Celebrating a decade of fun at Chek Jawa!

Photo by Ria Tan

For our final walk of 2017, thirty participants joined us as we celebrated our 10th anniversary of guiding at Chek Jawa! Over the decade, Naked Hermit Crabs has grown with many old and new guides joining the family and learning from one another.

A picture of our visitors right before we started our walk!
(Photo by Liz Lim)

To further commemorate our tenth birthday, we took similar shots of old photos from 2007 during the walk to find out how much Chek Jawa has changed over the years. Here are some of the 'before and after' photos!

The once sparse vegetation in front of Jejawi Tower completely covers the tower today.
(Photo by Ria Tan)

Young trees planted in 2007 have become tall and lush.
(Photo by Ria Tan)

The coastal boardwalk still offers beautiful views all year round!
(Photo by Ria Tan)

Taking in the views
(Photo by Liz Lim)

We were also graced by the presence of a Gerard's water snake (Gerarda prevostiana), which was spotted by one of our participants. This was the first time this species has been recorded on the island! This is the only recorded snake species that loops its body around its prey and tears the prey into smaller pieces rather than swallowing its food whole [1].

Gerard's water snake (Gerarda prevostiana)
(Photo by Sumita Thiagarajan)

Searching for food
(Photo by Sumita Thiagarajan)

We spotted loads of tree climbing crabs as we walked along the boardwalk as well. One of them was even seen eating a very special meal: a snake moult!

Crab eating a snake moult
(Photo by Liz Lim)

The Nipah Palm has always been a crowd favourite, with one of the visitors excitedly exclaiming "It's atapchee!" when they saw the plant! They were also fascinated by a young Nipah Palm that had just started out its life.

Young Nipah Palm!

It was one of the highest tides we have ever seen and there were many mudskippers taking refuge on the roots of the mangrove trees!

Can you spot the mudskippers?
(Photo by Liz Lim)

Mudskipper
(Photo by Liz Lim)

On the coastal boardwalk, we were greeted by a Collared Kingfisher and Common Sandpiper that were resting by the rocks. One group had even seen a White-bellied Sea Eagle swoop out of the trees above them on its way out to hunt some fish!

As it was our 10th anniversary, many visitors had written well-wishes for us!

An extremely cute card by one of our participants!

(Photo by Ria Tan)

Some lovely drawings from a family
(Photo by Ria Tan)

Finally, we would like to thank Ley Kun, Ria, Sumita, Ivan, Liz, Chen Xi, Dayna and Xiang Tian for helping us to guide the participants on this very special walk! Also, big thanks to Ley Kun, Ria, Sumita, Dayna and Liz for your amazing photos of this walk. Lastly, we'd like to thank all the visitors for joining us on this very special day and we hope you've enjoyed yourselves!

(Photo by Ria Tan)

See you in 2018 for more fun walks!


[1] Jayne, B. C., Voris, H. K., & Ng, P. K. (2002). Herpetology: Snake circumvents constraints on prey size. Nature, 418(6894), 143-143.

A Crab-ulous day out at Chek Jawa!

We are delighted to have had 42 visitors join today at Chek Jawa for our monthly walk on the 25th of November!

Before we headed off to Pulau Ubin, Ria spotted a family group of otters at Changi Creek! They were very shy around humans and hugged the seawall as they swam past the jetty.

At Chek Jawa, everyone gathered outside the start of the trail for a quick group photo right before we set off. Here are the happy visitors posing for the photo!

Photo by Ria Tan

It was a beautiful sunny day, which made the scenery atop the Jejawi Tower even more breathtaking!

Visitors could enjoy panoramic views of Chek Jawa and could even see the high tide from the tower. Here's an amazing photo of the visitors enjoying the sights by one of the participants of the walk, Glenda Heng!

Photo by Glenda Heng

One of the groups even stopped to take a photo with the beautiful backdrop of the sky!

Photo by Glenda Heng

Back in the mangrove, the visitors were entranced by the Nipah Palm, a plant found in the mangrove which provides us with our favorite attap chee! The seeds of the Nipah Palm were quite close to the boardwalk, so visitors were able to take a good picture of them.

Photo by Ria Tan

Eagle-eyed visitors also spotted fiddler crabs in our mangroves! The male fiddler crabs have an enlarged claw that is of a very bright color which they use to attract mates and intimidate other males.

Here's a beautiful picture of a male fiddler crab taken by Glenda.

Photo by Glenda Heng

Along the walk, we also spotted a giant mudskipper resting in a pool as well as a crimson sunbird hovering above us! Glenda also spotted a Centaur Oakblue and Common Bluebottle, which are both beautiful butterflies.

