Chek Jawa (South) still alive

We do our annual low tide check up on the southern area of Chek Jawa near the Beacon, with kind permission and support from NParks.

We find sponges and corals, sea fans and soft corals. The team make all the special finds: seahorse, stonefish, sea stars and more. I will update later with their photos.

Today, I saw more than 20 small to medium-sized Boulder pore corals near the beacon. Most were nice and brown. This is similar to what I saw in May 2025 and May 2024. I saw one medium Boulder sandpaper coral - only the bottom half was alive. Along the way from House No. 1 jetty to the Beacon, I saw three small colonies of Flowery disk coral and what looks like one dead one. There were also patches of Zebra coral.

Today, I saw some small to medium sized flowery soft corals of various kinds. This is the first time I've see these since the explosion of Spiky flowery soft corals we saw in Jun 2023. I didn't see a lot of sea fans and only a few clumps of zoanthids. But all soft corals seemed alright.

Today, as at our May 2025 survey, there seems to be more larger healthier clumps of common sponges, compared to our survey in May 2024. But the variety of sponges remains low and I still didn't see any Barrel sponges (the last time I saw these here was in Jun 2023. Much of the coral rubble near the beacon was bare.

Seagrasses are still growing lush and fresh near the Beacon. Smooth ribbon seagrasses are doing very well growing in a large portion of the area between the boardwalk almost all the way to the beacon, as well as even on the sandbar. Spoon seagrasses (large leaves) grew thick and lush, as well as Needle seagrass with broad and narrow leaves. I saw some Fern seagrass. I saw two clumps of Tape seagrass with cropped leaves at the reef edge near the Beacon. 

I felt today that the southern sand bar had gotten wider, and that sand had built up on the landward side of the sand bar and in the area directly beneath the Beacon. Will need to wait for Google Earth to update views for this year to see if there has been a change. The latest displayed currently is for 2024.

What is the fate of Chek Jawa?

Chek Jawa and Pulau Sekudu is slated for reclamation in the Long-Term Plan Review. The plan includes a road link (black line) from the mainland jumping off at Punggol, crossing to Pulau Ubin through Chek Jawa to jump off to Pulau Tekong before circling back to the mainland on Changi East. Proposed reclamation (in yellow) will bury Pasir Ris shores, Pulau Sekudu and Chek Jawa as well as a large stretches of Changi Beach.

The Singapore Blue Plan 2018

Among the Proposed Areas for Immediate Conservation Priority, the Singapore Blue Plan 2018 proposes that the intertidal and subtidal marine areas of Pulau Ubin to be designated Marine Reserve.

The proposed area would include Tanjung Chek Jawa, the largest known intertidal area in northern Singapore. Considered one of the richest in Singapore, Chek Jawa comprises many adjacent ecosystems: coastal hill forest, mangrove areas, rocky shores, seagrass meadows, coral communities, and sandy areas. Chek Jawa remains an icon of celebration and hope for many Singaporeans since its reprieve from reclamation in 2001.

DOWNLOAD the Plan, SUPPORT the Plan! More on the Singapore Blue Plan 2018 site.