Singapore · SG

Pulau Ubin

Just a ten-minute bumboat ride off the northeastern tip of Singapore, Pulau Ubin feels like a step back in time. This 1,036-hectare island is a biodiverse nature reserve and national heritage site that still shelters a rustic, 1960s-style village of kampong houses, dirt tracks and fruit orchards. Abandoned granite quarries, regenerating forests and one of the country's last true wetlands give it a wild, unhurried character you will not find on the mainland. There is no bridge and no crowd here: visitors wander on foot, pedal past old coconut and rubber plantations, climb a granite hill for panoramic views, and walk boardwalks over six distinct ecosystems packed into a single shore. It rewards a full day, whether you come for birdwatching, mountain biking, a guided wetlands tour or simply a long coffee at a village stall.