Snorkeling at Sisters' Island Guide 2025

A man has drowned while snorkelling in Sister's Island lagoons , and the currents here can be very strong and unpredictable. There are several precautions and tips for a good snorkeling experience.

What to know before snorkelling at Sisters' Island Marine Park

• Choose the right day and time for snorkeling based on the weather and tide chart.  I would recommend a low tide point of around 1.4m-1.7m. You can check the tide charts here. Singapore's water visibility is poor for reasons like dredging and ship presence in the Southern islands. For snorkeling, you also don't want too low of a low tide point such that you cannot safely float above the corals in the shallower parts. Walking in the reefs could damage the corals. Also, in Singapore, there are several poisonous marine creatures such as some sea urchins, stone fish, cone snails and stingrays, lying on the sand. Skin contact with them is a terrible idea, so floating well above the corals/sand bed is a good idea.
• Ideally, start your snorkeling just before the time when low tide point happens as the waters are calmer then. Currents are usually stronger when the tides are changing from high to low and low to high.
• I do not recommend swimming outside of the lagoons at all due to currents. Be spatially aware and do not get too carried away with snorkeling till you are out of the protected waters.

^ I would strongly advise against swimming near the areas circled in red due to the possibility of strong currents there. When I was swimming near the gaps between the 2 stone barriers, I could feel some strong surface current dragging me away from the shore. For this reason, I would strongly not recommend lettings kids snorkel here unsupervised.

• Consider using sunscreen that does not contain chemicals that are toxic to corals. Many do contain chemicals damaging to reefs. An interesting article about this.
• There are many corals to see near the stone barriers. But stay away from the "gaps".
• Common sense says do not go out swimming in bad weather.
• Do not touch the corals and marine life. Corals can be extremely fragile. Some marine life are highly toxic or can cause deep cuts, such as the stone fish, cone snails and some sea urchins. Also, I might have seen the tail of a blue spotted stingray in shallower parts.
• The slope from shore is very gentle.
• Flippers not needed, and personally, i would not recommend flippers at all. A life-vest and snorkel mask is good enough.
• For non-swimmers or those inexperienced, learn how to swim and snorkel before snorkeling here. This is the open waters known for unpredictable strong currents, poor water visibility and with no life guards. Many non-swimmers struggle with having water in their face and also breathing through their mouth and not their nose. I've seen non-swimmers snorkel (and even dive) in tour groups (despite the risks) in other parts of the world but there is no tour guide here. Also, poor "swimming" techniques, like thrashing in the waters and walking about waters here can damage corals.
• Highly recommend a brightly colored life vest for not-so-strong swimmers or those without prior snorkeling experience.
• There are outdoor shower facilities, toilet and changing rooms near the big lagoon. Stripping nude outside is a bad idea as public nudity is still illegal in Singapore and might be an eyesore to other visitors.
• Do not leave your bags open and unattended in the shelters while snorkeling. Definitely no open tote bags. The local monkey mafia (long-tailed macaques) are recalcitrant thieves that hide in trees and can figure out how to open some bags. As of 2024, they have not figured out buckles on bags.

Help protect this sanctuary

Sister's Island is a protected marine park with CCTV surveillance. There are several prohibited and illegal activities.

• Strictly no fishing or poaching of wildlife. Basically, no removing of wildlife from their habitat.
• Strictly no feeding of fish. Unfortunately, in South east Asia, visitors often feed fish at the ferry terminals. This is damaging to reefs in many ways.
• Strictly no camping. You can camp at St John's Island instead (with permit).
• You can snap photos of offenders to make reports to NParks and call the NParks 24/7 hotline for incidents of animal distress and for illegal activities mentioned.

Some of the marine life here

Lookout for tiny critters living in the sea anemone. The last time I was at sister's island, there were some anemone shrimps and clown fish inside the sea anemone.

Have some expectations for Singapore reefs. If you have dived in Singapore waters, you would know what I am talking about. Water visibility is poor.

And the corals are mostly sparse and far apart. You might need to spot sea anemones from afar like in the photo.

Brain and hard corals are some of the more common corals here. Many seem to be bleached or dead.

There are tons of fish (which i do not have evidence of existence for), especially gobies and Banded Damselfish. Saw some filefish, wrasse, butterfly fish and large parrotfish in the lagoons.

Look out for the holes (like in the photo below) in the sand for the Goby fish and the shrimp. The Goby watches out for danger at the hole entrance while the shrimp maintains their home hole. The shrimp is close by and often has its antenna touching the goby fish. This symbiotic relationship is well-documented in Singapore

Other things to do at Sister's Island on land

Sister's Island is rather small. For those not snorkeling, they tend to take the 9am ferry to get to Sister's Island and leave with the 11am ferry.

• Birding. There are tons of Brahminy Kites and sometimes there are white-bellied sea eagles.

There is a nice boardwalk where you can view fishes and corals. Please do not start feeding fish here.

Regrettably, there is much plastic litter on Sisters island. You can do a own-time-own-target beach cleanup too. There are bins around the island. if you do, do ensure marine life is not trapped in the plastic waste/wrappers before disposal.

How to get to Sister's Island Singapore

• Get to Marina South Pier MRT station and buy tickets at one of the two ferry ticket counters. You can also buy these tickets online and collect them at the booths here.
• Take the ferry at the terminal to Sister's Island.
• You can combine your trip to Sister's Island with visits to other islands in the same day.
• It is advisable to arrive at the pick up points slightly earlier.

A weekday visit presents less crowd which might be a good idea for wildlife enthusiasts and those who don't like crowds.

Other Southern Islands:

The stone areas do show some corals during the low tide.

I might have gotten some names wrong in the post, do let me know.