Centaur Oakblue
Photo by Glenda Heng

Common Bluebottle
Photo by Glenda Heng

Near the coast, visitors also spotted a lot more fiddler crabs that were very actively waving their claws at each other! Take a look at them in the video below.

It was high tide today, so the Gold-spotted mudskippers had all come further up shore. The visitors were able to see them up close in their huge numbers!

Gold spotted mudskippers 

One group had also spotted two water monitor lizards sunbathing on the shore! Indeed, the sun had been quite hot out on the boardwalk and it did make for very nice pictures. Once again, Glenda Heng had captured very nice shots of the visitors on the coastal boardwalk!

Photo by Glenda Heng

Photo by Glenda Heng

On our way back through the coastal forest, we also saw cotton stainer bugs on a sea hibiscus tree! These bugs feed on the sea hibiscus seeds and sometimes will congregate in large groups on a single leaf as shown below.

After the walk, the children sat down and drew what they saw on the walk! Here are some of the children with their lovely drawings.

Photo by Ria Tan

Photo by Ria Tan

Photo by Ria Tan

Photo by Ria Tan

Photo by Ria Tan

One of the children even took it upon himself to make some octopus! He was very creative to use the fallen leaves of a tree nearby to form legs. Here he is with his creation!

Photo by Ria Tan

We had a very enjoyable walk today with all the lovely visitors. Thank you to all the visitors for coming down to explore Chek Jawa with us! A big thank you to Glenda Heng for sharing with us her photos and giving us permission to use them as well! And off course, thank you to Ley Kun, Ria and Dayna for guiding today as well.

Our next walk will be on the 16th of December 2017 (Saturday) at Chek Jawa. You can register here. Hope to see you there!

25 Nov and 16 Dec, 2017 (Saturdays) - Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

The year-end school holidays are here.... YIPPEE! If you are looking for outdoorsy nature activities to do with the family during the holidays, why not join our nature walks at Chek Jawa Boardwalk, Pulau Ubin? Come explore this very special and beautiful corner of Singapore mangroves with us. Best of all, our nature walks are free!

We are running two public walks, and both dates are open for registration now! Just appoint someone to signup on behalf of the group. We welcome small groups of families or friends. Unfortunately we are not able to accept registration from large groups of people due to our limited resources. Click on our Online Registration Form.

Date: 25 November 2017 (Saturday) and 16 December 2017 (Saturday)
Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Meeting time: 9:30 am
Duration of walk: 2 hours
Fees: No charge for now, but small donations are accepted

Chek Jawa is rich in biodiversity, and with the help of an experienced volunteer guide, you should be able to see lots of interesting plants and wildlife. Even though we are not going on to the shore, there is still much to see and enjoy. There are monitor lizards, fiddler crabs, spiders, rare plants, wild boar, mudskippers and lots of fruit trees. If we are lucky, we might even spot the Oriental Pied Hornbill, White-bellied Sea Eagle and the giant Atlas Moth.

For more information on what to expect at our Chek Jawa Boardwalk outings, and when preparing for your visit, please make sure you read our post specially written for you. The post will also give you lots of details like how to get to Chek Jawa, where to meet, what to bring.

Meeting place: Information Kiosk at Chek Jawa Wetlands

Group photo before the walk begins

Click to see more photos of our past events at Chek Jawa.

An otterly fun time at Chek Jawa!

We are happy to have had 38 visitors join us at Chek Jawa today!

Bright happy faces as we began today's walk!
Photo credit: Ria Tan

After quickly splitting into three groups, we set off to discover what Chek Jawa had in store for us!

15 Oct (Sun) - Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

Join us our regular Chek Jawa Boardwalk outing on 15 October, Sunday. Come explore this very special and beautiful corner of Singapore mangroves with us. Just gather your family and friends, and have someone do the signup on behalf of the group. Best of all, this nature walk is free! Click on our Online Registration Form.

Chek Jawa is rich in biodiversity, and with the help of an experienced volunteer guide, you should be able to see lots of interesting plants and wildlife. Even though we are not going on to the shore, there is still much to see and enjoy. There are monitor lizards, fiddler crabs, spiders, rare plants, wild boar, mudskippers and lots of fruit trees. If we are lucky, we might even spot the Oriental Pied Hornbill, White-bellied Sea Eagle and the giant Atlas Moth.

Date: 15 October 2017 (Sunday)
Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Meeting time: 9:30 am
Duration of walk: 2 hours
Fees: No charge for now, but small donations are accepted

For more information on what to expect at our Chek Jawa Boardwalk outings, and when preparing for your visit, please make sure you read our post specially written for you.

More photos in the next section.

