River Safari

i went there earlier this year. the first few parts of the River Safari was good and interesting. it was also fun to see so many animals that fascinated me.
The River Boat Safari Ride was fine except the animals could hardly be seen. the recorded audio is informative and interesting. I did see some giraffes so I guess I was lucky. I guess to see them depends on whether the animals want to wander there… On the other hand the Amazon River Quest ride was too fast and i couldn’t really see any animals, except for some red birds.
the best parts of the zoo to me were: 1. the area where the red pandas and the normal pandas are. 2. the Amazon Flooded Forest where we were able to see sea otters and manatees and also when I caught a glimpse of the polar bear (that is near the panda area) and the other two places which have been mentioned above.
I would go there again.

We bought the Zoo Membership for $ 300 SGD which includes a membership to the River Safari as well. I am so glad we bought a membership! We have young children so our zoo/​safari visits happen as early as possible. They usually last 2 – 3 hours (or until it is too crowded or too hot) and then we leave. Fortunately, the membership includes free parking and even some food discounts.
OK, enough about raving about the membership, on to the actual River Safari review. The River Safari takes you through the most famous rivers of the world. Upon entering you are taken on a path to view different marine life from the world’s rivers. I really like the layout of the safari, however, we went early, it was not crowded. I can only imagine that it would be some like Ikea on a busy day if it were crowded. After going through several parts, you arrive at the main attraction… THE PANDA BEARS!!! I have never seen real live panda bears before so I was so very excited! They were adorable and I could have watched them all day! After we pried ourselves away, we went to the River Boat Safari Ride. Our youngest daughter is too little for the Amazon River Quest ride, but fortunately she could take the river boat ride. There is a small fee for the ride, but it is worth it. You see elephants and giraffes. It is a nice break to sit down and the recorded audio is informative and interesting. After our boat ride we went through the squirrel monkey forest and finally the Amazon Flooded Forest where we were able to see sea otters and manatees
All in all it was a great day! I will say this, I am happy this pass was included with our zoo membership. I do not know how I would review this if I paid full admission to get in. Basically, it is a smaller version of the zoo. I am glad we had the opportunity to go and since we have the pass, we will be back!

If you want to see the giant pandas and the red panda you’ve got to buy separate tickets to the river safari. Since my last visit 2 years ago they have really built up the exhibits around the pandas. The manatee tank is amazing. The river cruise was included in our ticket price and was actually very nice despite being terribly hot outside. You get to see the animal enclosures from a different angle and sometimes different animals all together. Most of what we saw was either indoors and air conditioned or in a shaded area. Take your time when walking through the panda enclosure. They also have just about the cutest souvenirs at the end of the panda viewing so shield your eyes!

The river safari is right between the Singapore Zoo and Night Zoo. It is a separate park and requires a separate ticket. It is not as big as the zoo. It is more of an enlarged aquarium with some animal exhibits. There is boat ride along the lake which is not really worth it. The log type ride is refreshing but you do not see too many animals and since it is constantly moving, you do not get a really good look at them. If you have a whole day, you could do all three parks but it would make for a very long day. The exhibits are interesting covering the different major river systems of the world. I do not think it is worth the separate admission though. This falls into I did it once but probably not again.

It’s good but the title is completely misleading. There is zero, yes ZERO river safari — you don’t go into the waters at all. Think of this safari as a fresh water aquarium. You can take Amazon ride for additional $ 5 and get on a 5min boat ride but otherwise it’s an aquarium. I got a lot of new knowledge and had fun but I am disappointed at the misleading title.

