Pasir Ris to Changi Village

It's been awhile since we last walked this way but one of our walking kakis wanted to celebrate his birthday at Changi so we decided to do this route.

A heron facing the wind to dry its feathers after drizzle

Pasir Ris Park
We started from Pasir Ris Station after lunch at Cookhouse in White Sands Mall. We headed over to the Pasir Ris Sports Centre at the northern end of the Pasir Ris Town Park. Here we crossed over to Pasir Ris Park carpark B where we accessed the mangrove boardwalk. Soon we were enjoying the sights and sound of the mangrove at the Pasir Ris Park.

Two squirrels at the Pasir Ris Park boardwalk

The day was cool with the light drizzle that followed us all the way to Changi Village. Surprisingly we sighted a number of herons flying above the Tampines River. From the lookout deck over the river we could see four of them resting on the branches of one tree and there were some flying overhead. Later on we discovered the reason for the sighting as we saw some nests near the chalets.

Pasir Ris Park

Our route took us all the way eastward to the end of the park and then we would go around the chalets and walk along the drain until we found a place to cross near the entrance to Aloha Loyang Resort. We then crossed an open space to get on to Pasir Ris Drive 4 and turned left at Pasir Ris Drive 3 to walk along the Pasir Ris Park Connector.

Kelong Walk opposite Changi Beach Club

Changi Coastal Walk
We went past Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple at Loyang Way after which we walked the Loyang Park Connector all the way to Cranwell Road to reach the start of the Changi Boardwalk next to the Changi Beach Club. Some parts of the boardwalk were slippery due to the rain. Except for the hardy anglers there were few hikers around.

Beach Walk

The Changi Coastal Walk has a varied terrain starting from a boardwalk over water near the Changi Beach Club then hugging the cliff below the Fairy Point holiday bungalows. Then it passed by the Changi Sailing Club where we could see some boats anchored in the water and some stored on land. After this was the beach section below the chalets of the Civil Service Club and finally hugging the shores of the Changi Creek before arriving at the ferry terminal. This is where people leave for Ubin or Pengarang. We ended our walk here.

Our Route

Map data ©2018 Google

Coney Island (Pulau Serangoon)

West Entrance to Coney Island

With the opening of Coney Island in October we decided to include it in the next weekly walk.

The Route

The planned route was to start from Pasir Ris White Sands Mall and walk along Pasir Ris Drive 3 westward all the way to Lorong Halus. From here we would enter Coney Island via the Serangoon East Dam. We would end our walk at Punggol Point. Here we would take a feeder bus to the Punggol Interchange.

Beach at Pasir Ris Park

Pasir Ris Park

At the start of our walk we diverted to Pasir Ris Park to show new members the mangrove swamp along the Tampines River. Despite the haze season the haze reading was in the healthy range. At the beach we noticed that it was at high tide with water level reaching the park. After enjoying the views at the park we walked along Api Api River to Pasir Ris Drive 3 to continue our walk to Lorong Halus.

At the end of Pasir Ris Drive 3 (at the bend) we continued our walk along the canal to Pasir Ris Farmway 3. We kept going past Lorong Halus until we reached the Lorong Halus Wetland. We took a rest here to recover from the heat. Well-rested we approached the East Dam to enter the island park.

Boardwalk at Pasir Ris Park

We came across many groups of cyclists coming or going to the park. And there were some hikers too. That was unusual on a weekday afternoon.

Coney Island

There are two entrances to the island across the two Dams built to create the Punggol Serangoon Reservoir. There is an earth road all the way along the island. Besides cyclists and hikers, maintenance vehicles also use it. Then there are several approaches to the beach areas facing Pulau Ubin.

Main Trail

How to get there

The most convenient way to get to Coney Island is to take the train all the way to Punggol MRT Station then change to the feeder bus service number 84 to Punggol Point. From here one can either walk or hire a bike from the last shop. The West Entrance is only 800m away. The length of the main track through the island is 2.4m. One possible route is to first explore the island then exit via the East Entrance to the Lorong Halus Wetland and back via Punggol Promenade or the Punggol Waterway back to Punggol Point.

Related Posts
Punggol Park Connector - from Buangkok to Punggol
Punggol Point
Punggol Waterway Punggol Promenade

Route Map

Map data ©2016 Google

 

Pasir Ris to Buangkok

The route was along the coastline from Pasir Ris Park to Serangoon East Dam, then through Lorong Halus Wetland along the eastern bank of Sungei Serangoon to Buangkok MRT Station .

Sungei Api Api

The original plan was to reach Tampines Road by following the Sungei Serangoon all the way but because of the hot weather and the muddy trails caused by the recent rains, we left the trail at Buangkok East Drive to proceed to Buangkok.

A solitary fisherman sitting by the Pasir Ris Beach

Pasir Ris Park
From White Sands Shopping Centre we walked through the bus interchange to the Pasir Ris Park. When we reached the beach we turned left to follow the coast. At the end of the park we stepped onto the beach. We selected a day when the tide was at the lowest so as to allow us ample beach access. The first stretch was easy going as it was beach sand but we soon arrived at a stretch where there were stones lining the coast. We proceeded with caution and soon arrived at a stream that blocked our way. We met some hobby fishermen relaxing in the shade while waiting for the tide to turn.

Lorong Halus Wetlands Park

As we were scrambling on the granite stones, we noticed a patrol boat racing toward us beyond a line of floats put up to hamper unauthorised landing on the beach. It was speeding quickly parallel to the floats but suddenly slowed down. It probably realised that we were a bunch of hikers armed with walking sticks and cameras. On another occasion at Marina East, we were approached by a patrol car but they were not interested in us and were expecting to see some foreigners landing at the wave breaker near the helipad. This was just after our famous Mas Selamat was "selamat datang" in Johor so the coastal patrols were edgy.

Horseshoe Bridge from Lorong Halus Wetlands Park

We followed the stream and found a bridge that allowed us to cross. We then walked along the embankment of granite stones lining the beach outside an army camp to Pasir Ris Farmway 6. We tried to continue our progress along the granite stones but found them a bit challenging. A contractor approached us telling us that it was dangerous to proceed along the stones. We accepted his advice. We walked along Farmway 6 until we reach the access road to the dam and followed it all the way to the dam. Along the way, we saw a few fishermen park their cars along Farmway 6 before proceeding to the dam to fish. The dam led to Coney Island (Pulau Serangoon) where a fisherman was killed by lightning a few weeks ago.

Lorong Halus Wetlands Park
After a short rest while observing the fishermen, we proceeded to the Lorong Halus Wetlands Park & Visitor Centre. There was a pedestrian bridge linking it to the Punggol Waterway and Punggol Park Connector. We then headed for the trail on the eastern side of Sungei Serangoon. The gate was locked but we took a short detour to get outside to the trail. From here to Tampines Expressway, there were patches of wet and muddy ground due to the recent monsoon rain. This trail is better accessed during the dry season.

We braved on and when we arrived under the Tampines Expressway, we spent a bit of time freshening up i.e. wash our shoes and changed our socks. What a difference a pair of fresh dry socks could do.

Tampines Expressway

With our morale boosted we made short work of the trail to Buangkok East Drive. The trail here was much better than the earlier part. At Buangkok East Drive we decided to call it a day and proceeded to Kopitiam near Buangkok MRT Station for a rest.

Route

Map data ©2020 Google, URA

Related articles
Punggol Park Connector - from Buangkok to Punggol
Punggol Point 
Punggol Waterway | Punggol Promenade