Here there be serpents: Pasir Ris Mangroves

We were very happy to welcome about 70 visitors for our latest walk! Many had never been to the mangroves of Pasir Ris Park, which are in fact the most easily accessible of our remaining mangrove forests. Thanks to the eagle-eyed spotting of one of our guides, they got to see the elusive Shore Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops purpureomaculatus) on their very first visit! The Shore Pit Viper is an ambush predator, sitting camouflaged in one spot for days at a time for prey to pass by before striking with lightning speed. It's deadly venom quickly immobilises small animals like rodents, birds, and lizards. Although it is dangerous if provoked, it was perched safely far away from the boardwalk so our visitors could observe it with no worries. 

Photo by Lim Yi He

Photo by Lim Yi He

There were also many Giant Mudskippers (Periophtalmodon schlosseri) about, guarding the "swimming pools" they dig for themselves to rest in at low tide. This provides them with a steady source of oxygen as well as a burrow which they can hide in if a predator appears.

Photo by Lim Yi He

A small nest of honeybees was also present in the mangroves. These insects are important pollinators for many plants in the mangroves and will not attack unless first provoked.

Photo by Lim Yi He

Many different species of snail live amongst the mud. One such snail is the Belongkeng (Ellobium scheepmakeri), also known as the Mangrove Land Snail, which feeds on algae. This is now critically endangered in Singapore due to habitat loss and past overcollection for food.

Photo by Lim Yi He

No walk in Pasir Ris would be complete without a sighting of a Malayan Water Monitor Lizard (Varanus salvator)! There were many of them spotted on our walk clinging onto tree branches as they prepared to turn in for the night. Often misidentified as their close relatives the Komodo Dragons, they feed mainly on carrion and small animals and pose no danger to humans if left alone. In other countries where they are hunted, they can be hard to spot, but here in Singapore we are blessed to be able to see them up close!

If you couldn't make it for our walk this time, fear not! Keep a look out for our next walk coming in October, like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Naked-Hermit-Crabs-1825391097477979/ and share about us with you friends! We hope to see you soon!

At the end of the walk, the kids draw what they've seen!

3 Sep (Sun) - Free guided walk at Pasir Ris Mangroves

The one-week school break in September is coming up, and the Naked Hermit Crabs are specially organising a very special nature walk at Pasir Ris Mangroves for young families on 3 September, Sunday. This is a FREE nature walk on the mangrove boardwalk at Pasir Ris Park.

Sign up now on our online registration form! Don't miss the opportunity to see some wildlife in action! Pasir Ris Mangroves is conveniently located 10 minutes away from Pasir Ris MRT station. We only do Pasir Ris Mangroves a couple of times in a year, so don't miss this opportunity!

There are many creatures look out for in the mangroves, such as mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, snails, herons and monitor lizards. The best part of the nature walk is at the end when we get to the small jetty over the river. There is a lot of animal activity in the evenings. We have seen young monitor lizards crawling into their nests as they settle in before nightfall.  Sometimes, you may even spot kingfishers, jellyfishes and water snakes! It really is quite exciting for the children to be able to see these animals in the wild.

Date: 3 September, 2017 (Sunday)
Time: 5 pm (We should end around 6.30pm, just before sunset.)
Meeting point: Pasir Ris Park, Carpark C.

Sign up here.

Meet near the first toilets nearest the entrance to Carpark C. The meeting point is a short stroll from the Pasir Ris MRT station. Pasir Ris Park is a very long park with many carparks (from A to D). Do look at the map to be sure you are heading for the correct carpark.

Do read on for more information about our FAQs and what you can expect to see!

19-Aug-17 (Sat) - Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

Hi everyone! We are back with our regular Chek Jawa Boardwalk outing on 19 August, Saturday. Come explore this very special and beautiful corner of Singapore mangroves with us. Just gather your family and friends, and have someone do the signup on behalf of the group. Best of all, this nature walk is free! Click on our Online Registration Form.

Chek Jawa is rich in biodiversity, and with the help of an experienced volunteer guide, you should be able to see lots of interesting plants and wildlife. Even though we are not going on to the shore, there is still much to see and enjoy. There are monitor lizards, fiddler crabs, spiders, rare plants, wild boar, mudskippers and lots of fruit trees. If we are lucky, we might even spot the Oriental Pied Hornbill, White-bellied Sea Eagle and the giant Atlas Moth.

Date: 19 August 2017 (Saturday)
Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Meeting time: 9:30 am
Duration of walk: 2 hours
Fees: No charge for now, but small donations are accepted

For more information on what to expect at our Chek Jawa Boardwalk outings, and when preparing for your visit, please make sure you read our post specially written for you.

More photos in the next section.