Merlion Park
A 70-ton lion-fish spouting water into Marina Bay — Singapore's mythical mascot given permanent, physical form.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Singapore offline.
The Merlion — a mythical creature with a lion's head and a fish's tail — serves as Singapore's mascot and national personification. Sculptor Lim Nang Seng built the original by hand with his eight children; it was officially opened by PM Lee Kuan Yew in 1972 and relocated in 2002 for $7.5 million to a dedicated pier four times the size of the original site.
What to look for
- The 8.6-metre main statue weighing 70 tons, its mouth actively spouting a water jet
- The 2-metre Merlion cub standing close by — easy to miss beside its much larger parent
- The Fullerton Hotel directly behind the pier, marking the 2002 relocation site adjacent to Esplanade Bridge
Free and open-air at One Fullerton, a short walk from the CBD; no admission required.
Merlion Park is one of 30 sights worth the detour in Singapore, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Singapore pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Singapore
- Singapore Botanic GardensThe world's only tropical UNESCO garden — where 1920s rubber supplied half the planet's latex and orchids now carry diplomats' names.
- Marina Bay SandsA 150-metre infinity pool balanced on the world's largest public cantilevered platform, jutting 66.5 metres past the edge of its own tower.
- Marina Bay Street CircuitLewis Hamilton said this 4.927 km loop was twice as physically punishing as Monaco — and you can walk every metre of it.
- Marina BayThe entire bay you're standing beside was open sea until 1992 — 38 years of reclamation drained the anchorage and pushed the Singapore River's mouth inland.
- Gardens by the BayThe world's largest glass greenhouse anchors a 105-hectare park on Singapore's Marina Reservoir.
- Singapore FlyerFor six years this was the tallest Ferris wheel on earth — Las Vegas finally beat it in 2014, by just 2.6 metres.