Spending 8 days and 7 nights with Scuba Junkie on Derawan Island was an incredibly rewarding adventure! Getting there was definitely a journey…we flew from Jakarta to Berau, endured a 3 hour private taxi ride to the coastal town of Tanjung Batu, and then took a 30 minute speedboat to Derawan Island. But the effort was exactly what made the destination so special: this is still a truly off-the-beaten-path corner of Indonesia with very little mass tourism. Staying in an overwater bungalow where massive green turtles swam beneath our balcony every day felt surreal. Between eating delicious local Indonesian seafood at family run restaurants, meeting friendly villagers, and completing three dives a day for six straight days, every moment felt adventurous and authentic. The island even had a free-roaming resident Asian sea otter unofficially adopted by the locals, which added even more charm to the experience!
The diving itself was absolutely world-class. We had two unforgettable early morning encounters with whale sharks at floating fishing platforms in the middle of the Celebes Sea, where we spent nearly an hour swimming alongside these gentle giants completely by ourselves. Beyond the whale sharks, we explored four incredible dive regions: Derawan Island offered amazing macro life including rare nudibranchs, bumphead parrotfish, Lembeh sea dragons, and orangutan crabs; Kakaban Island featured its famous stingless jellyfish lake along with thrilling current dives packed with schooling trevallies, barracuda, and jackfish…plus sightings of five hammerhead sharks and a thresher shark; Sangalaki Island was filled with leopard sharks, turtles, and vibrant reef fish; and Maratua, often called the “Maldives of Indonesia,” delivered unforgettable encounters with bumphead parrotfish, mating octopus, eels, cuttlefish, and countless turtles. Diving with Scuba Junkie and our dive master Jefry was fun, affordable, and incredibly exciting! This was an unforgettable way to experience the natural beauty of East Kalimantan.
Carved wooden statue at the airport arrival's hall in Berau
We were the only two tourists on the plane and were surprised to get serenaded by a local singer upon our arrival to Berau
A family of 4 on a motorbike in Berau
Taking a bumpy 30 minute speedboat ride from Tanjung Batu Port to Derawan Island
Scuba Junkie Sangalaki - our home while we dive a week at Sangalaki Marine Park
Becky with a welcome coconut at Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
Over the water bungalows at Derawan Island
Becky at the land side entrance to Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
Dried fish hanging outside a shack on Derawan Island
Wooden jetty on Derawan Island (in the province of East Kalimantan)
Warung Arema quickly became one of our favorite local eateries on the island of Derawan
Dried fish hung outside a restaurant in Derawan
A local boy holding his pet rooster
Hungry kitten wanting some food
A lovely beach on Derawan Island
These Indonesian tourists were dressed to impress and wanted to take photos with us!
Luke making friends while walking around Derawan Island
Village boys posing for a photo
The main road on Derawan Island!
We saw zero dogs but lots of cats at Derawan Island
Choosing our fish for dinner
Asian small-clawed otter that was adopted by the villagers of Derawan Island. Everyone contributes fresh fish for it to eat
Thankfully the island cats have learned to leave this otter alone! The only danger to it are the weekend crowds that rent motorbikes to zip around the island
Fresh grilled fish on offer at a local restaurant on Derawan Island
Chromodoris dianae nudibranch
Gold-dotted flatworm (thysanozoon nigropapillosum)
Green tunicates (didemnum molle)
Delicate tubeworms (Filogranella elatensis)
Goniastrea favulus coral detail
Palythoa heliodiscus (also known as "sunray zoanthid") cnidarians
Doriprismatica stellata nudibranch
A pair of robust ghost pipefish
Goniobranchus coi nudibranch
A green sea turtle outside our bungalow at Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
Sunset over Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
Overwater bungalows lit up at night on Derawan Island
Robby in the upstairs lounge at Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
Sunset over Derawan Island
Hungry cat begging for some fish
Indonesian fishing platform in the middle of the Celebes Sea
Robby taking a photo of two feeding whalesharks at a Celebes Sea fishing platform
A massive whaleshark at a fishing platform
Whale sharks are never guaranteed at the fishing platforms but we got lucky both mornings we decided to swim with them
Canthigaster papua - Netted Toby
Dendronephthya hemprichi soft coral
Goniobranchus kuniei nudibranch
Bluespotted ribbontail ray
The lovely woman who prepared our lunch box meals all week long at Derawan Island
Phyllidia coelestis nudibranch
Trinchesia sibogae nudibranch
Nembrotha cristata nudibranch
View of Kakaban island (also known as Samama island)
A short hike to Kakaban's stingless jellyfish lake
Robby about to swim with a lake full of jellyfish
Becky looking at Kakaban Island's stingless jellyfish lake
Stingless jellyfish at Kakaban Lake
Touching the stingless jellyfish of Lake Kakaban
White sand beach on Kakaban Island
So sad to see barges loaded with harvested trees!
