1 June (Sat): Want to learn how to be a nature guide? Come join the Chek Jawa Familiarisation Tour with the Naked Hermit Crabs!

Have you ever wanted to experience what it’s like to be a nature guide? Looking for an interesting activity for your family to take part in during the holidays? The Chek Jawa Familiarisation Tour is here for you! No prior experience is needed. Sign up now! After you have completed the Familiarisation Tour on 1 June, you will be able to participate as a volunteer at the Balik Chek Jawa Day on 2 June. Come join us and make a difference for nature!
Join us to help make a difference for nature!

What is this Familiarisation Tour about?

To help prepare you to contribute to Balik Chek Jawa on 2 June (Sun), this tour introduces you Chek Jawa and hopes to build your confidence to share at one station of your choice along the boardwalk.

It is also a chance to interact with like-minded people and more experienced nature guides while coming up with new and exciting ways to share about our shores. The tour will take you around the Chek Jawa coastal and mangrove boardwalk.

Why should I join this familiarisation tour?

By joining this FREE tour, you will not only learn about the wildlife at Chek Jawa, but also have a chance to contribute to Balik Chek Jawa by learning how to be a nature guide! 

Your help is needed during Balik Chek Jawa:
(a) As guides at various spots or wandering the boardwalk
(b) To help at activities at House No. 1 or at TeamSeagrass or RUM booths

Training Session
Date: 1 June (Sat)
Time: 8.00 am-12 noon

Meeting point: Changi Point Ferry Terminal (near Changi Village)

We will head over to Chek Jawa together.

SIGN UP HERE!

Registration closes on 25 May 2019

Continue reading for more information on what you can learn, and who is eligible to join the tour!

You will learn:
- How to spot wildlife
- Guiding tips
- Tricky guiding situations, e.g. dealing with 'difficult' visitors
- You are expected to read up the bulk of the information on your own. Links to online resources will be provided.

Who can join the Familiarisation Tour?
- Participants should be 19 years old and above.

- Younger participants may participate if accompanied by a parent/guardian during both the familiarisation tour and Balik Chek Jawa.

- Families are welcome to join the familiarisation tour and volunteer at Balik Chek Jawa.
- Individual participants under 19 years of age will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Participants must commit to help at Balik Chek Jawa on 2 Jun, 2019 (Sun).

What is Balik Chek Jawa?

Part of Pesta Ubin, Balik Chek Jawa is a FREE Open House at Chek Jawa. Volunteers (you!) will be stationed all over the boardwalk to share about Chek Jawa's amazing wildlife. There are also lots of fun activities for kids and the family at House No. 1, Chek Jawa's Visitor Centre (There will be NO activities on the seashores).

Date: 2 Jun (Sun)
Time: 10am - 2pm
Meeting point: Chek Jawa Info Kiosk.
More details on Balik Chek Jawa 2018 here.

Click here to see what happened at Balik Chek Jawa last year!

Our first time guiding over 300 participants at Berlayer Creek, Labrador Park!

The Naked Hermit Crabs had a blast at yesterday's Celebrating Singapore Shores' event at Berlayer Creek, Labrador Park. It was the first time the marine community got together to offer free activities for families to raise awareness about the wildlife found near our shores. We had over 300 participants sign up for our hourly walks. Over our 4 walk sessions, we saw a variety of wildlife. We saw birds such as the Ashy tailorbird, busy weaver ants and a family of otters.

Photo by: Ley Kun

16 Mar (Sat) - Take a walk on the wild side this school holidays!

The March school holidays will soon be here, and we have a new location to explore with you! We are holding a mangrove walk at Berlayar Creek, Labrador Park, on 16 March, Saturday.

To celebrate the closing of the International Year of the Reef, the marine community and Naked Hermit Crabs are organising activities and special guided walks at Labrador Park on 16 March, Saturday. This is a FREE nature walk on the mangrove boardwalk at Berlayar Creek. We are only doing this walk this year, so don't miss this opportunity! Check out this video to see what we saw yesterday at Berlayer Creek!

In addition, there will be more than 20 marine community groups offering an evening of fun. FREE activities. This mini festival is designed specially for kids and the family with games and prizes, nature walks and films.

That's a wrap!

Instead of the usual run-of-the-mill post on the flora and fauna we saw, we’ll share about why Naked Hermit Crabs’ walks are so rewarding for guides. As volunteer guides, we enjoy what we do when we see adults whose faces light up with the same curiosity and excitement as our younger participants.

