension bridge to an islet which is the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia. Sounds exciting right? I still don’t know why it’s called that way. Isn’t that point located in Indonesia? Please enlighten me!
Now we are looking from the observation deck on the islet, the Southernmost Point of Continent Asia! Still wondering why it’s the Southermost point of Asia…
Located at the Imbiah Lookout zone, the Tiger Sky Tower was previously called The Calsberg Sky Tower. Both are beer companies. =D At a height of 110m (~ 50 storeys), it is the tallest free-standing observation tower in Asia! You will enjoy a panoramic view of Sentosa, Singapore, the Southern islands and even Malaysia and Indonesia on a clear day.
The Sentosa Luge & Skyride. The Luge is a non-motorised self-steering, gravity-driven three-wheel cart that allows rider to speed down a hill over short distance of 650 m ending at the Siloso Beach.
Hmm, we took the Luge to travel to Silsolo Beach. Nothing exciting about it, but kids may like the gentle ride down the slope.
One of the Sentosa trams that ferries visitors around the island. It’s free ride (or probably already included in your ticket. XD).
Read posts on Sentosa (Part 1/4) | Merlion @Sentosa (Part 2/4) | Sentosa Beaches (Part 3/4) | Songs of the Sea (Part 4/4) and explore Underwater World Singapore.
Yeah!!
I planned to go here next semester!!
Supposed this semester..but some technical probs happened..
Gosh!
Eunice, bring me here! ^^
@Zara: Ok, if I also coincidentally bump into you hahaha!! Will see. =) When you coming SG?
I’m also writing about Sentosa Island this week until next week. I had scheduled most of my posts. Check some of the photos and videos I had posted this and next week!
My kids love Sentosa Island. The place is so clean!
i didnt knew it was that nice!! make sure ur pic does not deceive me k hehe. i will go for a visit when i am back in malaysia =)
love your blog.. very informative.
added your link in my blog and hope you would link back too.
@Borneo Falcon: Read your Sentosa posts! You have done a detailed one! Will visit your blog again for more!
@peteformation: Yeah it’s clean. Generally, tourist attractions in Singapore are clean. Try the housing estates. =P
@Irvine: Haha! Hmm.. I can’t help with that! I use Photoshop you know! kekeke
@awesomeheaven: Thanks! I left a comment at your site. =)
As always, great travel pics.
this place really look nice..sure can relax myself when visit there. From those pics you posted, really seem different from Malaysia..
I’d been long time never went to Sentosa Island, is a very nice recreation place.
If i’m planning to visit again, how many days should i spend on the island?
Haha~
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@TNH: Of cos it’s different, cos it’s man made! XD
@leafless: Thanks.
@Anston: 1 day… stay back at night for the laser show.. will post those pics taken from the show soon.
who would not love that island! it’s actually popular here in the philippines. singapore is one good destination that filipinos enjoy.
“Southermost point of Asia”>>> maybe because if you look at the greater asian island that includes china, vietnam, laos, cambodia, thailand, malaysia, the tip is singapore. others like the philippines and indonesia are separated by water.
@dong ho: that’s what I thought so too. But Singapore is an island, is also separated by water from Malaysia!!! Unless we include the Malaysia-Singapore causeways hahaha. Hmm maybe I should email Sentosa to find out why. haha
Wooow! Sentosa really looks nice. I should have gone there with my friends but I was too cheap and wanted to go to Ministry instead! 🙁 haha oh well Sentosa won’t get washed away any time soon!
Great post and pics. I like this site.
@domesticatedman: Where is Ministry?? Pub? =P Hmm I still feel that the best time to go Sentosa in the near future would be 2010 when the theme park and IR are completed (if no delay?). Now you will see alot of projects, constructions going on..
@Jenny: Thx.
Nice post on Sentosa you got there. I love the island and go there pretty often, either to jog, suntan, or visit their attractions. One of the things which I feel sad about is the huge amount of construction work going on which is destroying the green cover of the island significantly. I hope that the new IR will have enough replanted trees to give it a nice resort feel instead of yet another shopping centre mall clone!
@Walter: I agree with you on the construction work issue. Moreover, it spoils the beautiful surroundings during this period. Hope to see a more beautiful island soon.
Singapore is really a shopping paradise with Orchard road and the other retail strips. singapore shopping has really improved over the years, especially the great offers during the great singapore sale
My Husabnd and kids are going to Sentosa Island early next year. Could you give me any travel tips and kids friendly places to visit???
@Michelle: If you like the beach and the sea, you can have some fun along Palawan and Siloso Beaches. Sentosa is a tourist friendly place for both adults and kids as you can travel around the island by buses and trams (free). You can visit Underwater World, which I think is a popular attraction in Sentosa and I heard alot of good feedbacks too. Also, do stay back for the night to watch “Songs of the Sea” (I blogged that too). In case I miss out any good attractions, do visit Sentosa official site http://www.sentosa.com.sg/
Enjoy!
Thanks heaps Eunice!!! Maybe we will bump into you sometime when we are there…
😉
Waste of time and money….like most of the “attractions” in Singapore. You’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the world that compares to Singapore with being so puritanical, materialistic and artificial. But wait you say! The food is so great! I disagree. Visit Thailand, China, Hong Kong or even Japan and you will find much better food. Oh, and by the way, I live in Singapore.
@freddo: You would be surprised many tourists enjoyed themselves in Sentosa. Actually, it really depends, some like it, some don’t, just like anywhere in the world. But then, to be fair, Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world, without natural resources, so we have to look at it differently, can’t compare to big nations like China, Japan, and the rest. As for food, everyone has different taste buds. As a Singaporean, I would still welcome tourists to come SG to experience our colourful cultures and variety of food here. It’s something new to them.
Perhaps one day if you migrated to any of those countries you mentioned, maybe you might miss our local food? .. But in some ways, I do agree with you that it’s very commercialized here, or perhaps, many cities are like that too. And I prefer Malaysia food, more traditional. 🙂
i like this pLace…!!
hOpe i will go there some day…
Hi,
I am planning to visit singapore end of this month with my husband. It seems sentosa island and universal studio are must visit places. Could you suggest some other places that we shouldn’t miss out. And ofcourse the best places to shop. I am really looking forward to this trip so want to make the best out of the time..i have got 5 full days there..
@priyanka: feel free to check out the blog posts on Singapore here https://travelerfolio.com/places/singapore/
sentosa is such a nice n clean place.. luvd d siloso beach.. n wid the trams goin arnd its so easy to commute.. dont miss out on the luge/sky ride and segway ride which is super cool.. do chk out the new i – flyer dere.. thou i ddnt try it out, its so much fun watching some1 in it.. n dere is a beautiful path smwhr arnd 3D rides area..it has got heart shaped arcs made out of roses.. u might wana get a pic clicked dere wid ur partner.. 🙂
Niceeeeeeee