Sembawang Hot Springs

30 Mar, 2020 by Siyang

Sembawang Hot Springs is the only naturally occurring hot spring on mainland Singapore, with another in Pulau Tekong. It is located a convenience distance of a few bus stops from Yishun MRT.

The park was officially opened on 4th Jan 2020. A nice floral trail was constructed, together with a small cafe.

This is the main area of the hot spring. Watched over by two majestic Malayan Banyan trees (Ficus microcarpa), it includes from left to right a fenced up old well, cascading hot springs pool, and some trellis shelters.

The main attraction is this cascading pool. The hot spring water first emerges from the top at 70°C, then at lower temperatures of 60°C, 50°C, 45°C, and 40°C for each lower levels, which I presume due to the loss of heat from the large surface area of the pool. Many dipped their feet at the lowest point, though I refrained from it due to the current coronavirus situation.

Here's a so called egg cooking corner, where water can be collected at 70°C for various purposes, including cooking eggs. 

The hot spring also have a rich history; with F&N acquiring the area and bottling the water for sale, and later taken over by the military. More can be read from this excellent writeup by the National Library Board.

It was just a short trip of 20mins but felt amazed how awesome the design of the hot spring park was. During this pandemic season, I will try to visit more nature areas and share more plants and blog posts. Till then!