Our guide, Sumita, sharing about who we are and
why we do walks at endangered shores such as Chek Jawa

Photo by: Liz Lim

Photo by: Ria Tan

One of our guides, Chen Xi, shared with us that "I enjoy guiding with NHC because I get a chance to introduce people to the plants and animals they may not know about. It's also a good way to have a nice walk outdoors and relax."

The sight that always takes our breath away

Photo by: Liz Lim

Excitement!

Photo by: Ria Tan

Photo by: Ria Tan

We’ve been guiding at Chek Jawa for almost a decade and no two walks are ever the same. On most occasions, you’ll catch our guides being surprised about things we don’t expect to see. Another of the Naked Hermit Crabs, Xiang Tian says, "I enjoy guiding because the places we guide at are great to visit and we never know what we're going to see on our walks! The places we guide at are also at risk, so it's meaningful to show people what is there before it is gone.".

Sometimes we just enjoy the things
Ubin has to offer, such as organic Ubin jackfruit!

Photo by: Ria Tan

Looking forward, we hope to continue raising awareness about our vulnerable shores and to lend our voice to safeguarding our beautiful shores. We have a lot of exciting things coming up in 2019. Watch this space and our Facebook for our 2019 walk dates!

Over 60 participants and 7 guides joined us
at our last walk for 2018 at Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin!

We-fie by one of our participants, Jimmy Ng

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

Join us our regular Chek Jawa Boardwalk outing on 14 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! Register on Eventbrite here.

Chek Jawa is rich in biodiversity, and with the help of our volunteer guides, 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: 14 October 2018 (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
Sign up here.

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.

Celebrating Youth Day at the Pasir Ris Mangroves!

We are happy to have had 37 visitors join us at the Pasir Ris Mangroves for our Youth Day Walk, held in collaboration with The Wild Side and Nature Adventures SG.

You learn something new every day!

Soon after the walk began, we came upon many white mushrooms growing along the base of a tree. Our visitors were surprised to learn that the part of the mushrooms we see above ground are only the fruiting bodies, while the main body of the mushroom is mostly underground!

An otterly wonderful walk at the Pasir Ris Mangroves

It’s been quite a while since our last walk at the Pasir Ris Mangroves, and we are glad to have 57 visitors join us for the long Easter weekend!

A little rain won't stop us!

After a quick introduction, we split into four groups, each led by our volunteer guides. It had begun to drizzle when the walk began, but luckily for us, the rain only lasted for a while, and we were able to resume the walk after a short wait.

15 April (Sat) - Free guided walk at the Pasir Ris Mangroves

Specially for kids and families, explore Pasir Ris mangroves with volunteer nature guides from the Naked Hermit Crabs on this FREE guided tour of the boardwalk!

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. Bring your children down to enjoy nature during the weekend!

Giant mudskippers are a common sight in our mangroves!

There are many creatures look out for in the mangroves, such as mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, herons and monitor lizards. Sometimes, you may even spot kingfishers and water snakes! It will certainly be an unforgettable experience with your friends and family!

Date: 15 April, 2017 (Saturday)
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.

Please sign up for the walk at our Online Registration Form. We look forward to seeing you there!

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

Rediscovering the mangrove: We are in the Vibes newsletter!

If you are a resident in Pasir Ris and Punggol, you might already have caught us in the Vibes newsletter by the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council. Two of our guides, Sankar and Sumita, were featured on the cover and the two page article on the Pasir Ris mangroves. They shared what they knew about the mangroves with the representatives behind the article and helped them spot many cool creatures.

Cover page of Vibes issue 47

During the interview for the article, the guides were lucky to have spotted, not one but two Mangrove Pit Vipers. We also saw Spotted Wood Owls and many Herons! To learn more, click on the article below. If you would like to see some of the creatures featured in the magazine, join us on our Pasir Ris mangrove walks in the near future!

Last but not least, the Naked Hermit Crabs would like to thank the people at Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council who approached us and allowed us to reach out to all their residents. We are always thrilled to share the value of Pasir Ris mangroves with others!

5 Dec (Sat) evening: Free guided walk at the Pasir Ris mangroves

As we have getting many requests for a Pasir Ris mangrove walk, we have decided to do one in the month of December. And what better time is there to do the walk, then during the school holidays? Specially for kids and families, explore Pasir Ris mangroves with volunteer nature guides from the Naked Hermit Crabs on this FREE guided tour of the boardwalk! 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. Bring your children down to enjoy nature during the weekend! There are many creatures look out for in the mangroves, such as mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, herons and monitor lizards. Sometimes, you may even spot kingfishers and water snakes! It will certainly be an unforgettable experience with your friends and family!