Goniobranchus fidelis nudibranch
Coryphellina flamma nudibranch
Zanzibar whip coral shrimp
Robby enjoying a hearty meal called "Ikan Kuah Kuning" (an Indonesian dish of fish in a savory, sour and refreshing yellow broth full of spices)
Gorgeous sunrise on our second morning swimming with whale sharks
A fishing platform in the middle of the Celebes Sea
"Bagang" is an Indonesian floating lift net used for light fishing. The floating structure remains in the middle of the sea for months at a time to catch fish, squid and shrimp. Opportunistic whale sharks show up to score an easy meal
Whale shark in a vertical feeding position
A 30 foot (10 meter) long whale shark feeding at the fishing platform
Returning back to Scuba Junkie after our early morning swim with the whale sharks
Taking the speed boat out for a day of diving with Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
Becky and Doris wearing neck gaiters for sun protection
Dive Master Peng guides our boat captain towards Sangalaki Island
Sangalaki Island is considered a divers' paradise in East Kalimantan
Sangalaki Resort is a charming oasis on Sangalaki Island
Bungalows at Sangalaki Resort
Sangalaki Island is considered one of the top places in the world to snorkel/SCUBA and well worth the effort to get there
Orange clownfish in an anemone
A resting leopard shark (also known as a zebra shark)
Hypselodoris bullockii nudibranch
Halgerda batangas nudibranch
Close up of a starfish's textured surface
Wooden pier at Kakaban Island
The jellyfish are technically not “non stinging”! But because of the lack of natural predators in this lake, it means the stinging is very mild and essentially harmless to humans
Getting up close with a versuriga jellyfish (evolved over time to be stingless)
Becky on Kakaban Island's old wooden pier
Phyllodesmium briareum nudibranch
Doriprismatica atromarginata nudibranch
Pikachu nudibranch (Thecacera pacifica)
Orangutan crab on bubble coral
Goniobranchus hintuanensis nudibranch
Brahminy kite (red-backed sea eagle)
Robby and Jefry thrilled we saw a thresher shark!
Luke showing off the new Scuba Junkie Sangalaki t-shirts
A spectacular sunset over Derawan Island
An octopus emerging from its lair
Coryphellina pseudolotos nudibranch
The fascinating jawfish. Males will incubate fertilized eggs in their mouth (a behavior called mouth brooding) to keep them safe from predators
Peacock-tail anemone shrimp
School of jackfish (bigeye trevally)
Goniobranchus geometricus nudibranch
Juvenile thecacera pacifica nudibranch
Coryphellina flamma nudibranch
A school of razorfish hiding in red whip coral
Jorunna funebris nudibranch (aka "white sea bunny")
Threadfin Anthias (Hucht's fairy basslet)
Juvenile bicolor parrot fish
Sunrise over Derawan Island
A fisherman near Kakaban Island
We enjoyed diving with dive instructor Doris
Robby gearing up for another dive
The cook/owner of Warung Arema
A hungry cat staring intently at some leftover food
Eggs to order at Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
Derawan Island's mosque (Masjid Jami Al Ikhlas)
Glossodoris buko nudibranch
Broken-back shrimp (ocellate tozeuma shrimp)
Zenopontonia soror shrimp
We had the best week diving with dive master Jefry at Scuba Junkie Sangalaki!
Derawan Island's gas station
A little girl learning to ride a motorbike
Becky holding up her fish dinner
Cats begging for our food
Becky with her bags packed, ready to go
Sad to say goodbye to the amazing Scuba Junkie Team (Ainni, Lizzie & Luke)!
Robby smiling after we found a restaurant that serves pork in Berau!
Such a nice barber! And he did a great job on Robby's hair!
Fire extinguisher wall mural at the Berau Airport
Becky at a whale shark mural at the Berau Airport
Becky posing with a wood carving at Berau Airport
