Pulau Ubin

Pulau Ubin is 10 minutes from Changi Point by bumboat, a small wooden motorboat that leaves once it's full, and about 50 years back in time. The wooden houses by the jetty make up a kampong, the Malay word for a village, and around them spread 1,036 hectares of granite hills, regrown forest and six disused quarries: Balai, Kekek, Ketam, Pekan, Petai and Ubin. Hornbills and wild boar live here, and there isn't a single traffic light. On a first visit we'd ride east to Chek Jawa and save Puaka Hill and Ketam for next time. Start with breakfast at one of the kitchens by the jetty, then hire a bike in the village. There's no Grab on the island. Carry cash and water, plus repellent for the mosquitoes.

Chek Jawa Wetlands covers about 100 hectares at the eastern tip, where six habitats meet: sandy beach, rocky beach, seagrass lagoon, coral rubble, mangroves and coastal forest. It's about 3km from the jetty, or a 40-minute walk. Leave the bike in the lots near Punai Hut, walk the 600-metre Coastal Loop and the 500-metre Mangrove Loop, then climb the 21-metre Jejawi Tower. Part of the Coastal Loop is closed for maintenance until the end of April 2027, while the Mangrove Loop and the rest of the Coastal Loop stay open. House No. 1, a Tudor-style bungalow, is the visitor centre, and its refurbished Nature Gallery has displays and an interactive touchscreen. The guided intertidal tour is suspended for pontoon works, so this is a walk you do on your own.

Closer to the jetty, and good at any cool hour, the Sensory Trail is an easy 1.5km walk through village plants and mangroves, ending at Sensory Trail Pond. Climb the hill above the pond to Teck Seng's Place, a restored 1970s kampong house, open Wednesday to Sunday. Back in the village, Pekan Quarry is only 10 minutes away. It was once called Ho Man Choo and has been a lookout since 2007, with herons on the flooded pits below, so it makes an easy last stop before the boat. If the sun's out, give half an hour to Butterfly Hill, a knoll about the size of a football field inside Jelutong Campsite, where more than 50 nectar plants draw about 140 butterfly species.

Save the harder stuff for a second visit. On foot, Puaka Hill is Ubin's high point at 74 metres, a hike through tembusu trees and resam ferns up to a view over Ubin Quarry. On a bike, head west to Ketam Mountain Bike Park, 45 hectares around Ketam Quarry, where the granite work ended in 1999. Its IMBA-rated trails run about 10km, graded Blue Square, Black Diamond and Double Black Diamond, and German Girl Shrine sits on the park's western edge. Either one after Chek Jawa means racing the boats back around 7pm. To see the mangroves from the water instead, book the sunrise mangrove kayak and let someone else navigate.

Where to eat

• Encik Hassan's, by the Ubin jetty: Malay dishes such as mee rebus, mee siam and nasi lemak, at weekends
• Cheong Lian Yuen or Sin Nam Huat, near the wayang (street opera) stage: seafood and kopi, the local coffee, before you set off on the bike
• Season Live Seafood, among the kitchens by the jetty: seafood by the water before the boat back
• Snacks and water, packed before you set off: food thins out once you leave the village