An eager participant jotting down notes!

Not only kids learn on our walks! Adults learn a lot too.

School's out! with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Despite the haze and a light drizzle, we had a record-breaking 108 participants at our Pasir Ris mangrove walk today! As usual, the mangroves did not disappoint and it was a great walk as the participants got to see many creatures such as the Buffy Fish owl, jellyfishes, monitor lizards, dog-faced water snakes and weaver ants at work.

Eager participants registering for the walk!

One of our guides, Becky, introducing herself to the group.

Next, we had Pei Yan telling her group about the Naked Hermit Crabs!

After splitting our participants into 7 groups, our guides gave a brief background on the history of the Naked Hermit Crabs and why we aim to protect our shores in danger. Soon after, the groups got to see weaver ants in action. This ants have an unique nest building behaviour where workers build nests by weaving leaves together using silk from the ant larvae.

Weaver ants working together to build a nest.

So much to see at Chek Jawa Wetlands!

Our outing to Chek Jawa on 22 August was a fun and eventful one! We saw so many animals and had an encounter with a venomous sea snake. Lots of photos to share with everyone.

Truly, we say it again and again - Chek Jawa is ALIVE! If you have not visited Chek Jawa, come visit this gem of a nature place with the Naked Hermit Crabs. We run a monthly nature tour on the boardwalk as part of our educational outreach to fellow Singaporeans and residents, and the next one is on 12 September.

We hold our walks on the boardwalk. At Chek Jawa, there are 2 segments of the boardwalk - the mangrove boardwalk and the coastal boardwalk.

This is the outer mangrove segment where we always stop to watch the cute fiddler crabs.

Mangrove boardwalk

When the tide is low, it is wonderful to be on the coastal boardwalk because you can see so much up close. Well, next best thing to being on the mudflat itself.

Coastal boardwalk

Hey! What's that green animal? It's the Haddon's carpet anemone. This is a beautiful animal, roughly 60 to 70 cm in diameter. The green colour is due to microscopic algae growing in the anemone. The carpet anemone has a large oral disk on which are lots of tentacles that can sting and trap small animals that swim past it. We used to have a lot more carpet anemones at Chek Jawa, but the encouraging news is that we are slowly seeing more of them these days.

Haddon's carpet anemone

5 Sep (Sat) evening: Free guided walk at the Pasir Ris mangroves

As we have getting many requests for a Pasir Ris mangrove walk, we have decided to do one in the month of September. And what better time is there to do the walk, then during the school holidays? Specially for kids and families, explore Pasir Ris mangroves with volunteer nature guides from the Naked Hermit Crabs on this FREE guided tour of the boardwalk! 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. Bring your children down to enjoy nature during the weekend! There are many creatures look out for in the mangroves, such as mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, herons and monitor lizards. Sometimes, you may even spot kingfishers and water snakes! It will certainly be an unforgettable experience with your friends and family!

An eager participant jotting down notes!

Not only kids learn on our walks! Adults learn a lot too.

11 Apr (Sat) morning: Free guided walk at the Chek Jawa Boardwalk

Update: 
We are full! Registration is suspended for the moment until we can get more volunteer guides. Thank you for your understanding. 

Join us on the morning of 11th of April and discover the wildlife that reside in the mangroves of Chek Jawa!

We have been doing FREE nature trips to Chek Jawa Boardwalk for close to 8 years now. Each month, we bring small groups of visitors out on to introduce them to the plant and animals found in the mangroves and intertidal areas of Chek Jawa. All from the safety and convenience of the boardwalk. There is always plenty to see on these trips, such as wild boars, insects, lots and lots of crabs, spiders, snakes, fishes, perhaps a jellyfish or two in the sea, and not forgetting the birds in the forests and flying high above us. Who says there is no nature in Singapore! Come explore Chek Jawa with the Crabs!

To sign up for the walk, click here!

Sign up at the Online Registration Form, and we will confirm your attendance via email in a few days! 

Date: 11 April (Sat)

Meeting time: 9:30 am

Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin

Duration of walk: Around 2 hours

Cost: Free

Read on for more photos and details about the walk.

Mar 14, Saturday: We are resuming our Free Chek Jawa Guided Walks

After being closed for almost half a year for upgrading works, the Mangrove Boardwalk is open once again! We have been eagerly awaiting to start our walks at Chek Jawa once again and to be able to share the experience with more families and individuals!

