Kayaks, paddleboards and sea bicycles on Lazarus Island, open Friday to Sunday. Nothing here has a motor, which is why the beach stays quiet.
Lazarus Island is the beach most visitors to Singapore never hear about — a crescent of sand twenty minutes offshore, with no hawkers, no beach clubs and, until recently, nothing to do but swim and walk. The sea sports centre added the one thing the island was missing without adding the thing that would have ruined it.
What you can get on the water in
The centre, run by Camelot, puts out kayaks — single, tandem and triple — stand-up paddleboards and sea bicycles, and runs yoga sessions on the water for people whose balance is better than mine. Instructors are on hand, which matters if half your party has never held a paddle.
Nothing in the fleet has an engine. That is a deliberate choice tied to how the Southern Islands are being managed, and it is the reason the water off Lazarus stays calm and quiet enough for a beginner to enjoy it. You are the motor.
Planning this trip yourself?
Send us your dates and how many are travelling. We will come back with an itinerary and a price, usually within one working day.
It is a weekend operation
The centre opens Friday to Sunday only — until late afternoon on Friday, and through to around five on Saturday and Sunday. This is the single most important thing to know about it, because a midweek trip to Lazarus is still a lovely day on a beach but it is not a paddling day, and there is no way to find that out once you are on the island.
Getting there is half the planning
Lazarus is reached by ferry to St John's Island and then on foot — the two islands are joined by a causeway you can walk in a few minutes. Ferry timings are limited and the last boat back is not negotiable, so the day is built backwards from it. Miss it and there is no shop, no hotel and no second sailing.
Bring what you need with you. There is no shop on Lazarus: no water, no lunch, no sunscreen, no cash machine. Take more water than you think and carry your rubbish back off the island, because nobody else is going to.
Who this suits
It suits travellers who have already done Sentosa and want a day that feels nothing like it, and it suits families with teenagers rather than toddlers — the appeal is space and water, not facilities. It is a poor choice for a party on a tight schedule, because the ferry decides your day rather than you.
For a first-time visitor with three days in Singapore, this is usually the wrong call. For a returning visitor, or somebody staying a week, it is one of the best days in the country.
Planning this into a Singapore trip
A Lazarus day is built around ferry times rather than opening hours, which makes it the part of a Singapore itinerary most worth getting a second opinion on before you commit a day to it.
We are a Singapore ground operator, so the itinerary we quote is the one our own team runs — hotels, airport transfers, attraction tickets and a car when the day needs one. Tell us your dates and who is travelling on our plan my trip page and we will come back with a costed day-by-day plan.
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