Diving Island

Derawan Island, one of The Best Diving Spot in Kalimantan

In the eastern part of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo and about 45 km from the Berau river estuary out in the Makassar strait lie several reefs ideal for scuba diving. The dive sites are famous for the large gatherings of manta rays and a jellyfish lake. But in the reefs in the Berau archipelago also live a lot of very interesting critters, beautiful nudibranchs, hidden crabs and shrimps and unusual fish such as ghostpipefishes, scorpionfishes and more.

There are several dive resorts, all are relatively easily reached from either Balikpapan or Tanjung Redeb. Derawan Island is a divers "HEAVEN" and offers many types of diving; walls, fringing reefs, caverns, and even a wonderful muck dive.

You are likely to see big sea turtles, schooling barracudas, whitetip and leopard sharks, napoleon wrasses, cuttlefish, jacks and many many other creatures.

There is a wonderful variety of hard coral around the island. Macro diving off the pier is world class, and you can find sea horses, scorpionfish, and other bizarre small marine animals.

The island is ringed by a white sand beach where thirty to seventy sea turtles nest nightly. Cottages sit back from the beach a bit to allow turtles personal space. Turtles lay eggs on the island, and you may witness hatchlings making it to the sea.