Sentosa Island , Singapore

Sentosa Island, Singapore (8 July 2011)


Sentosa Island is a popular island resort in Singapore. A major tourist destination with many attractions, Sentosa receives two million visitors a year. Among the attractions at Sentosa include a sheltered beach of more than two kilometres in length, a historical fort, an aquarium, a couple of golf courses and two five-star hotels.

Sentosa is located in Singapore Postal District 04.

Map of Sentosa Island, Singapore

Sights on Sentosa Island

Universal Studios Singapore Rotating Globe (8 July 2011)


Sentosa Merlion (closed on 20 October 2019 to make way for the S$90 million Sentosa Sensoryscape to be opened in 2022.) (8 July 2011)


Images of Singapore Historical Museum, incorporating Madame Tussauds Singapore. (8 July 2011)


Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom Sentosa (8 July 2011)


iFly Singapore, Indoor Skydiving (8 July 2011)


Siloso Beach, Sentosa (8 July 2011)


Siloso Beach, Sentosa (8 July 2011)


Le Méridien Singapore, Sentosa (8 July 2011)

Going to Sentosa Island

On Foot
Perhaps the easiest way to get across the Meander Shoal to reach Sentosa Island is on foot. This, you can on by using the Sentosa Boardwalk (click for details).

By Sentosa Express
The Sentosa Express (click for details) monorail connects VivoCity on mainland Singapore to Sentosa Island.

By Singapore Cable Car
This is the most luxurious way to arrive on Sentosa Island (unless you come by helicopter!) It costs S$35 adult S$25 child (as of Dec 2019) for the Singapore Cable Car Sky Pass Round Trip Mount Faber and Sentosa Island. There are all together 4 stations: Faber Peak Station and HarbourFront Tower 2 Station on the Singapore mainland, and Siloso Point Station and Merlion Station on Sentosa Island.

Sentosa Islander Membership

If you are very fond of visiting Sentosa Island, get the Sentosa Islander membership, which entitles you to unlimited island admissions via the Sentosa Express, or coming by car (limited one private car per membership). There is also a S$20 cash voucher for use on your birthday. In addition, you can bring a friend to Sentosa for free on the Sentosa Express. Members coming by car enjoy free first two hours of parking at Beach Station.

As of Dec 2019, the membership is S$25 per individual and S$50 per family.

About Sentosa Island

Sentosa Island was formerly known as Pulau Belakang Mati, which in Malay means the "Island of Death from Behind". Variations to the name "Pulau Belakang Mati" have been found in maps dating as early as the 17th and 18th century, though in many cases, it is uncertain which island the name refers. Moreover, the island has undergone several name changes.

Up to 1830, it was called Pulau Panjang (Long Island). There is a possibility that "Belakang Mati" was a name given to just a hill on the island by the Malay villagers living there, not to the whole island. The island was renamed Sentosa Island in 1972 when efforts were initiated to give it a rebranding. The name Sentosa means "peaceful" in the Malay language.

According to Yeo Tze Yang, student of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, in his essay An Erased History of Pulau Belakang Mati, a group of Yeo clansmen from Meishan Village in Dongshan County, Fujian Province, settled at Pulau Belakang Mati in the early 20th century to escape political turmoil in China. Their descendants lived there until 1975, when they were relocated and resettled by the government.

In 1827, Captain Edward Lake of the Bengal Engineers proposed an alternative name for Belakang Mati as the "Island of St George". However, the island was seen as too unhealthy for habitation and his proposed name was never realised.

In 1972, the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board held a contest in which the name Sentosa was selected. The name means "peace and tranquility" in Malay.

Entering Sentosa Island using the Sentosa Broadwalk (8 July 2011)

Transport on Sentosa Island

The Sentosa Express is a mass transit monorail train that forms the backbone of public transport on Sentosa Island.

References

1. Imagined Malaysia: An Erased History of Pulau Belakang Mati by Yeo Tze Yang

List of Islands of Singapore; Discover Singapore

 Sights in Singapore

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