St John's Island Jetty

Kusu, St John's and Lazarus Island are the only three southern islands that can be visited via regular ferry service. While Kusu Island has remained largely unchanged, St John's Island and Lazarus Island which were previously separate islands are joined by a land bridge in 2000s. Technically, there is no ferry service to Lazarus Island. Visitors to the island will need to disembark at St John's Island and walk over to Lazarus Island.

St John's Island	Kusu Island	Lazarus Island

Kusu Island is more famous for its annual pilgrims houses a Chinese temple and three Malay Keramats. In the Chinese temple is the Tua Peh Kong (earlier known as Da Bo Gong), the "Merchant God" or "God of Prosperity" and Guan Yin, the "Goddess of Mercy" and the "Giver of Sons". Every year, thousands of devout Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian pilgrims visit Kusu Island on the 9th day of the 9th moon in the Chinese calendar over a month long period between September to November [Ref. 3] although the number has dropped significantly over the years. There are a few variants to the legends of Kusu Island but most of them revolve around a giant tortoise and two friends, a Malay and a Chinese.

St John's Island is mainly used for functional purpose since it was used as a quarantine centre for immigrants. Today the island is used by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority for its Marine Aquaculture Centre [Ref 4] and NUS Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) laboratory [Ref 5]. In the mid-2000s, St John's Island is joined to Lazarus Island and Kias-Seringat by a land bridge. Kias-Seringat is formed by reclamation of Kias and Seringat submerged reefs which were completed in 2000 [Ref. 6]. Although makeover of the Lazarus beach is completed in 2006 [Ref. 7], it is only in the 2010s that more visitors step on the island of Lazarus from St John's Island.

Both Kusu Island and St John's Island have beaches that are generally cleaner than those on mainland Singapore. In the lagoon on Kusu Island, corals may be seen at low tide close to the breakwater. On St John's Island, there are campsites and bungalows available for rental. However, beyond lazing around the beach and strolling on the island, there are no other activities available. There are toilets on both islands but visitors are advised to bring your own water and food as there are no stalls selling food and drinks. Visitors to St John's Island normally take a walk across the land bridge to Lazarus Island where the water is much clearer and cleaner at its two beaches. Unfortunately, with increasing visitors, litters can be found on the island

The southern islands of Kusu, St John's and Lazarus are good getaway from mainland Singapore. While it may appeal to locals, visitors on short stay to Singapore may prefer to visit other tourist sites. Although there have been discussions to further develop these islands in the mid-2000s, these ideas have been shelved indefinitely. For now, visitors can still hop onto the ferry service to visit these islands which is about 30 minutes boat ride to the south of Singapore.