I came on a Monday afternoon. It’s my off day. Boring for most part and the experience is not worth the price. One plus was the lack of queues but then again with nothing forward to look forward reward too…

Only two exhibits held my attention — Flooded Amazon Forest and Giant Panda Forest.
This is a much smaller park compared to the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari where you can spend at least 3 – 4 hours wandering around. At the River Safari, it is possible to complete it in under 2 hours if there are no queues for the Giant Panda Forest and the boat rides.
I guess it depends on your timing whether your visit will be enjoyable. I went during lunch time (11.30am to 2+pm) and being a hot humid day, many animals were hiding or just lazing around, doing nothing interesting. The giant pandas (Jia Jia and Kai Kai) were snoozing, the red pandas were just sitting on the tree branches, watching the humans. The golden pheasant was hiding.
In the Flooded Amazon Forest, the Giant River Otters were alternating swimming or hiding in their den. It was feeding time for the manatees so that was a bit interesting. I do like the manatees and otters so I could spend a long time just watching them.
The Squirrel Monkey Forest offers a very close encounter with the monkeys. Do keep your water and food and belonging close to you. I saw a monkey jumped onto a stroller in front of me. Luckily the child was in the parent’s arms and not inside the stroller. It gave a shock to those nearby. Another monkey tried to snatch my friend’s plastic bag.
The other sections are mainly the different types of fish and alligators/​crocodiles. I saw two beavers but they were sleeping. Likewise for the jaguarundi.
I took the Amazon River Quest ($ 5 for adult) and thought it was a waste of money. It was a 10 minutes ride and it was too fast to really see all the animals, especially if the animals were not in plain sight. The first row is the splash zone (indicated when at the front of queue) where your legs and shoes will get wet.
The River Safari Cruise was in operation when I was there and it was also $ 5 for adult. I did not bother with it after the River Quest boat ride. This would be open to all, including babies or young children. It is a gentle 15 minutes boat ride in the reservoir and you MAY get to see the giraffes in the Night Safari and elephants in the Zoo. Being high noon, I thought it may be too hot to see the animals then.
Compared to the other parks, River Safari is a place I would only go once, unless there are new exhibits or if I get free tickets to visit.

I returned to the Singapore Zoo to visit the new River Safari, which is at least several months old by now, but the crowds haven’t let up.
My primary reason was really to see the Pandas. While the River Safari was under construction, the Panda exhibit was accessible through the Zoo for +$ 5 admission. This time around, it has become a permanent addition to the River Safari. It’s great, you get to shell out even more money to get the visit all animals. Just for the record, have been to all four parks.
I was not particularly impressed by the River Safari, although there were a few highlights. Well Pandas for one, but they aren’t a river habitat animal. The giant alligators or crocodiles exhibit was designed for the viewer to be able to see the them. Unfortunately for the welfare of the animal, the tank was way too small for them.
The Manatee exhibit was another awe inspiring display, however I do wish the tanks were not so murky so that I can see. and Yes I do realize that Manatees poop like crazy.
Lots of complaints about the River Cruise, which felt like an amusement park themed ride. Ten minutes long, $ 5 extra for a timed entry ticket, and you really don’t get to see any more animals that you do from the outside. The only thing I got to see were the Jaguars sleeping inside by the glass enclosure. Manned Wolf was no where to be seen, one or two monkeys running around. The end.
The River Safari park is pretty small compared to the other parks, the guy at the ticket counter told us it would take about an hour to walk from the ticket counter to the boat area, which basically signals the end of your trip. The park is worth 1 – 2 hours of enjoyment if you linger long enough at the large exhibits.

I visited the river safari on a Thursday morning and enjoyed it for the most part. It was not crowded in the morning but could definitely see the crowd building up closer to noon.
In addition, what made my trip especially enjoyable were the feeding sessions. I reached at 930am and this was just in time for a guided feeding session from the Mississippi River to the Ganges River. The guide was friendly and knowledgable, and pointed out the various species in a tank and some of their notable characteristics.
The panda exhibit was another highlight. Red pandas were super cute and active while Kai Kai and Jia Jia were just lazing around but cute nonetheless. Plus there’s ac in the exhibit which definitely serves as a good respite from the heat.
Amazon river quest was a waste of time and money because many of the exhibits were empty. Unfortunate because I was looking forward to that the most.
Should u go? For 23.75 it isn’t that worth it since I finished it in 2 hours, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.

