Two weekends ago we took a turn on the Singapore Flyer. Amanda and Reuben had gotten discounted tickets through her work, so we took the opportunity to check something off the Singapore bucket list.



The Flyer is the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, reaching 42 stories high, with a total height of 541 ft. It's 16 ft taller than the Star of Nanchang in China and 98 ft taller than the London Eye. A complete rotation takes about 30 minutes, though, so you're not exactly zipping through the air at that height. And of course the passenger capsules are completely closed and air conditioned.

Amanda and Reuben standing across the capsule.
Each capsule can fit up to 28 people and usually there are benches, though we spent our time taking in the views. Sometimes events are held in the Flyer. The capsule immediately ahead of ours was being set for dinner for 14 or so.

The Flyer is located on Marina Bay. To the Southeast you can see Marina Barrage (where we just were), the dam, what will eventually be the Gardens by the Bay South, the Singapore Straits, and all of the cargo ships.


To the Northeast, you can look past East Coast Parkway to the Indoor Stadium, Kallang River, and lots and lots of housing.


To the West, you can see Marina Bay Reservoir, the Esplanade Theaters by the Bay (the two silver, spiky, domes), the Marina Bay Floating Stadium, the Fullerton Hotel, and part of the skyline.


To the Southwest, you can see the profile of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino (which we've answered questions about before), the lotus-shaped Art Science Museum, and more of the Marina Bay Skyline.


We had originally considered going for sunset, but there was no line at all when we arrived, so we rode between 6 and 6:30 pm or so. When we were leaving, there was a huge line of people trying to time their ride for Singapore's 7:10 pm sunset.

It was a nice ride and I'm glad we did it. We even brought the kids along.


They're such good tourists at this age.