Travelling from Johor Bahru to Singapore
There are several ways of getting from Johor Bahru to Singapore, however we opted to take the public bus since it’s the cheapest mode of transport. The bus departs from the main terminal hub in Johor Bahru (J B Sentral) and arrives at Woodlands CIQ in Singapore.
In order to cross the Malaysia/Singapore border, we had to go through two immigration checkpoints – one at Johor Bahru Sentral in Malaysia and another at Woodlands CIQ in Singapore. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Here’s the steps we took…
(1) Getting to Johor Bahru Sentral
For us, Johor Bahru Sentral was just about in walking distance, but the cheapest and easiest way to get to Johor Bahru Sentral for most people will be by using the app Grab Taxi. Simply book a car online which arrives within minutes and pay your driver in cash. A 10 minute journey shouldn’t cost more than around 5 ringgit, which is significantly cheaper than the standard metered taxis.
(2) Arriving at Johor Bahru Sentral
We arrived at Johor Bahru Sentral in the early hours of the morning, 5am. The station was already very busy so we quickly made our way to the immigration checkpoint which is about a 10 minute walk. We didn’t really know where we were going, so just followed the crowds.
Don’t forget your passport! – Since you are crossing the border into another country, you will need your passport. This is required when travelling to and from Johor Bahru to Singapore.
(3) Passing Johor Bahru Sentral Checkpoint
It was a little bit of a shock seeing so many rows of long queues at the Johor Bahru Sentral Checkpoint. However there were a lot of counters available and the checkpoints were well organised.
After about 40 minutes of queuing, we were through the first immigration checkpoint and made our way to the bus terminal at Johor Bahru Sentral.
Leave yourself plenty of time! – It is a well known fact that the entire process of crossing the border can take up to two hours – not because of distance, but due to the sheer volume of people travelling.
(4) Getting to Johor Bahru Sentral bus terminal
Once you have passed the first immigration checkpoint in Malaysia at Johor Bahru Sentral, you will reach the bus terminal.
The bus costs SGD $1.30 – $1.80 for a single journey. There are various routes to choose from which take you to different bus interchanges and MRT stations, but don’t get too hung up on the details – They all go to Singapore.
(5) Getting to Woodlands CIQ
The bus we chose was packed so we had to stand up, but the journey over the bridge took no more than 30 minutes (although traffic is back to back) and we were dropped at the Woodlands CIQ Immigration checkpoint.
(6) Arriving at Woodlands CIQ
We arrived at Woodlands CIQ and made our way to the second and final immigration checkpoint of our journey. The queues here were shorter than the first immigration checkpoint in Johor Bahru. This checkpoint only took about 30 minutes to complete.
Once through Singapore immigration we walked about 10mins to the Woodlands MRT Station
Top tip – Bring Singapore Dollars with you! We weren’t able to buy a train or bus ticket with our Malaysian Ringgit and had to find a cash machine
The MRT trains will take you pretty much anywhere you’d want to go in Singapore. We recommend buying an EZ Link contactless travel card which is the simplest way to get around. It can be used on MRT, LRT trains and buses – This includes your return journey back to JB.
(7) Arriving in Singapore
Singapore is an incredibly easy place to navigate. The MRT is clean, efficient, air conditioned and fast! All signs and announcements are in English so it’s near impossible to get lost. And if you do, just ask someone! We found everyone to be incredibly helpful and friendly.
(8) One day in Singapore
In between organising a visa application, we took in the sights and sounds of the city such as dining at delicious Hawker Centres, visiting the beautiful Botanical Gardens, strolling around Clarkes Quay and Fort Canning Park.
Singapore is also a great place to pick up cheap electronics. After spending much of our time in remote places, this little trip gave us an opportunity to stock up on a few necessary items ahead of our future travels.
(9) Singapore to Johor Bahru
The return journey from Singapore to Johor Bahru is exactly the same process. The Woodlands Bus Terminal was slightly more complicated to navigate, so look out for the guys in orange high vis jackets – they will help point you in the right direction and make sure you get on the correct bus.
We left the city at around 6.30pm which was the rush hour peak, so the queues through immigration at Woodlands CIQ were particularly long. All in all, the journey back took about 2 hours.
Benefits of staying in Johor Bahru
Much cheaper accommodation
Hotels on offer in Johor Bahru were significantly cheaper and better value than anything we could find in Singapore. We stayed at the Baguss Hotel & Serviced Apartments and paid 55 ringgit per night. This included an ample breakfast, AC, WiFi and an extremely well equipped, large and comfortable room. Perfect for a week-long stay!
A word of warning – the Malaysian Government have recently laid on a new tourism tax for hoteliers and ask 10 ringgit extra per night on top of what you have paid for the room. We found this out the hard way at check-in. Make sure you read the (very) small print when booking online and be prepared to pay in cash on arrival.
Great food, cheap prices
Although Singapore is known for its famous Hawker Centres, we’d heard that Johor Bahru also offered a thriving food scene. As soon as we arrived, this was evident and we were super excited to get stuck in!
