After spending just under a month in Chiang Mai, I wasn’t quite ready to leave Thailand and so when my visa was due to expire I decided to spend a week in Singapore so that I could explore a new city while getting my 60 day Thai visa.
Sentosa Island is also known as Asia’s favourite playground and after seeing it consistently topping various lists of things to do in Singapore I knew that I would have to pay it a visit.
Located just 15 minutes from the city centre, Sentosa is essentially an island resort which is home to theme parks, spa retreats, golden sandy beaches, golf courses, a marina and super fancy hotels. Spread over 500 hectares, Sentosa is the perfect way to spend a day in Singapore – there really is something for everyone.
The best way to explore the island is with the Sentosa Day Play Pass, which gives you access to $200 worth of activities for only $64.
I started my day with a leisurely stroll on the Sentosa Boardwalk.
There are several ways to get to Sentosa Island. You can take a cable car, monorail or walk along the scenic Sentosa Boardwalk. I decided on the latter and was glad I did as I got to check out the tropical landscapes indigenous to Singapore while wandering alongside the waterfront.
I started my day by facing my fear of heights at the Tiger Sky Tower.
As I gazed up at the dizzying heights of Tiger Sky Tower, I was instantly reminded of the summer of ’02 where I excitedly jumped onto a tower drop ride only for it to break down at the top, leaving me dangling 100 feet up in the air for an hour.
Unsurprisingly, since then I haven’t been particularly keen on any that involves towers or heights but I still wanted to get the most out of my day so I decided to conquer my fears and cautiously crept aboard.
The ride itself lasts around ten minutes and slowly rotates upwards to a height of 150 metres where it remains for five minutes. Despite my clammy hands and random squeaks of fear, I enjoyed getting the high vantage point of the island and found it useful for planning the rest of my activities for the day!
I then raced children down a luge.
As I joined the queue of hyperactive, screaming children I couldn’t help but feel a little out of place, being the oldest person in the queue by at least ten years. I was in a competitive mood though and was excited about the unfair advantage I would have over the kids. I hoped they had travel insurance. They were going to need it.
I strapped on my helmet, grimaced in what I hoped was a terrifying manner at the two children I’d be racing and found myself plummeting down the hill at a surprisingly high speed. It was actually incredibly fun and I could have spent all day racing children and destroying their hopes and dreams.
I tried to catch butterflies at the Butterfly Park.
As I child I used to run around my back garden at home with a tiny fishing net, trying desperately to catch a butterfly. I wasn’t ever successful and so when I entered Butterfly Park and saw hundreds of Asian children with butterflies crawling all over their arms I was determined to do the same.
After twenty minutes of waving sugar cubes in the air and thrusting my arms into the flight paths of butterflies, I gave up and came to the conclusion that butterflies and Laurens just aren’t meant to be together.
After a quick lunch, I decided to visit the various different cinemas around the island and the Extreme Log Ride (a 4D simulator ride) was by far the best show out of the 3 and was AMAZING!
Unfortunately, by the time I had finished watching the shows, it was raining heavily and most attractions had closed so I decided to head back to my hostel.
However, there was still time for one more adventure…
I experienced a cable car ride in a thunderstorm
Why is it that I always end up in cable cars wherever I go? It first happened in Taiwan, followed a few months later by Hong Kong and now I somehow found myself in one in Singapore.
Although I freak out much less in cable cars, having to take one during a thunderstorm had all my irrational fears rushing back to me in an instant.
With thunder crashing around me, rain seeping in through the window and the wind blowing my car violently from side to side, I spent most of the ride whimpering softly to myself and praying that I wouldn’t blow off the cable.
Still, at least I got to see some awesome views of Singapore.
Despite the rain, my day at Sentosa was one of the highlights of my time in Singapore. I was upset that I wasn’t able to ride on a segway or try out the flying trapeze this time, but that gives me something to do the next time I find myself in Sentosa.
I managed to cram in $129 worth of activities in the few hours I spent there, proving that the the Play Pass is absolutely a worthwhile investment, as it saved me over half of what the attractions would usually cost.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary Day Play Pass from Sentosa Island in exchange for a review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Sounds like a lot of fun! I can’t wait to hit Singapore (and Asia for that matter!) myself :)
Yes, you DO need to get to Asia, missy :)
cable car ride in thunderstorm !
