Things to do in Derawan Islands
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Derawan Islands
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Main season: calmer seas, visibility of 15 to 30 metres at outer reefs, and the most reliable island hopping.
Peak window inside the main season: calmest crossings, turtle hatching at its height, and the busiest beds and boats.
Shoulder month: conditions usually improving after the monsoon, with fewer visitors than the peak.
Northeast monsoon: roughest open-sea crossings, lower visibility and boats that wait or cancel; keep buffer nights at both ends.
What's on
- Indonesian Independence Day 17 August
Village celebrations, boat races and flag ceremonies on Derawan and Maratua, inside the best weather window.
- Eid al-Fitr Around 10 March in 2027, lunar calendar, dates move yearly
Peak domestic travel week; boats and cottages fill and family businesses reduce staffing for several days.
Best things to do in Derawan Islands
Sting-less Jellyfish Lake
A brackish lake of stingless jellyfish on uninhabited Kakaban, swum slowly with no fins and no sunscreen.
Sangalaki Island
A conservation island for nesting green turtles, with a hatchery visit and snorkelling off the beach.
Derawan Island
A stilt village island where green turtles graze and surface around the jetties all day, free to watch.
Maratua Island
The big atoll island looped by scooter, for villages, jetty turtles in volume and blue cave sinkholes.
Where to stay in Derawan Islands
Derawan Island village
practical base, budget stays and all boat departures
Every operator and open trip leaves from its jetty, dinners are a walk, and prices are a fraction of Maratua's.
Maratua Island, Payung-Payung and Teluk Harapan coast
resort stays, quiet and jetty swimming
Stays line the coast near the jetties, from full resorts to the island's guesthouse, with better swimming off the jetty.
Maratua Atoll islets
dive-resort splurge and total quiet
Private-islet Extra Divers resorts at the atoll's south tip, with house reefs and the channel diving on the doorstep.
Think twice about
- Berau town and Tanjung Batu as a base
Transit points 2 to 2.5 hours by road plus a boat from Derawan, with nothing of the archipelago at the door. Pass through; do not sleep there for an island trip.
- Kakaban and Sangalaki for staying
Kakaban is uninhabited and Sangalaki is a conservation station; neither has public accommodation or permitted camping. Visit by day boat only.
- Isolated Maratua stays without a confirmed boat transfer
Distances are boat or scooter dependent and a room far from a jetty becomes a daily negotiation. Confirm the transfer before booking.
Best restaurants in Derawan Islands
Derawan Fisheries
The island's sit-down seafood restaurant, serving local fish and Indonesian dishes all day.
Azwar Restaurant
A small village seafood restaurant near the jetties, the best-reviewed standalone eatery on Derawan.
April Resto
A tiny village kitchen praised for grilled chicken, kind service and prices below its neighbours.
Warung Jawa Timur
A Javanese warung open late into the evening, for rendang and nasi goreng after the dive boats return.
Warung Makan Abdina
A local Indonesian warung for rice dishes and seafood plates, cash only, eaten by locals and divers alike.
Outdoor things to do in Derawan Islands
Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
A PADI 5 Star base diving all four islands, from Derawan macro to Kakaban walls and Maratua drifts.
Big Fish Country
The Maratua channel drift dive, past barracuda tornadoes, eagle rays and reef sharks on the tide.
Talisayan
A dawn boat to the bagan fishing platforms to snorkel with whale sharks, best around the new moon.
Derawan Islands
A one-day island-hopping snorkel boat linking Maratua, the Kakaban lake and Sangalaki mantas from Derawan.
Best hotels in Derawan Islands
Arasatu Villas & Sanctuary
Sea-view villas on Maratua with a house reef, a praised kitchen and staff who organise dive days.
Nunukan Island Resort
Beach bungalows with a house reef wall and an Extra Divers centre at the south tip of Maratua Atoll.
Virgin Cocoa - Tropical Hideaway Island
A small diver-run island hideaway with a house reef, praised food and expert local guiding.
Scuba Junkie Sangalaki
Water bungalows and dorms over the sea on Derawan, with turtles below the deck and diving at the door.
Green Nirvana Maratua Resort
Beachfront bungalows and big family rooms on a low cliff at Payung-Payung, Maratua's mid-range resort.
Derawan Dive Lodge
A small long-running dive lodge on Derawan beach, with big boats running day trips to all the islands.
Maratua Guesthouse
Maratua's budget bed, a quiet guesthouse with a long sunset jetty and snorkelling off its end.
Derawan Fisheries Cottage
Simple village cottages with a restaurant on site, a short walk from the jetty, warungs and dive shops.
Is Derawan Islands expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | IDR 750,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | IDR 1,500,000 a person |
| Splurge | IDR 3,500,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Sting-less Jellyfish Lake: a few days ahead
- Sangalaki Island: a few days ahead
- Scuba Junkie Sangalaki: weeks ahead
- Big Fish Country: weeks ahead
- Derawan Islands: a few days ahead
- Arasatu Villas & Sanctuary: months ahead
- Nunukan Island Resort: months ahead
- Virgin Cocoa - Tropical Hideaway Island: months ahead
- Book Maratua atoll resorts months ahead and Derawan dive bases weeks ahead for July to September and Christmas to New Year.
- Time whale sharks to 2 days either side of the new moon and arrange the trip on the island; time hatchlings to June to October.
- Confirm Kakaban's current swim status with your operator in the week you travel, as the lake was closed from December 2023 and no-swim during its recovery.
Is Derawan Islands safe?
- Inter-island boats can be overcrowded and lack safety equipment; check the vessel before boarding.
- Medical care on the islands is clinic level only, the nearest hospital is Berau hours away, and recompression care is far beyond that; dive conservatively with evacuation insurance.
Derawan Islands travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Two-night Derawan trips are mostly travel; four nights is the honest minimum and divers should take five or six.
- Never wear sunscreen or fins in Kakaban Lake; skin chemicals are the managers' stated cause of the 2023 jellyfish crash.
- Do not rely on island ATMs, card machines or fast data; bring full cash in rupiah from the mainland.
Getting around Derawan Islands: public transport and more
- Fly to Kalimarau Airport (BEJ) via Balikpapan, drive 2 to 2.5 hours to Tanjung Batu, then take a 30 minute speedboat to Derawan Island.
- The Tarakan alternative is a 3 to 4 hour speedboat to Derawan, with operator transfers on limited days; Maratua resorts run their own 3 to 4 hour boat from Berau.
- Between islands you move by dive boats, open trips or charters at roughly IDR 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 per boat per day; there is no public ferry network.
Who Derawan Islands suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Derawan Islands your trip
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