Marina Bay is an artificial bay near the Singapore city centre and business districts. It was formed by land reclamation. In the reclamation process, Telok Ayer Basin was removed from the map, while the Singapore River’s mouth now flows into the bay instead of directly into the sea. A barrage is currently under construction to make Marina Bay a reservoir for drinking water.

In contemporary local common usage, however, the term Marina Bay has largely been attached to the developments in the vicinity of Marina Mall in the Marina South reclaimed area, particularly to the eateries found there. Although technically erroneous, this association may have been stemmed from the association of the venue’s limited accessibility to the Marina Bay MRT Station, which has served as the main means of public transport to Marina South.

Marina Bay will be the area where in September the 1st Singapore F1 Grand Prix will take place.

As I have mentioned in a few previous posts, this project is huge! It’s like Singapore is trying to move or extend it’s Central Business District out towards the bay. Looking from our balcony, we can see the many cranes on the horizon. First stages are being completed, with a pier for ferries to the southern islands and the Singapore Flyer as the first tourist attractions and the links-styled Marina Bay Golf Course among the first leisure facilities.

In the near future there will be among many others The Marina Bay Sands (a S$4 billion dollar Las Vegas Sands integrated hotel & casino resort development, possibly one of the world’s most expensive), The Sail @ Marina (one of the tallest condominiums in the world, but not as high as the Eureka Tower), the world’s first Double Helix Bridge, an International Cruise Terminal and off course the Gardens by the Bay (as reported earlier) and a new MRT station.

It feels like a little bit of Dubai in Singapore.