Singapore’s popular tourist destination, neighbouring Sentosa Island, is just one of the 4 great Asian locations where you can enjoy an optional return stopover following the unforgettable holidays to Australia and New Zealand offered by Distant Journeys. With numerous activities, restaurants and places to go, Sentosa Island has something for everyone, and below we’ve come up with a few facts about this holiday paradise:
Sentosa Island was only given its name in 1972, when Singapore’s government decided to develop the island into a top tourist destination and holiday resort for both locals and international tourists. The name ‘Sentosa’ means ‘isle of tranquility’.
Before it was known as Sentosa Island, the island was known as Pulau Belakang Mati, which translates from Malay as ‘island of the dead’. There are many theories about the origin of this name, with the name having been accredited to the island’s previous piracy, outbreaks of disease and even to the fact that the island is surrounded by ‘dead’ water with no wind.
Sentosa Island is just 5 square kilometres in size, though it is still the fourth largest island in size in the country of Singapore. It is situated just 500m from the southern shore of Singapore’s main island and visitors can even walk to the island from the main island via the Sentosa Walkway.
Although the island is a paradise for tourist attractions, almost 70% of the island is still natural rainforest, home to a host of flora and fauna as well as diverse wildlife including parrots, lizards and monkeys.
Sentosa Island is also home to over 3km of beaches extending around the coast of the island, all of which are covered with beautiful white sand.
There are plenty of ways to travel around Sentosa Island and also between Sentosa Island and the main island of Singapore, including the Sentosa Express monorail, bus services and the Sentosa Walkway.
