After Kusu Island, we headed to St. John’s Island nearby. The one and only time I went to St. John’s Island was back in junior college. We were there for a Geography fieldtrip and explored the physical landscape. To be honest, I can’t remember very much about that trip besides having to climb around the rocks!

St. John’s Island is one of the Southern Islands in Singapore and located approximately 6.5 km to the south of the main island of Singapore. It formerly housed a quarantine station for cholera cases in the late 19th century. By 1930, the island was a quarantine centre screening Asian immigrants and pilgrims returning from Mecca. Later, the island was used to house a penal settlement and a drug rehabilitation centre. One of its most famous political prisoners was Singapore’s third president Devan Nair,

In 1975, it was transformed into a getaway with swimming lagoons, beaches, picnic grounds, trekking routes and football fields. Holiday-makers can book the Holiday Bungalow, which can accommodate up to 10 persons and comes furnished with a kitchen. Organised groups can stay over in the dormitories at the Holiday Camps which can take up to 60 persons. We were actually very surprised to hear how little it costs to rent the bungalow and the campsite!

Read more about the history of St. John’s Island on Singapore Infopedia. Holiday bungalow and holiday camp booking info can be found here.