We have been doing FREE nature trips to Chek Jawa Boardwalk for close to 8 years now. Each month, we bring small groups of visitors out on to introduce them to the plant and animals found in the mangroves and intertidal areas of Chek Jawa. All from the safety and convenience of the boardwalk. There is always plenty to see on these trips, such as wild boars, insects, lots and lots of crabs, spiders, snakes, fishes, perhaps a jellyfish or two in the sea, and not forgetting the birds in the forests and flying high above us. Who says there is no nature in Singapore! Come explore Chek Jawa with the Crabs!

To sign up for the walk, click here!

Sign up at the Online Registration Form, and we will confirm your attendance via email in a few days! 

Date: 14 March (Sat)

Meeting time: 9:30 am

Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin

Duration of walk: Around 2 hours

Cost: Free

Read on for more photos and details about the walk.

10 Jan (Sat) evening: Free guided walk at the Pasir Ris mangroves

Specially for kids and families, explore Pasir Ris mangroves with volunteer nature guides from the Naked Hermit Crabs on this FREE guided tour of the boardwalk! 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. Bring your children down to enjoy nature during the weekend! There are many creatures look out for in the mangroves, such as mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, herons and monitor lizards. Sometimes, you may even spot kingfishers and water snakes! It will certainly be an unforgettable experience with your friends and family!

An eager participant jotting down notes!

Not only kids learn on our walks! Adults learn a lot too.

Sharing Pasir Ris Mangroves with families in our December walk

Looking for an activity to break the monotony of work or school life? Simply join us for our walks as over 70 participants did on our last walk of the year at Pasir Ris Mangroves! The beauty of nature is that it is dynamic and even after visiting the same place many times, you will always have a different experience. 

Fun starts at registration!

Look out for our placard before the walk so you know you've found us!

Sharing with kids on some types of insects using fake insects.

Kids are wonderful at spotting creatures!

Our drawing session for kids and adults alike! 

Even though it was the weekend after the Christmas,
the spirit of giving was still alive as a participant gave us cookies!

A special mention to the cheerful student councillors
from Dunman High School. Thanks to their teacher, Kok Sheng!

Look out for updates on our next walk coming up soon!

October and December - Pasir Ris Mangroves nature walks

** UPDATE 25 NOV 2014 - We have closed registration for the Pasir Ris Mangrove walk in December. We are FULL! For those who missed this chance, look out for our announcement of nature walks in 2015. The post will be published soon. In the meantime, enjoy nature and the great outdoors! **

Hello friends!

We are changing our monthly guided walks for the months of October and December to Pasir Ris Mangroves instead. The Chek Jawa Boardwalk (mangrove segment) is closed for upgrading works until the end of January 2015, hence this change in our schedule and venue.

For the sake of clarity, I shall repeat myself (pardon me!): The Chek Jawa Boardwalk guided walks for October, November and December are cancelled, and replaced by Pasir Ris Mangroves guided walks in October and December.

Our guided walks are specially designed for kids and families. Adults are welcome too, of course! Come and explore with us. Our volunteer guides (the Naked Hermit Crabs) will be there to show you the biodiversity richness of the Pasir Ris mangroves. Sign up on our online registration form, and you will hear from us within a few days.

Dates: 25th October 2014 and 27th December 2014 (Saturdays)
Time: 5 pm
Duration: roughly 1 to 1.5 hour
Meeting point: Pasir Ris Park, Car Park C

And have I mentioned the guided walks are free? Yes, they are!

Meet outside the first toilets nearest to the entrance of the carpark. The meeting point is a short stroll from the Pasir Ris MRT station. Pasir Ris 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.

27 Sept, Saturday: Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

If you have joined us last Saturday for our Pasir Ris Mangrove Boardwalk and would like to join us for the Chek Jawa Boardwalk, we are glad have been bitten by the nature bug and are joining us again! No worries if you have not joined any of our walks because here is the chance for you to do so on 27 September, Saturday!

We have been doing free nature trips to Chek Jawa Boardwalk for nearly 7 years now. Each month, we bring small groups of visitors out on to introduce them to the plant and animals found in the mangroves and intertidal areas of Chek Jawa. All from the safety and convenience of the boardwalk. There is always plenty to see on these trips, such as wild boars, insects, lots and lots of crabs, spiders, snakes, fishes, perhaps a jellyfish or two in the sea, and not forgetting the birds in the forests and flying high above us. Who says there is no nature in Singapore! Come explore Chek Jawa with the Crabs!

Sign up at the Online Registration Form, and we will confirm your attendance via email in a few days! Our email address is nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com.

Date: 27 September 2014 (Sat)

Meeting time: 9:30 am

Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin

Duration of walk: Around 2 hours

Cost: Free

Read on for more photos and details about the walk.