Biduk-Biduk Subdistrict

This Subdistrict is located in the southern coast of Berau. It takes around four hours speedboat ride from Tanjung Redeb.

There are some interesting places to visit here i.e. the beautiful Sulaiman Bay (Indonesian: Teluk Sulaiman), the magnificent karst hill of Si Gending, and the crystal clear lagoon of Labuan Cermin. But this time, only Labuan Cermin will be described here.

Labuan Cermin
Labuan means ‘harbor’ or ‘haven’; while cermin means mirror. So this place is a mirror haven. It called ‘mirror’ due to the very clear water where one can see his or her reflection on it.

Geologically, this place is a lagoon with two inlets from ground water and the sea. The inlet from the sea is bigger than the ground water. The water in the lagoon consists of two layers; the bottom layer which is the sea water and the upper layer which is the fresh water.

What makes it special, one can see marine fish and seaweeds from the surface without any goggle. This is why it’s called ‘mirror’. And since the upper layer of the water mass is fresh water, the fish remain at the bottom. Very unique!

Normally, an estuary, which has two inlets from fresh water and sea water, would have mixed water depends on the tides. If the tide is high, the water is dominantly salty; while if the tide is low, the water is dominantly fresh. Since the inlet of fresh water is quite low in here, and the place is a lagoon so, the composition of the layers remains steady all the time!

In addition, the place is secluded and calm. It’s a perfect place to rejuvenate by swimming along the lagoon. One will feel younger after swimming here :)