That’s too scary !!! *shudders*
It was horrible!! Closing my eyes and praying for it to be over!
Pretty sure I would have freaked out if I was in a cable car in a thunderstorm…
Yes. You would. And I did. I thought they were meant to stop in the rain?
When I lived in Singapore a lot of folks looked down on Sentosa…but this is a great reminder that Sentosa does actually have some good stuff! Did you get to the Segways at all? I went there during my last weekend in Sing and am now totally addicted to riding Segways.
Also, love the last pic – you can see my old apartment building just in front of the CBD =)
No! I was most looking forward to the segways but it started raining so I decided to leave.
That’s awesome about your apartment! :)
Sounds like a great day out! I missed out on going to Sentosa on my trips to Singapore…but I did get a good view of it from the cable car going the other way (up Mt. Faber). It’s definitely on my to-do list for when I go back — especially one of those segway tours!
Also, I went to the butterfly gardens at Changi and completely failed at even seeing any butterflies, so you did better than me :)
That’s a shame, but definitely go back next time you’re in Singapore – there was just so much to do!
I love the colours of the butterflies – amazing!
There were some gorgeous ones there. It took me ages to take a photo as they wouldn’t keep still!
Great pics. If you get a chance check out the butterfly garden at the Singapore airport.
Cheers!
Larissa and Michael
Wow, they have a butterfly garden at the airport?!
Damn… I arrived there about 12 hours early and that would have totally killed some time!
Yeah, it’s pretty awesome — you never know what you’ll find at Changi Airport! Unfortunately it seems like I can only ever find the butterfly garden when I’m getting off a flight…when I’ve got hours to kill before one I can’t find it for the life of me!
My kids adore Sentosa! Feel a slight longing to visit Singapore now :)
Hahaha, I loved it there. Wish I could have spent a week there…
You know the cable car that goes to Sentosa? I tried to have sex with my girlfriend in those cars once…
just sayin’
…it wasn’t a success.
Hahahaha! Smooth, Ian. Smooth.
looks amazing
and the tiger sky tower view is just breath taking! worth the “risk” ;) haha :D
Yeah, the totally dangerous sky tower, haha! There were grannies going on it too so I felt pathetic for freaking out up there!
Hahaha, I love the evil thrill you seem to get out of dashing the hopes and dreams of small children.
Really, though, this island looks like lots of fun!
The only time I ever win anything is when I’m going head to head with children, haha!
Ahh gutted, when we were there is was chucking it down with rain and I couldn’t race the kiddies :(
The luge was FUN! But yeah, it rained for me so I couldn’t be all trapezey.
Did you manage to catch the crazy Sentosa Crane Dance? Exhausted from a day at the park, I had a rest down by the water. Next minute a pair of huge hydraulic cranes start moving around!
No! Hahaha, I took photos of the posters to mock it on Facebook but didn’t stick around to see the cranes! Sounds badass!
The street luge, that is so much fun!!! Singapore is truly amazing and if you get chance a trip up to the top of Marina Ba Sands is worth it also!
Isn’t it?! I loved it! I didn’t get a chance to see Marina Bay… Next time! :)
Hey.. I think we might have been in Singapore the same time! Lol. We didn’t get a chance to go to Sentosa but our local friend says it’s an awesome place for nightlife too. Did you see the giant robot bird show?
Oh no, really?! That sucks that we didn’t know! I didn’t get to see the giant robot birds…. It sounds truly bizarre though!
Hi there… just stumbled upon your blog today and I practically read almost everything in here. I already subscribed! :) Everything in here is interesting! I’m so glad you had fun in Boracay… that is one of my favorite places as well.
Aah! I’ve moved to Singapore with my family for a while. 6 or so months… Too short to look for a job, and too long to do nothing. I was getting bored out of my mind, but I may be able to find somethings to do. Thanks for the info :D
No worries! Glad you found it helpful :-)
Sentosa is really plenty of fun! A few things have probably changed since your last visit. They now have Trick Eye Museum, Madame Tussauds, etc. I’m not sure if you visited Universal Studios, but it’s definitely worth going too, especially for the Transformers 4D ride and the newly reopened Battlestar Galactica. =)
Sweet! I’ll have to check them out when I’m next in Singapore :-)
Great writing! I miss Singapore, I spent 3 days there and my favorite places were Bugis and Chinatown ?
Also walking around Marina Bay at night too! Which one your favorite place in Singapore?