Pollution

[luvnyc]

Now I know one of Singapore's attractions is the low pollution. And I know there is haze from around Aug - Oct due to fires in Indonesia. But according to the Lonely Planet, the beaches in Singapore are polluted? Is that really true? So no swimming? Does the pollution come from neighboring countries or the port?

I have been to the country a number of times but never to any of the beaches.

I am not a beach person - just curious?

[TYFC Jai]

To be frank Singapore is small and the outskirts of Singapore are surrounded by other neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. So the water is not really that perfect as compared to others. The beaches at certain areas are polluted due to many industrial company setup the location near to the seas...especially the Marine and Oil and Gas companies. Then there is another problem, that is human who loves to go to the beaches but then litters all over. In actual fact some area of the beaches area are being monitored by the government to make it a cleaner place to be. Go to either Sentosa or Pasir Ris and you'll enjoy the cleaner beaches there.

[Strong Eagle]

You will see lots of people in the water at East Coast Park and Sentosa. I cannot say that the beaches are polluted but neither are they pristine. Consider: Singapore is the second largest container port in the world. It is on the busiest shipping lane in the world. Singapore does have stringent laws about dumping and ballast but with the literally 1000's of ships present, accidents and irregularities are bound to occur.

[bgd]

I can vouch for the oily taste of the water at Changi Pt - kayaks don't always stay upright.

[yoongf]

Sg beaches are not facing any open ocean, so there is no flushing effect.
Neighbouring countries waterfront facing Sg are mostly mangrove swamps, and have floating fishfarms, so tons of organic matter.

East Coast Park beaches were reclaimed with clay type of materials from local hills in the 70s. Thus, the perpetual orange colour. Since the 80s they are now using sand from foreign river/sea beds.

There are tons of ships anchored off the East Coast beach, while the West coast are dotted with shipyards and ports. Unlikely to get the resort kind of beach environment.

Sentosa beaches are man made, and protected by floating booms.

[micknlea]

For a tropical island Singapore doesn't have many beaches at all, and really they aren't ones you want to go swimming at. Save that for the holidays you will have whilst here, at all the neighbouring islands that do have nice beaches.

[TYFC Jai]

In actual fact there are nice beaches but it's protected and most of the time these islands are used by the military for their training purposes. You might want to go to Kusu Island, Pulau Ubin, St John and Sentosa....here the link:

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/s ... apore.html

But better of if you go to neibhouring country like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and best of places Cebu Island the Phillipines.

[bruinbear]

Yeah the best beaches are in the neighbouring countries.