Sisters' Islands are two of the

Southern Islands The Southern Islands is a planning area consisting of a collection of islets located within the Central Region of Singapore, once home to the native Malay islanders and indigenous Orang Laut sea nomad tribes before they were relocated to the ma ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and are located to the south of the

main island of Singapore Singapore Island, also known as mainland Singapore and Pulau Ujong, is the main constituent island of the sovereign island country and city-state of the Republic of Singapore. It is located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, between th ...

, off the

Straits of Singapore The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a maritime ...

. It can be reached via a boat ride from

Marina South Pier Marina South Pier is a pier that is located in Marina South, Singapore. It is used as a terminal for tourists and day-trippers who are boarding small boats and ferries heading for the Southern Islands. There are regular ferries from the pier to ...

or West Coast Pier. Big Sister's Island, about in area and also known as ''Pulau Subar Laut'' in Malay, faces the open sea, while Little Sister's Island, about in area and also known as ''Pulau Subar Darat'' in Malay, faces the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

. The two islands are separated by a narrow channel. Currents through this channel can be very dangerous to swimmers and divers.

Legends

There are three legends on how the Sisters's Islands come about. The first version tells of two orphaned daughters, Minah and Linah, who stayed with their uncle on an island. One day, Linah met some pirates when fetching water from a well near the sea. The pirates chased her home and at her home, the pirate chief demanded to marry Linah the next day. On the next day, the pirates forcibly took Linah from her home and took her onto their boat. A storm broke out while Minah gave chase to rescue Linah and swam after the boat. While swimming after the boat, Minah drowned. Linah broke free from the pirates and jumped into the sea after Minah and subsequently drowned also. The storm stopped but the sisters could not be found. On the next day, two islands appeared where the two sisters were last seen. Another version of the legend stated that the sisters were being blown away by the storm and each landed on one of the islands, and hence the name ''Sisters' Islands''. A third version of the legend said that there were two sisters who drowned at sea. The elder sister tried to save the younger sister but both drowned. God was touched by their love for one another and transformed both into two little islands so they could be together forever. The two islands, called ''Pulau Subar Laut'' and ''Pulau Subar Darat'', was then known as the Sisters' Islands. It was said that every year on that very day when the sisters turned into islands, there will always be storm and rain.

Present

The beaches and warm blue waters make snorkeling a favourite activity at the islands. The islands are also popular with picnickers and campers and are also home to some of Singapore's richest

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s. A wide variety of

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

s can be found in the waters surrounding the islands. Common sea life that can be found includes

hard corals Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...

nudibranchs Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs, belonging to the order Nudibranchia, that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have be ...

and

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

. Big Sister's Island is home to some long-tailed

macaques The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe (in Gibraltar). Macaques are principally fru ...

. Pulau Subar Laut, meaning Big Sister Island, is open to the public while Pulau Subar Darat, meaning Small Sister Island, is not open to the public due to a turtle hatchery located there.

Sisters’ Islands Marine Park

In July 2014, National Parks Board announced plans for a

marine park A marine park is a designated park consisting of an area of sea (or lake) set aside to achieve ecological sustainability, promote marine awareness and understanding, enable marine recreational activities, and provide benefits for Indigenous peo ...

on the islands. The park, known as the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, is which encompasses the land and waters surrounding the islands, and also covers the western coasts of both St John’s Island and Pulau Tekukor. The park, which is managed by

National Parks Board The National Parks Board (NParks) is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. History In November 1989, Minister of National Development, S. Dhanabalan, presented the National Parks Bill ...

, allows visitors to appreciate and understand Singapore’s marine habitats, through guided walks and the dive trails where divers can register with an approved dive operator. A Marine Park Public Gallery was set up at St. John’s Island to showcase the biodiversity in Singapore waters and is an alternative site for visitors to learn more about the marine life of Singapore.

References

External links

Info for visitors
on wildsingapore
Sisters' Islands Marine Park Official Website
{{Authority control Southern Islands