Derawan Islands

The Derawan Islands sit off the northern tip of Berau Regency, East Kalimantan (East Borneo). The four main islands are Derawan, Kakaban, Sangalaki and Maratua, and the diving is what most visitors come for.

How To Get Here

You can book a flight from Jakarta, Bali, or any other major airport in Indonesia to Berau. From Berau, you can continue to transfer to your chosen island in the Derawan archipelago at Tanjung Redeb Harbor. The boat to Maratua, Sangalaki or Kakaban takes about 2 hours. The first departs at 8 AM and the last at 4 PM.

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Derawan Island

The Derawan Island is home to several critical coastal ecosystems and small islands. It is including coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests. Furthermore, this region has many protected species, like green turtles, hawksbill turtles, whales, dolphins, manta rays, coconut crabs, dugongs, barracuda fish, and many more.

Things to do on Derawan Island:

Rent a bicycle to ride around the island.
Spend time on the white sand beaches.
Watch the sunset from the long pier.
Visit Gusung Pasir Sanggalau, better on low tide (approximately 20 minutes by speedboat).
Diving or snorkeling.
Watch turtles nesting and laying eggs at night.

Derawan Island stands as the most populated within the archipelago, serving as the primary hub for tourist amenities and services.

Kakaban Island

The island features steep terrain with limestone cliffs enveloped in dense jungle that extends to the water’s edge. Barracuda Point is a sheer underwater wall that has strong currents and attracts large pelagic species like sharks, jacks, tunas, snappers, trevallies, and a big school of barracudas.

One of Kakaban’s unique attractions is its big jellyfish lake, a mangrove-fringed lake situated slightly above sea level. Here, you’ll encounter thousands of jellyfish from four different non-stinging species. These jellyfish have lost their natural defense mechanisms because of the absence of significant predators in the lake. This phenomenon is reminiscent of the Jellyfish Lake in Palau, Micronesia. Kakaban Lake is warm brackish water with a seafloor covered in green algae. It holds sea cucumbers, gobies, anemones, tunicates, crustaceans and nudibranchs, plus orange, purple and yellow clams attached to the mangrove roots, and the occasional snake. The lake is 17 metres at its deepest, and visibility is limited.

Sangalaki Island

Unlike Derawan Island, Sangalaki Island has no villages. What you can find here is a private resort and Tourism Park. Tourism Park on Sangalaki Island tend to preserve marine life, especially green and hawksbill turtles.

You can reach Sangalaki Island by speedboat. It will take about 1 hour from Derawan Island. Things you can do here is:

Seeing the hatching process of turtle eggs, watching turtles laying eggs, releasing hatchlings into the sea
Swim with manta rays

The famous dive sites on Sangalaki Island are Coral Gardens, Channel Entrance, Turtle Town, Sandy Ridge, Manta Run, and Manta Parade.

Maratua Island

Maratua has the most facilities of the four. Alongside the villages there are resorts, an airport and several places worth visiting.

^{Credit Image: Maratua Paradise Resort}

Things to do on Maratua Island:

Visit Halo Tube Cave. This cave was once better known as Haji Mangku Cave. But in recent years, this spot has increasingly developed its tourism potential with easy access to enter and renamed. The accessible access to Halo Tube Cave is by walking 2 minutes through the boardwalk. In addition to land, Halo Tube Cave can also be accessed by water, but only when high tide so the boat can approach the entrance. Entrance ticket: IDR 20,000/person.
Swim and enjoy the blue waters around Maratua Paradise Resort.
Swim with turtles at a dive spot called Turtle Traffic.
Snorkel around Green Nirvana Resort’s pier.

Derawan works for divers, for anyone wanting turtles and mantas, and for a quiet beach stay. The four islands each have a different character, so it is worth splitting your time.