There are currently four zoos in Singapore: the Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari, the Jurong Bird Park and the newest one is the River Safari (opened in 2013). It’s already been reported that there will be a fifth one (a Rainforest Park) which will open in a few years time!

*UPDATE: River Safari has been renamed to River Wonders. The Jurong Bird Park has permanently closed and relocated to Bird Paradise in Mandai.

They are all popular attractions and my parents used to take me when I was a child. :) In recent years, I kept wanting to re-visit them again, starting with the Singapore Zoo during one of my uni summer holidays a few years back. Last year, after talking about it for the the longest time, I finally went to the River Safari for the first time and my planned next stop will be the bird park!

The River Safari is a river-themed zoo and aquarium, so there is a significant focus on animals that live in water and rides include a boat ride and a reservoir cruise.

It’s also home to the two pandas Kai Kai (凯凯) and Jia Jia (嘉嘉), which clearly, are the the most popular attractions of the park! :) I was lucky enough to spot them both, and I’m so happy to get to see them both in person, because I read online that this isn’t necessarily always the case and this was also my first time seeing pandas! In case anyone was wondering, yes, the pandas are on loan from China.

I had a very enjoyable day and at my leisurely pace, I covered the whole park (including taking the two rides and a stop for lunch) from my arrival at 11:30am to around 5+pm. Like the other zoos, this is an open air attraction and it is very hot with Singapore’s weather. However, the whole place is sheltered! This is an amazing fact that I must point out because the Singapore Zoo is not sheltered and I was exhausted during my last trip there. I’m mosquito prone, but didn’t experience any mosquito or bug issues here, so another thumbs up on this!

For eating and drinking, do bring your own water bottle or end up paying S$2 for bottled water like me ahhh. So silly of me sheesh! There are drink and ice cream stands scattered throughout the park, but there is only one casual restaurant (this is where they sell the popular panda steamed buns, they come in two flavours: chocolate or red bean) and one Starbucks. 

As for rides, there are two in River Safari. One is a cruise along the Upper Seletar Reservoir, this takes about 10 minutes and is free. The other ride is called the Amazon Quest boat ride, a 10 minute ride where you sit in a small boat and it takes you through a small section of the park to see certain animals that you cannot access without taking the ride – this cost me an additional S$5 and you have to purchase an extra ticket for this, when you buy your park ticket. [More info here.]

So, that’s my first trip to the River Safari! Hope this was useful to you if you plan on visiting too. :)
P.S. If you have more energy than me or wish to visit more than one zoo, the River Safari is located in between the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari, so you can choose to tick them all off within your holiday – tickets are discounted if you buy multiple park tickets.

River Safari Singapore
80 Mandai Lake Road

Opening Hours:
Daily: 10am – 7pm (last entry at 6:30pm)

Admission Ticket Prices:
Adult (Singapore Residents): S$28.90
Adult (Non-Residents): S$30.60
Note: There are different ticket prices for children and senior citizens, link here for reference.

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