Do you like marine wildlife? Well, you'd be
surprised to know that Singapore has one of the best marine wildlife areas
in the region.
The place is called
Chek Jawa and it is situated just south of the Singapore mainland. Many
locals and foreigners alike take trips to Chek Jawa and soak in the natural
beauty of the rustic village life, not to mention the beautiful marine
creatures.
Read on, I'm sure you'd be interested in
going to Chek Jawa after this ...
1. Overview
Perhaps you're an environmentalist. Maybe you're a conservationist. Well, if so, Chek Jawa is a little gem of marine life
that will appeal to you. Where is Chek Jawa? It is located at the eastern side of Pulau Ubin,
an island just off the southern coast of Singapore.
A shot of Palau Ubin
island near Singapore
Photo by
beggs
Some rights reserved
2. Habitats
If you look at habitats, Chek Jawa has a
collection of about six of them. These include everything from coastal forest, sand bars, rocky shore, sea-grass
lagoon & coral rubble. An area known as Pulau Sekudu (a part of Chek Jawa)
also contains many of these habitats.
3. Marine Wildlife
Chek Jawa is filled with a mesmerizing array of marine wildlife.
We're talking about octopi, starfish and sea horses
and octopi all living harmoniously in sand and also small mad flats. You will
also see stuff like carpet anemones within the
meadows of sea-grass, as well as colorful sponges lying in coral rubble.
4. Bookings
How do you get
to Chek Jawa? Well, you should know that visits to Chek Jawa are on a first-come-first-served basis.
You also need the tide to be low. To book a trip there, you need to call the National Parks Board Ubin Information
Kiosk at (65) 6542 4108. Admission is free.
When you do
arrive at Chek Jawa, you will get local guides to take you on a 45-minute walk
(quite a long one) along a fixed route. My advice to you is to wear proper good
shoes and please, no littering or touching of plant or animal specimens.
You can always pop over to the
National Parks Board website
to check the latest news, availability and times for visits to Chek Jawa, You
can also find out more about Chek Jawa
at this link.
5.
Getting There
You do need some instructions to get to Chek
Jawa. What you do is to take the MRT to Tanah Merah station. Next, take a SBS bus 2 or 29 to
the Changi Village bus interchange.
What you need to do next is to take a bumboat
ride from Changi Point Ferry Terminal (which costs just $2 for a single trip,
with an extra $2 if you are bringing a bicycle). The boat ride is comfortable
and takes only 10 minutes. The bumboat operators need at least 12 passengers on
board before they leave. Otherwise, you can charter the whole boat for $24. Do
take note that this bumboat service runs from 6.00 am to 8.00 pm.
Once you get to Pulau Ubin, you can just rent a bicycle from one of the kiosks or
just take a taxi to Chek Jawa. Travelling to Chek Jawa from there will take
around 20 minutes.
Conclusion
Well, I hope this article gives you some sense of
what Chek Jawa is and how you can get there. Its certainly a good place to visit
for marine life lovers - there are tons of creatures you can see there. Until
next time, happy travels!
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