Scuba Diving in East Kalimantan,
Indonesia

On the east coast of Kalimantan, a little south from the world famous Sipadan Island, are more equally impressive, but less well-known islands & reefs.

These difficult to reach dive sites are now beginning to open up to divers - and the intrepid travelers who make it this far will not be disappointed.

Just like the Sipadan area, East-Kalimantan has a lovely combination of big fish dives and critter dives. The area is most famous for its Manta Rays, which can congregate here in huge numbers. There is also a very unusual lake dive.

DERAWAN

The Derawan Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Derawan) are in the province of East Kalimantan in Indonesia. They include Derawan, Sangalaki, Kakaban, Maratua, Panjang, and Samama Island and submerged reefs and islets. They are located in the Sulawesi Sea, on the coastal shelf of East Kalimantan.

Located in a biodiversity hotspot, the Derawan Islands feature 872 species of reef fishes, 507 species of coral, and invertebrates, including protected species (5 giants clam species, 2 sea turtles, coconut crab, etc). Some of the islands harbor the heavily exploited turtle eggs and yet the largest green turtle nesting site in Indonesia.

There are two inhabited islands, namely Derawan (1 village of 1,259 people) and Maratua (4 villages of 2,704 people). Fishing is an important income-generating activity for the community. Since the early 1990s, people have caught live groupers, napoleon wrasses, and lobsters, to fill high demand. There are 3 dive resorts on Derawan Islands , while more additional resorts or facilities are in the planning process.

KAKABAN

Kakaban island is part of the Derawan Islands, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The island has an area of 774,2 ha and is quite steep with limestone cliffs covered with dense jungle right down to the water's edge and few beaches. The wall drops to 180 m and currents can be strong with upwelling, downcurrent and reversing directions.

This place is similar to jellyfish-lake in Palau, Micronesia.

The most distinctive feature is the huge brackish water lake in the middle of the island, in the local dialect Kakaban means "hug" as the island hugs the lake from the surrounding seawater.

In the middle of this island is a mangrove fringed lake, slightly above sea level, where thousands of non-stinging jellyfish live making it interesting for diving. The jellyfish consist of four different species which have lost their natural defense system because of the lack of major predators in the lake.

The lake has warm brackish water and the bottom is covered with marine green algae. There are other animals living here, some sea cucumbers, gobies, anemones, tunicates, crustaceans, nudibranchs, orange purple clams and yellow clams on the branches and snakes.

The lake is at most 17m deep with poor visibility and is 10 minutes walk from the beach. Kakaban was probably uplifted during the Holocene and sea water was trapped turning the area and formed a landlocked marine lake. The water is now a mixture of salt water and sweet water from the rain.

This is a steep wall, where the current brings large pelagics like whitetip sharks, leopard sharks, jack, tuna, barracuda, snapper, trevally and of course a large school of barracuda. You can do a drift dive but a grab line has been permanently secured at 24 m across a relatively flat area on the upcurrent side of the point. Currents can be fierce with down currents.

The Blue Light Cave starts at a hole on the top of the wall (2 m deep) and descends through a narrow chimney. At about 21m the chimney opens into a large cavern with the bottom at 30 m, the ceiling of the cave for about 120m. When approaching the exit of the cave the blue light of the sea can be seen. The exit is a long vertical crack in the wall and about 2m wide and lies at 44 m. There is also another exit at 64 m.

Kakaban in East Kalimantan features wall diving, with the walls patrolled by schooling barracuda, bluefin tunas, jacks, leopard sharks, gray reef sharks, and sometimes hammerheads. The world’s largest jellyfish lake is here also. Halimeda green algae covers the bottom of the lake, and mangrove roots live side by side with tunicates, sponges, tube worms, crustaceans, anemones, sea cucumber, sea snakes and gobies. Still unidentified species abound.

SANGALAKI is home to squadrons of giant manta rays. They emerge from all directions, undisturbed by your presence. Most are at least 3.5m (12 ft) wide. These have the typical white underside but there are also a few black mantas with 6m (20 ft) wingspans, referred to fondly as Darth Vader fish.

MARATUA island boasts a massive lagoon in East Kalimantan. The island only rims apart of the lagoon, with the rest fringed by a reef and wall covered with hard and soft coral.

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