Intertidal Zone?
Hey adventurer!
Did you know that Singapore has about 200 kms of coastline?
In some SPECIAL stretch: the intertidal zone, theres a treasure trove of wildlife sightings that not many know about.
After reading this article the secret of the intertidal zone will be yours, and you’ll be off on your own tide walking adventure!
The intertidal zone is simply the transitional area thats submerged in high tide and exposed in low tide.
If you haven’t been here before at low tide, I guarantee you’ll find something NEW.
Heres some of the fascinating sights from my previous walk at Changi Beach, during the August Supermoon low tide!
Step by Step How to
To help you plan your own intertidal adventure, I have come up with step by step guide.
In this example we will use Changi Beach as our target location.
1. Find the right time to go
We need to know WHEN there will be a period of LOW TIDE, that’s preferably below 0.2m
This is so that we can see significant portion of the intertidal zone
and have enough time to explore before the tide comes back
We can CONSULT a tide table for our target location
For me I found a tide table from Tides4Fishing website
The tide table tell us the forecasted tide levels at the shore at different timings
In Singapore the coasts are near enough to each other, so the measurements here are accurate enough.
Tides are more drastic in full moons and new moons, so most of the lowest tides will be within those period.
It will be good to reach your intertidal location at least 30-60 mins before the lowest tide about 7.30PM to have ample exploration time. The outgoing tide are always CLEARER for better visual when searching.
BUT rather than sifting through the timings from this table…
I’ve pulled the data and filtered the suitable dates SPECIALLY for you!
2. Come With The Right Gear
I HIGHLY recommend wearing
Footwear
In principle, you want to wear something that protects you from what may poke into your sole, while also giving you enough security and stability when moving over difficult terrain.
Intertidal terrain could get really soft, which will make your footwear feel “STUCKED”. You don’t want to lose your shoe.
So I’ll recommend these:
High ankle/mid-calf water footwear
Such as this high ankle boots:
On the plus side, your feet might remain totally dry throughout!
HOWEVER, this is only suitable for going into tides lower than the top of your boots. Because once your boots are filled, you’re walking with buckets on your feet.
Water Booties or Dive Booties
For better mobility and ability to venture deeper into the tide, I will recommend water booties
You are going on a water adventure anyway, so might as well get your feet wet!
I recommend pairing water booties with a good POLYESTER socks. It’ll be a lot easier to get in and out of your booties when it’s wet.
Most of water booties do not have very good soles, so for better protection I’d recommend diving booties:
Bottom wear
Some dangers at bay:
- Sandflys
- Stinging animals
- Sharp Rocks
To mitigate against the above, I recommend wearing long pants.
One time my sister in law went against my advice and came with me to Changi Beach. The next day she sent me a picture of multiple bites on her legs. Please don’t feed wildlife guys.
On my casual intertidal walks, I’d wear these:
We wore a short ankle ones which aren’t as protective against the intertidal debris. I think it would really have helped if I wore long socks too.
Luckily there were no bugs that wanted us.
MUST Bring
Intertidal Walk in the Day
- Shades and cap to survive longer under the sun
- Cant go wrong with some sunblock as well
Intertidal Walk in the Night
- Light source
- Such as torchlight or headlight
- Headlight preferred because you want to look around for the good stuff
- DO NOT rely on phone torchlight it wont be enough
ANY TIME
- Also, make sure you have enough water for drinking. Because you know, sea water is not for drinking. It’s only for seeing.
Good to have
- A set of clean clothes for changing after the walk
My suggestions
These are affiliate links that I personally use or recommend, if you’re looking to buy some new gear!
3. Go to the right place
You need to be sure which coastline actually have some wildlife.
NOT ALL intertidal zones are teeming life.
If you go to the wrong place, you might waste time finding the right place which potentially cause you to miss the low tide time window.
For Singapore spots, I can confirm that Changi beach intertidal hotspot Is along this stretch between Changi Carpark 7 & Changi Carpark 6
DON’T GO to the South-Eastern side because I went and it was terrible.
Firstly the terrain was just wrong…
We went down very slippery wave breakers, which I do NOT recommend.
Then got our feet stuck on super soft sand, which I also do NOT recommend.
We saw ZERO intertidal life.
One time I thought I saw something, but it was just plastic bags….
From the sources I’ve found
There are these other few places you can check out:
Bonus
- After an early morning or Before evening walk,
- Hit up Changi Village Hawker Centre. They’ve great selection of local food!
Precautions
- If you’re not sure whether you can touch something, don’t. General rule is don’t touch anything,
- But i know that touching things we find is our exploratory instincts
- Just beware that the harmless looking sea cucumber
- I read that they will expulse toxic substance when they feel threatened, which can blind you
- And clearly if you find SPIKY things, don’t touch!
- Careful where you step, as much as possible avoid trampling on our dear tidal critters
- There might be human thrash all around.
- If you can reach it try to dispose it, no one will thank you for clearing it, but it’s something good you’re doing for our environment
Conclusion
I had a lot of fun discovering the weird alien creatures firsthand. I super recommend it if you’ve never done it before
It’s a very accessible adventurous activity suitable for friends, family, and couples.
Men listen up, This is a very cheap date idea!
Leave a comment below when and where you’re planning to go!
Personally Im planning to check out these other places at the 0 tides, we might see each other then 😉
Go forth tide-walkers!!
Dashing Heights 
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