Here’s a Weekend Nature Retreat in Singapore to Indulge Your Glamping Obsession

THIS IS JUST A 30-minute ride, but it feels like I am traveling much further. I am sitting in a wooden bumboat, looking out the window as the vehicle ambles lazily through the waters of the Singapore Strait. Behind me, the city’s famous vertical skyline retreats slowly into the horizon. Up ahead is my destination, Lazarus Island, a nature retreat seven kilometers off the southern shores of the “mainland,” yet a Singapore glamping spot that’s a world apart from the urban jungle.

It may come as a surprise, but Singapore actually has 63 other smaller landmasses around the main blob of land. While many of these are reserved for industrial purposes, a few have been set aside for recreational use. Tiny uninhabited Lazarus is one such landmass, and it belongs to a cluster of three islets (the other two being St. John and Seringat) that have been shored up against the ocean, and essentially fused into one.

We Singapore locals regard this spot as the closest thing to a remote island getaway, its white sand beach and quiet environs offering a place unlike any on the mainland. Lazarus Island is so undeveloped that, for years, the only way to overnight here was to get a camping permit. It’s also the reason why most visitors are content to see it on a day trip.

Thankfully this is no longer the case. Last year saw the opening of two very interesting accommodation options on these shores. Into the Woods is a Singapore glamping resort located on a picture-perfect shore, while Tiny Away is a row of fully-functioning, eco-friendly homes just off the ferry dock.  I’ll be spending a night at each place, and yes—I can’t wait to get started on this quick n’ easy, away-from-the-city adventure.

The bumboat drops me off at the Seringat jetty, where Into the Woods operations manager Ras greets me with a golf buggy and a smile. “We typically don’t have many guests on weekdays, so I’m the only staffer here today,” he reports as he drives me over to the resort. “In fact, you’re our only guest tonight. You’ll have the island to yourself!”

The brown glamping tents line one side of Eagle Bay, where the pearly, crescent-shaped coastline faces south towards Indonesia, a mere 18 kilometers away. Guarding the bay’s entrance is Kusu Island, another tiny landmass revered by Muslim and Taoist devotees as a pilgrimage site. This place feels so far-flung, the view so refreshingly rustic—I have to remind myself that this is still Singapore.

Into the Woods Couple’s Tent from SGD 380 per night.

The Singapore Glamping Experience at Into the Woods

Into the Woods comprises nine luxury tents made for either a couple or a family of four. Technically they’re tents—waterproof fabric walls, mesh windows and all—but they’re more like spacious rooms, complete with air-conditioning, a refrigerator and a ceiling fan. Toilet and bath are in a separate building, and yes, they have running water and sustainably made organic soap.

The bed is amazingly plush, and far beyond anything I’ve encountered inside a tent. In addition, there’s a microwave oven and a moveable kitchen stall on one side. This is a camping trip, after all, so meals are DIY. Guests can either bring their own cooking ingredients or buy from a small gourmet convenience store which is (unfortunately) open only on weekends. The best thing about this crib, though, is how close it is to the beach. You simply slide open the glass door and step outside, no footwear required.

True to its philosophy of mindful living, the resort also offers thoughtful touches that help you disconnect from the city you just left. A seed paper journal and some colored pencils are provided inside the room, and there are pocketbooks and board games available for offline fun at the nearby Sukha Lodge – a “clubhouse tent” where Into the Woods guests can chill and refill their reusable bottles (also provided) of drinking water. Alternatively, there’s a station for low-impact watersports like paddleboarding and kayaking, located just a stone’s throw away.

With the end of the day approaching, I do the most natural thing to do in these environs. I bring my room’s camping chair and table out to the sand, and kick back with dinner and an ice-cold beer (BYO, because I always come prepared). The afternoon sun casts a warm glow over the bay; I watch as the sky changes color from light orange to pastel pink and deep blue. At times like these, one can’t help but simply relish these elemental joys. The sweet solitude lasts well into the night, and I sleep happily in my tent, accompanied by sea breeze and the sound of waves gently kissing the sand.

Island Life on Lazarus

The next morning, I do what most people here on a Singapore glamping trip do: go off on a blessedly quiet nature stroll. Lazarus and Seringat together combine to form around 47 hectares of island, much of it covered with light forest. It feels much smaller, though, as the paved walkways lead me from one side to the other in minutes.

Birds flit through the canopy; I see kingfishers and bee-eaters, along with a lone raptor riding the thermals high above. Over at St. John’s Island—connected to Lazarus via a short concrete walkway—I chat with fishing enthusiasts while they cast their lines into the sea. Then I gawk at a family of long-tailed macaques (common monkeys in these parts) frolicking on the grass. Occasionally I hear the long, baritone call of a ship’s horn—that of the regular ferry service from the mainland.

I am idly watching the bumboat disgorge its load of visitors when I get a check-in text message from Tiny Away, my home for tonight.

Singapore glamping, Tiny House-style

Located right in front of the Seringat jetty, Tiny Away feels rather like an islander’s version of Airbnb, where they send you a code to unlock the door to your crib. The company behind it is a local pioneer in tiny-house eco-tourism and features specially designed compact homes with a low carbon footprint.

Each of Tiny Away’s five cabins might fit inside your living room, but they’ve all got complete amenities. Mine sports a comfy double bed and sofa, an ensuite bathroom and a kitchen corner with its own microwave and electric grill. Full air-conditioning is a given, of course – there’s even a flat-screen TV with Netflix installed. These are all powered by rooftop solar panels and backed up by the island’s electricity grid to avoid any unwelcome blackouts in the middle of the night.

This isn’t exactly camping I think to myself later over dinner on the little patio outside. Staying in Tiny Away is like being at home, only in the most remote corner of Singapore. Here I can wake up to sunrise and the sound of birds (and the occasional docking bumboat), and not miss any of my (admittedly) urban-bred creature comforts.

Tomorrow I will return to the mainland a tad calmer, skin a shade darker, and a lot more relaxed than when I first came here. While the rest of Singapore relentlessly upgrades and redevelops itself, Lazarus Island offers proof that—sometimes at least, and with the help of these two lovely resorts—life’s simple joys are its most priceless.

Tiny Away Escape @ Lazarus Island Away from SGD 285 per night.

Photographs by Lester V. Ledesma.

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