Right around the corner from our hotel was a street packed full of mouth-watering local restaurants serving up a mixture of Indian and Chinese cuisine. With huge tandoors on the street plus Roti Canai and Tandoori Chicken to die for, we could have happily eaten here every day. Prices were extremely affordable at no more than 7-10 ringgit for two persons, including a delicious Kopi Cham (iced tea and coffee mix) which is a must-try when in Malaysia!
Less tourists, cheaper prices
Johor Bahru (often referred to as JB) isn’t exactly on the typical tourist radar. Many people choose to live in JB but commute across the border daily to work or study.
Singaporeans on the other hand, are regular weekend visitors to Johor Bahru as they hop across to enjoy lower cost fuel, food and shopping. So overall, JB is a much cheaper alternative to Singapore.
Conclusion
The entire experience of travelling from Johor Bahru to Singapore was stress free, interesting and relatively straightforward. If you want or need to go to Singapore but are travelling on a strict budget, then we highly recommend this process.
There are regular flights to Johor Bahru from all across SE Asia. If you don’t wish to break the bank, Johor Bahru is a great alternative to staying in Singapore itself.
Have you crossed the border from Johor Bahru to Singapore? Do you have any budget travel tips for Johor Bahru to Singapore? We’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments below 🙂
Thank you for the details. We are strongly considering JB as an option, especially since I’m not sure how many of our 3 days we will actually do much sightseeing. Honestly, we kind of like to just get a feel for a new place and not really hit all of the sightseeing spots. Therefore, I could see JB working out well for us.
JB is a great place for eating and relaxing, have a great trip and thanks for your comment – Nick
May I know how many days did you do this commute of staying in JB and day tripping to Singapore? Did you encounter any problems at the immigration for doing it? I am planning to do it 2 days in a row and wondering if this would be a problem. Thank you.
Hi Elisabeth, it may depend on your nationality. We have British passports and did not encounter any problems although we only did one day trip from JB to Singapore. Hope your visit runs smoothly – Nick
Hi! Me and my family ate staying here at JB. We are a Filipino citizen. We’ve been to Singapore last 2 months ago. And now we travel here at JB. But my concern is the connecting flight go back to my country. I want to book a flight going back to my country in Singapore. Is it possible?
Hi Kathy, thanks for your comment! Since we are not personally Filipino citizens I would advise you to check this directly with your countries embassy – Nick
Hi so we are a family of 5 and are seriously looking at staying in JB and travelling every day to Singapore as the accommodation is so much cheaper. Is the really as simple as it sounds, we are AUS and NZ passport holders. Are the times to anf from singapore pretty flexible
Hi Melissa,
We found the journey into and back from Singapore very simple and we did it during rush hour.
It will add a few hours onto your day, however we think the savings more than made up for this. We also really enjoyed the experience of exploring Singapore during the day and eating out in JB at night.
Hope this helps – Nick
Hello Nick, I keep getting conflicting reports of how difficult it is to cross the border from JB to Singapore. i will be staying just next to the JB Sentral and would like to know if i should expect delays or issues with me and of my family members. all with U.S passports. we will be traveling at the beginning of December….it seems that i cannot book any trains online, while most stories of waiting for the bus describe up to a 4 hour wait time. and i havent found much info on taxis. we plan on visiting singapore primarily and only staying in JB. thanks for any info.
–Corrie
Hi Corrie, thanks for commenting! Personally we’ve only ever taken the bus across the border, and we found the whole process relatively straightforward. We travelled both ways during rush hour, which took approximately 2 hours door to door. There were plenty of buses available and we were able to get on one right away. The longest part was queuing to get through the immigration checkpoint at JB (which took about 40minutes). Hope this gives you a clearer idea of what to expect and good luck with your journey! All the best, Nick
Hi i wish to travel to singapore first and to malaysia. So is it possible to stay in johar bahru. Is it easy to travel everyday to singapore to explore singapore?
Hi Fakrudeen, yes it’s possible to stay in JB and travel to Singapore. Travelling everyday is definitely doable, however the journey can take up to 2hrs (especially in rush hour) so you should factor that into your trip if you have specific plans in Singapore. Thanks for your comment – Nick
HI
do they ask about onward air ticket when entering to Singapore ,
Hi Hassan, from our experience we were not asked for an onward ticket however this may be dependant on your nationality (we are British citizens). It is probably worth checking with your countries embassy just to be on the safe side. Thanks, Nick
can I use ezy link ticket to get to johor bahru is it by bus how much per night to stay in hotel over there compared to Singapore is it only 50 Singapore dollars let me know
Hi Karen, We didn’t use an ezy link ticket on our bus journey to JB as we only purchased these upon arriving into Singapore, however we were able to use them on our way back so it may well be possible. The hotels in Johor Bahru are a lot more budget friendly, we stayed at the Baguss Hotel which cost 55 MYR – only 18 Singapore dollars per night! Good luck with your trip & thanks for commenting.
Hi Nick
We are NZ citizens and travelling Nov 2023. We plan to stay in Johor Bahru and commute to Singapore. Our flight is from Singapore back to NZ. Do we need a visa to enter Johor Bahru? Also we plan to hire a rental car. Is this feasible?