Gardens By The Bay Singapore.
This has been on my bucket list for ages. I have been captivated by pictures of the Supertrees at Gardens By The Bay Singapore since I first saw them. And the Supertrees were the primary reason for our to visit Singapore.
The Supertrees are located at the Gardens by the Bay is a nature park. Spanning about 250 acres of reclaimed land, it is part of Singapore’s strategy to transform itself from a garden city to a city in a garden. And, it certainly is a garden city currently, the amount of flowers and green spaces in Singapore is incredible!
Just to look around either during the daytime or seeing the light show in the evening costs nothing. However, should you wish to take a walk on the suspended walkway between the signatories it does cost $8. (All costs in this blog are in Singapore dollars.)
The walkway is called the OCBC Skyway and it is suspended 22 m above the ground and is 128 m long. Of course, if you have a fear of heights, have a look from the ground and see what you think first!
Clean and Green
The supertrees are in some way like real trees, in that they convert sunlight into energy. They have solar panels on the top of them which converts sunlight into energy that powers the gardens of the Bay. Indeed, the nerd in me was really geeking out at this. The trees are, unbelievably, their own ecosystem. They have planting panels all the way up. Also, they act as exhaust vents. The Supertrees are between 25 and 50 m high.
Each Supertree consists of four major parts
There is a reinforced concrete core
A steel frame surrounds the core
There are planting panels to hold all the plants on the outside
The canopy of the tree shaped like an inverted umbrella
Also, the Supertrees collect rainwater which is used for irrigation and the fountains. The supertrees also serve as intake and exhaust functions for the conservatory’s cooling system. There are plaques and Information Systems at the bottom of each tree explaining how they work. See Wiki for more info.
It is a great example of nature and technology existing in a sustainable and harmonising way. It is one of those building projects where you look at it and say yeah, they got this right. I’m hoping Singapore is leading the way with its sustainable Supertrees! Indeed, I hope to see more projects in cities around the world in the future. That would be so cool!
There are over 160,000 plants planted on the supertrees. Comprising over 200 species of orchids and ferns along with tropical flowering climbers, the supertrees are home to great life and biodiversity.
Light Show
There is a light show twice nightly at the supertrees. This costs nothing to see, lasts about 15 minutes and comes complete with music. Watching all the supertrees lit up, with lights, dancing to the music, was amazing. There are two performances per night, 19:45 and 20:45.
Undoubtedly, sometimes with bucket list items, you are concerned that they won’t live up to your expectations. I had no worries here! They were everything I hoped they would be and more. Singapore’s heat, which is more manageable in the evening, made for a very pleasant 15 minutes watching the light show.
I recorded some video of the show just so you can see how amazing it was, and even the video doesn’t do it justice. It’s one of those you have to be there moments.
You can watch the light show from the suspended walkway but when we were there, queues to do this were quite large and, also, it’s not something book in advance. There must be a knack of arriving at the right time, which of course, we did not!
Gardens by The Bay Singapore, as seen from the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel
However, Gardens by The Bay is not just Supertrees! As can be seen above, the site is huge! And, to top it all, it’s all land reclaimed from the sea! The flower dome is in the foreground and behind it is the cloud dome. The Supertree Grove is in the centre of the picture.
Cloud Forest
We especially enjoyed the Cloud Forest Dome. As you enter, you are greeted by a spectacular waterfall, emerging from the central rock, is really something to behold. You can get close to it and be caressed by its gentle spray which, after the heat of the day is very pleasant!
Waterfall – Cloud Forest – Gardens by the Bay Singapore
The cloud forest is a 35 metre mountain covered with tropical vegetation. The dome covers 153,000 m² and it takes over 2577 glass panels to cover the dome. The temperature inside is between 23 to 25°C humidity is 80 to 90%. The dome is an architectural marvel in its own right and even if you’re not a fan of flowers it is well worth seeing.
Cloud Forest – Gardens by the bay Singapore
All manner of different plants cover the forest and its vegetation typically found about 2000 m above sea level orchids, picture plants and even Venus fly traps are to be found.
The cloud forest contains the world’s tallest indoor waterfall at over 30 m tall. Thanks to the waterfall air conditioning and regular mistings, the cloud forest is kept a constant temperature.
The path winds its way around the central rock until you eventually reach the top then you descend by means of suspended platforms and walkways to the bottom. For those, who are slightly wary of heights and I include myself in that number should not have too many problems. Once I got used to it, I found it fine.
Entrance to the cloud forest is just $16. But, if you want to access both the cloud forest and the nearby flower Dome tickets are $28. It is open from 9 AM to 9 PM daily.
Flower Dome
The Flower Dome is lower than the Cloud Forest but slightly larger. It replicates the climate of semi-arid tropical regions. The Flower Dome is 38 m high and maintains a constant temperature of between 23 and 25° C. The flower Dome features several different gardens as well as an olive grove with a bistro. Some of the olive trees are over 1000 years old.
Flower Dome – Gardens by the Bay Singapore
Both the Flower Dome and the cloud forest are the world’s largest columnless greenhouses. The Flower Dome itself contains over 3000 glass panels.
The Flower Dome shows flora from around the world in its natural habitat. When we were there, it was Cherry Blossom Season and they had women dressed in kimonos standing near the cherry blossom to giving extra flavour. I found this to be a nice touch.
Gardens by The Bay Singapore
Bayfront is the nearest MRT station. MRT stands for Mass rapid transit.
You can spend as little or as much as you wish at Gardens by the Bay. We spent pretty much the whole day there was so much to see in the parks and along with the cloud dome and flower Dome, the supertrees are well worth your time to visit.
For more of our Singapore and Indonesia travels;
MRT – How to Get Around Singapore
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