Singapore — Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore — a free day out!

How did it take me so long to discover this wonderful place?

May 2015

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve was a gem of a find.

I had no idea such a place existed in Singapore; I thought the whole island was covered in roads and buildings.

And, shock horror for Singapore, it was free!

I expected this to be a fairly tame visit, as I couldn’t imagine that there would be much wildlife left in Singapore. Boy, was I wrong?

The first clue that this might be a fun visit was the Monitor Lizard I spotted in the pond near the entrance. It looked like they may have wildlife in Singapore after all.

The entrance to the wetlands zone of the nature reserve.

I thought they were joking. Wild Crocodiles in Singapore? Surely not?

It was not a joke, as I spotted this on the bank a few yards down the trail from the sign. A genuine live Crocodile in Singapore. This is not in a zoo; this is in a nature reserve.

By the time I was leaving the wetland zone, the Crocodile had moved up the bank.

And I saw a Monitor Lizard on the bank.

And then there was this little chap on the trail. Stunning colours.

The reserve is famous for birds; however, I guess I was there at the wrong time of year. But I did see a few.

And there is the plant life.

And I saw countless spiders. I think they were Golden Orb Spider (Nephila pilipes).

And there were Mudskippers.

Turtles.

As part of the reserve, there is also a mangrove swamp walk and a coastal walk. Sadly, I only had time to complete the mangrove swamp walk.

And the reserve has some mangrove swamp areas.

Plus, there were butterflies.

Although the park is wild, it is heavily managed. The walkways around the central wetland area are dykes used to control water flow between the sea and the wetlands.

The photo below shows the trail on top of the dyke.

The mangrove swamp area used a boardwalk.

I couldn’t get over being in Singapore, and Johor Bahru was so close. The photos below are from the reserve looking back to Johor Bahru.

One disappointing thing was that large sections of the reserve seemed to be closed off to the public, and I encountered several closed trails.

The Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is a great place to visit in Singapore if you like wildlife and being outdoors. The reserve is heavily managed, but it allows you to see the local wildlife, which means you can imagine what the island was originally like. It certainly is very different from Orchard Road and all the shops.

When I visited the reserve, it was quiet. There were not many people, and judging by the carpark size, the reserve either doesn’t get many visitors, or I was lucky and visited on an ‘off day’ when there was space to park.

One final fantastic thing about the reserve is that it is free (including the parking). Most places in Singapore cost a small fortune for entry and/or parking, so it was nice to get something on the island that didn’t cost a penny.

I highly recommend Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve for a visit.