changi beach park - now and in the past

changi beach park along nicoll drive and changi coast road is one of the oldest coastal parks in singapore. it stretches from changi point to changi ferry road. free parking is available at the car-park just outside the changi ferry terminal. at the other coastal car-parks, you can park for free only after 5.00 p.m. on weekdays.

access to the park is via the road leading to the changi ferry terminal. peace and quiet is broken now and then, especially in the day and early part of the night, by the sound of planes coming in to land. the planes come very low, seemingly skimming over the tree tops. i think the people in the plane can actually see you when you are on the beach.

now that it is part of the eastern coastal pcn (park connector network), you get to see more people, especially cyclists, along this stretch.

in the 60s and 70s, there were some seaside bungalows along this stretch of nicoll drive. even the scout association had a bungalow at changi.

then, when camping was not regulated, the whole stretch of beach would be filled with campers during the school holidays. it seemed like every available space was taken up. those days, we did not have the dome tents that are so popular today. those who could afford used the a-tent while the rest of us improvised by using fly-sheet or a piece of canvas.

we would normally camped about 3 days, spending our time playing in the sea, fishing or collecting shells at low tide. there were a few places where you could walk, quite far out, on the sea bed when the tide was out.

for some campers, drug-taking became the high-point of their camping experience. that was when the authorities decided to ban camping at our beaches. today, camping is again allowed but with some regulations and control.