Discover Singapore’s Coney Island

Travelers to Singapore expect to see futuristic high-rise buildings, clean city streets and lots of amazing street food. There are the usual tourist haunts such as Sentosa, Marina Bay Sands, Chinatown and Little India, but if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of the busy city, Singapore is home to more than 300 parks and four nature reserves.

Which brings us to Singapore’s Coney Island. It’s vastly different from its more famous counterpart in New York. Instead of an amusement park with rides and hot dogs, the Coney Island in Singapore is a 123-acre nature reserve which houses a rich biodiversity of coastal forests, mangroves and casuarina woodlands. According to the National Parks of Singapore, Coney Island is also home to a large variety of fauna and flora, some of which are critically endangered. There are 80 species of birds (great for bird watchers!), long-tailed macaques, wild boars and even a free-roaming Brahman cow! I was excited to potentially encounter monkeys and a random cow on my hike, but sadly they were probably hiding somewhere away from the blazing hot sun.

A Historical Link to Tiger Balm

Coney Island is also known as Pulau Serangoon and became open to the public in October 2015. In fact, before the 1950s, Pulau Serangoon was called Haw Par Island and was owned by the Aw brothers, Aw Boon Haw and Aw Been Par, who created the internationally renowned Tiger Balm ointment and built a massive business empire in Singapore.

According to Remember Singapore, Aw Boon Haw purchased the island in 1937 and built a beach villa there. The villa is still at the island but is not open to the public. It’s structurally unsound and located within a mangrove area that is affected by high tides. After World War II, Aw Boon Haw sold the island to a local businessman named Ghulam Mahmood. It was a popular place for locals to visit for picnics and water sports.

Interestingly, Pulau Serangoon isn’t the only Singapore island to be named Coney Island. Pulau Satamu, Singapore’s most southern island and home to the Raffles Lighthouse, was also called Coney Island at one point in time.

Opening Hours

Coney Island is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. due to the fact that there’s no lighting in the nature reserve.

It can be a tough workout for a couch potato but an easy stroll for a marathoner. A word of warning, the heat and humidity can knock anyone off of their feet, regardless of their fitness level so go early in the morning! Most of Coney Island is populated by trees but when you’re walking out of the island to the park connector, the sun will beat down on you. If you’re walking moderately fast, it will take about 1 to 2 hours to walk from Coney Island to the park connector and then back to civilization.

Directions by Public Transportation

Take the MRT purple line (Northeast line) all the way to Punggol station. Walk to the bus interchange that’s right next to the train station and take bus #84 to stop at Punggol road end. You’ll reach Punggol Promenade: Punggol Point Walk. From there, walk along the promenade to Coney Island. You’ll see pretty views along the way.

To get back from Coney Island, you may just walk back to Punggol Point Walk or continue to the other end of Coney Island towards Lorong Harus. After you walk out of the gates, you’ll feel like you’re lost on an industrial road but fear not! Just keep walking away from Coney Island and you’ll see a path towards Halus Bridge which will take you to Punggol Waterway Park. It’s a longer walk this direction but the Waterway Park is also a lovely and scenic place to visit. There also are restaurants and cafes there if you end up thirsty and hungry after your long walk. From there, it’s easy to get to the main roads where there are bus stops and train stations.

Douse yourself with sunblock, bring plenty of water, wear good walking shoes and don’t forget your camera!