More fish than animals but hey, it’s a river safari.
The exhibits were pretty well-​designed and interesting to walk through, most of it was nicely sheltered so it was tolerable even when it was 35 degrees out. Not your usual variety of fish, they do have some pretty cool-​looking species there (eg. the paddlefish). Worth a visit even if you’ve been to the Underwater World or SEA Aquarium.
Boat ride was supposed to be the highlight of the whole place but ended up being kinda underwhelming… no commentary and pretty short too. We ended up trying to create our own commentary to entertain ourselves during the ride.
The panda exhibit was good though! Have been to see pandas in Hong Kong’s ocean park and this one is tons more awesome. For one, it’s sheltered, air-​conditioned and well-​spaced out so that it’s easy to get a view of the animals and even take photographs… Though one of the pandas looks a bit clinically depressed and is always hiding in a depressing-​looking grey room with the TV screen (which was pretty small) focused on it. It looked like a convict in a cell :/​Preferred looking at the red pandas running around happily on their tree trunks than the actual pandas.
Worth a visit!

3.5 stars.
The variety of fish and other aquatic animals they had was pretty amazing!
The red pandas were super cute! For the normal pandas, it was cool too but I’ve seen tons of normal pandas already. Jia Jia likes to hide in her den, and we were told this, but she seemed to be off camera hiding somewhere, so we only saw Kai Kai.
The squirrel monkeys are pretty crazy! They are swinging and running around and eating stuff all around you!
There was supposed to be a polar bear feeding at 1pm, but it never seemed to have happened that day.
The Amazon boat ride was a disappointment. I think this really showed the Singaporean mentality of «open it and get money first, finish it later.» Literally half of the animals that were supposed to be on the boat ride were missing. At least it was complimentary with our ticket for some reason, even though it was supposed to be an extra charge.
The Panda restaurant has overpriced, mediocre food. Did not try the Teahouse, maybe it was better. Bring your own.
The park is actually pretty small, and you can probably get through the entire thing in 2 hours. Maybe I’ll come back to bring other people, when the park opens up fully…

The River Safari is absolutely amazing, mostly because of the super cute pandas!
I would have given this place a 5 had they not decided to close the river boat ride the day we went. When we got there, I asked if they had posted it on their website, and the girl at the front desk told me yes. Then we went onto their website, and there was no notification of the boat ride cancellation! Plus, they said you would only miss 15% of the park, but from the map, I’m pretty sure it was more like 33%. Also, they didn’t notify their park rangers of the closing…
In any case, the pandas and animal feeding a were the saving grace. The red pandas are super cute — they just make you want to cuddle! Kai Kai and Jia Jia are pretty amazing to see up close, especially without glass. Jia Jia often hides in her den, but she does come out to eat so loop back around later if she is sitting in her den at first.
The manatee feeding is really awesome — I swear this place has more manatees for you to see than any one place in Florida!!!
And the squirrel monkeys are pretty crazy up close and personal — be careful, especially when they are feeding!

Of the three, I liked the River Safari most. You basically walk thru an organized maze of information arranged by major rivers of the world. Each section discusses a particular river, it’s ecosystem, and the habitat. My favorite sections were the Mekong River, Ganges River, and Congo River.
Didn’t really care for the boat ride other than it gave me a rest from walking.
Not to many photographic moments but found the Indian Gharial interesting. The mini biosphere that held the Panda was somewhat interesting. While I didn’t really care for the Panda who pretty much looked bored, the red panda was fun to look at and it was refreshingly cool. I actually think the biosphere in Montréal is more fun.
Still the overall experience was enjoyable.

Amazing park design. Great exhibits. River ride is plus extra star. We got there 9.30am. Got the 1pm river ride. Enjoyed. For kids for adults.

The lines get crazy long early in the morning and definitely worse when it is the holiday season.
This is an interesting addition to the day zoo and the night safari. If your energy is up for it, you should cover this with the zoo, and end your day at the night safari.
Lots of habitat structured from different rivers in the world. Fun for kids and adults. And of course, the famous giant pandas. The red pandas in the same enclosure are actually way cuter and more active.
Tip: buy your tickets online to avoid the lines but you still will have to come early to get tickets for the river quest ride. The ride was full before 11am on the day we wee there. Without the ride, some parts of the park is not accessible.