It's the time of year for Kusu Pilgrimage season!! Y'all have probably seen it in the papers, but in the lunar 9th month, devotees visit Kusu Island to pay respects to Da Bo Gong (Tua Pek Kong). My home girls (and guy) decided to become pilgrims for a day last Sunday and check out this southern island which, as Singaporeans, we've embarrassingly never visited in our lives.
Kusu Island ferries are operated by Singapore Island Cruise, and typically only run 3-5 times a day on normal weekends. However, pilgrimage season sees ferries every half an hour from 7am till 7pm! A major boon for convenience, for not a lot of cost in terms of crowd.
Ferries leave from Marina South Pier, which is a small, unassuming kind of building with a complete lack of any queue organization or good directional signs. Since it's new I was quite surprised that it wasn't more happening for tourists, but I guess not that many people really frequent the place anyway:
This is about all there is to see at the pier.
We hopped on a 3pm ferry to Kusu, to reach there just in time for the 4.30pm low tide to go searching for corals. Kusu island, St Johns island, and the Cyrene Reef Flat, all just south of Singapore, are among the last few city reefs left in the world! I always thought that our waters were too polluted for corals to survive, but apparently they're still there and thriving, a unique kind of ecosystem that's tolerant of the bustle of a major harbor.
Ferry rides to Kusu take about 20min each way, but because the boats are so small, it's a choppy ride and people prone to sea sickness might want to take tablets before getting on board. The ride was like a tour through the giant container ships and barges which dot our waters, all awaiting their turn at the port. We often see them lining the horizon from East Coast and West Coast parks, but you don't get a good scale of just how many there are until you sail among them, or see them from the air.
A seascape of ships from our ferry.
The Kusu Island entrance has a happy, 1980s tropical feel to it! I really like how it has not been modernized like the rest of mainland, which gives it a more laid-back, resort/getaway atmosphere. It even has those really old school loudspeakers hung by wire to tree branches, and these act as the island's sole PA system for announcements and music.
Our first stop was to walk through the Tua Pek Kong temple, in hopes of figuring out what the whole pilgrimage was about. To my ignorant eyes, it looked like any other trip to a temple, but involving a whole lot more traveling. Nevertheless the temple set by the sea side with its own little lagoon makes it a peaceful oasis compared to our now-urban jungle on mainland.
Despite being 'peak season', the temple surroundings are still quiet and peaceful. There was a good breeze that day so the heat wasn't intolerable.
Left: The tortoise statue sits across the lagoon from the walkway pictured above.
Right: Yuxian tries his luck at a lotus wishing well. There are bells suspended above the well and you'd supposedly have your wish granted if you manage to strike it with a tossed coin.
The entrance to the temple is lined with people selling joss sticks and other forms of incense. A little terrapin enclosure off to the side houses way too many terrapins for that little space, and you can buy veggies to feed them if you wished.
I'm still unclear who exactly Da Bo Gong is. Some sources claim he is a deity of wealth, others claim he was a real person and explorer, so after his death, travelers prayed to him for protection and prosperity...
A wishing tree! Strips of paper with wishes in all languages can be found on this tree.
We end off with another tortoise statue, and the gate at the opposite end of the temple which leads to a small, seasonal pasar malam (street market).
The aforementioned pasar malam selling all kinds of trinkets, fans and souvenirs, including tortoise magnets and other manner of touristy stuff.
More tortoise enclosures! The island must live up to its name after all.
We set up shop next to the lagoon opposite the temple and laid out our (very unhealthy) picnic.
Om nom nom.
The view from the lagoon is gorgeous, and you get a very unique view of our new skyline, including MBS and the Singapore Flyer. It really is strange to think that this rustic island still exists so close to such a sprawling metropolis.
This next section of the post is just going to be one long series of pictures with almost no captions, because I have no idea how to identify these corals and I don't want to be putting wrong information on the web. If anyone reading this knows how to identify them, please drop a comment and I'll add the info in, ©You!
I didn't modify the picture colors or clarity because I wanted to show how silty our shores are, and just by walking toward the corals, you kick up amazing amounts of sediment which completely obscure your view of them within seconds. You then need the patience to stand there stock still for almost 10 minutes as the water clears before it's possible to even glimpse them again.
Far more experienced nature and photography enthusiasts like Nature rambles and the Wild Shores blog have breathtaking pictures of what you can see at Kusu at the optimal times, but this blog shows what you're far more likely to see as an amateur during an average low tide.
Best results are obviously during super low tides known as "spring tides", when the sun and moon are aligned to give the maximum gravitational pull on the water. Note that this has nothing to do with the season of Spring, rather it means 'spring' as in the bouncy metal thing in your bed.
We walked out onto the beach as the tide was receding, to reveal thousands of shellfish in the shallow water. I watched with great amusement as Deanna squeaked in terror when she discovered that these shells were, in fact, alive and moving.
Crab! It looks to me like a female Fiddler crab but I'm just smoking here.
Deanna, Weichao, Yuxin and Yuxian wade gingerly around the reefs...
My guidebook says this is Padina sp., a type of brown algae.
Just random boulder corals.
This was my first ever time using an underwater camera! I bought a Ricoh PX after going snorkeling in Hawaii and being very disappointed about not having a camera which could capture the amazing reefs there. I still don't have a good grasp on focus and color, but at least it's better than the disposable film kind :).
Brains? Macaroni?
I want to say... sponges. They look incredibly pink and squishy, but I really have no clue.
More squishy yellow stuff.
City reefs!
Corals in the water with a city skyline in the background, one of the few places on Earth you can get such a shot!
Jasela and I pose in the water with the skyline in the background. It never occurred to me to wipe my camera lens after taking it out of the water -_-".
A whole field of some sort of sea grass, swaying in the waves.
More shellfish (left), and I believe that's sargassum (right), a kind of seaweed.
I was very happy to be nearing dry land again after being thigh-deep in the water for more than an hour trying not to step on corals.
Danger! Oh, this must be why the life guards kept blowing that whistle when we were attempting to climb on the breakwater. Our bad.
A glorious sunset.
Finishing up that picnic to dramatic lighting with cheese and wine juice.
We caught the last ferry off the island at 7pm, and we kind of just floated at the pier for a long while as the staff walked around the island to round up stragglers. It was actually a big ferry this time with an open deck on top, which made for a very cooling, relaxing, and most importantly seasick-free ride home.
Well, our boat was not very environmentally friendly, but it only puffed black smoke once...
I hope more people will take the opportunity to go explore the reefs at our Southern Islands before they slowly disappear as our climate changes, the corals get bleached and our harbor gets more silty. They are such beautiful, fascinating creations, and to see them out in nature compared to at the Underwater World or a random aquarium is a very different and humbling experience.
I hope to some day make it to St Johns Island, where the NUS Marine Science Institute is. I've heard rumors that it may not be there for much longer, so this must happen soon! There you can get a tour of the aquariums within the institute, as well as of the surrounding coral reefs and mangroves - probably one of the last few authentic Nature experiences you can get in SG these days.
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Budget!
Round trip ferry - $15/pax (during pilgrimage season, $16 on weekends, $14 on weekdays)
