Visiting Kusu Island
A few weeks ago I visited Kusu Island, also referred to as Pulau Kusu, which means Tortoise or Turtle Island.
We left from Marina South Pier at 9.00 am and were back there around 13.30 am.
Visiting Kusu Island was a very enjoyable trip; let me show you what we saw and did.
Singapore’s skyline, seen from the ferry.
Pulau Kusu is one of the Southern Islands in Singapore, located 5.6 km South of the main island.
We chanced upon a water salute. I had never heard of this phenomena before. Tugboats sprayed fountains of water towards a huge cruisship to welcome her to Singapore. The sun added beautiful rainbows to the spectacle. It was a real feast for the eyes.
It takes a ferry ride of about 30 - 45 minutes to get to Kusu Island.
Head to Marina South Pier to buy a ferry ticket and take the boat from there. Be sure to check out the ferry time-table before you go!
Pilgrimage Island
Every year, during the 9th month of the lunar calendar, thousands of devotees visit Kusu Island to pay their respects to the different deities and kramats on the island.
One of the temples lies on a hill. You have to climb 152 steps up and -after visiting the temple- descend along the other side. The steps are not steep and quite easy to take. Just go slowly.
The Malay temple on top of the hill is a completely yellow experience. People come there to pray or thank for various things, from getting sons or daughters to getting lucky in the lottery. Pilgrims write down their lucky numbers everywhere in and around the temple. Once a year the whole site receives a new coat of yellow paint; time for new wishes and prayers!
Donations are more or less expected, hence the many donation boxes everywhere.
Interested to know more about the island? About its history, the legend behind it’s name, the temples and shrines on the island, what people pray for and which rituals are attached to that?
Hoping to be blessed with a baby boy? Then hang a red plastic bag here, with two small rocks in it. I’m assuming that you get the symbolic?
Couples wishing to get pregnant tie a yellow ribbon on the trees at Kusu Island.
Then check out these articles (here, here and here) . They provide a lot of information and insights.
Pulau Kusu or Kusu Island means Tortoise or Turtle Island. Not surprising that you see turtles all over the island, both images of turtles as well as living tortoises.
Some practical advice before you go
You can easily visit the island on your own. It’s tiny, so you need no more than a couple of hours to cover it.
The ferry at Kusu Island.
This Chinese temple used to be completely surrounded by water in the past.
Unless of course you want to have a picnic there or go for a swim in the lagoons or sea. Then you could spend a few hours more on the island.
It does have a Bounty Island ring to it, doesn’t it?!
As said: carefully check out the time-table, since you don’t want to miss the last ferry!
During the pilgrimage month you can buy food, drinks and souvenirs, but normally there is absolutely nothing and nobody on the island. So be sure to bring your own water, food, drinks, sunscreen, insect repellant, hat and umbrella and whatever more you may need.
Since the pilgrimage month was almost at it’s end when we visited, only one souvenir stall was left.
There ARE toilets. Phew!
As soon as you board the ferry from Marina South Pier, be sure to switch off ROAMING on your phone, since your phone may connect to non-singaporean providers during your trip. Keep it turned of until you are back at Marina South Pier.
Organised tour by HOI
I happened to visit Kusu Island with a group of Dutch ladies, on an organised tour by HOI.
Upper left: listening to our guide while on the ferry to Kusu Island. Upper right: getting of the ferry. Under left and right: having a small break on Kusu Island.
It turned out our local tour guide was very knowledgable.
She told us about the history, the temples and rituals, but also about the flora and fauna on the island. Interesting stuff!
Leaf of the Sea Almond Tree. These leafs have a rubbery texture and are sometimes used on fish farms to lower the Ph in aquariums.
A seed of the Sea Almond Tree.
The big bushes that we are looking at (left picture) are pandan leafs, used to give food a green color. On the right you get a closer look. They have razor-sharp hooks.
On the left we see Box Fruit or Sea Poison. These fruits are sometimes thrown in the water to paralyse the fish, so people can catch them more easily. I don’t recall what the fruit on the right is.
We ended our tour with a visit to the Chinese temple that we saw upon arrival at Kusu Island.
The Chinese temple on Kusu Island. The yellow one that I showed you before is a Malay one.
I love the decorations, colours and statues at this Chinese temple.
Roof details of the Chinese temple at Kusu Island.
Left: standing in front of the burner at the Chinese temple. Middle: paper offerings beautifully folded. Right: this man was burning joss paper for devotees non-stop.
We were very lucky since the weather was absolutely gorgeous that day!
Have you visited Kusu Island? Which other Singaporean islands have you set foot on?
Did you know by the way that Singapore has around 60 small islands?!
This was so interesting! I was so sad that last video stopped when she was shaking those sticks. We saw people doing this kind of thing in all kinds of temples in Hong Kong when we were there and didn’t know what they were doing. Next time we need to have a guide.
I assume the Dutch woman that was having the yellow ribbon ceremony was trying to get pregnant?
Cool post!
Suzanne