Kakaban Island

Kakaban is one of the most famous islands in Derawan Archipelago. What makes it famous is that the island is very unique geographically. This island is an atoll which was lifted up completely and had evolved into an island.

Wooden trail in Kakaban

Since it was originated from an atoll, the island has a salt-lake in the middle part. In this salt-lake, there are, at least, four species of jellyfish. However, these jellyfish had lost their stinging ability from the evolution and adaptation processes. Nowadays, the jellyfish are completely harmless and once can just swim around with them.

Playing with non-stinging jellyfish

Kakaban is an uninhabited island. Although it is uninhabited, the island is not abandoned. It is supported with a wooden trail to make the visit enjoyable including some gazebos for sitting around, a pier for swimming entry point, and garbage bins. One doesn’t need to pay anything to visit this extraordinary island. So, swimming around with non-stinging jellyfish for free seems a very nice offer, right?

Sangalaki Island

Sangalaki Island is located in the sub-district of Derawan. It takes around 2 – 3 hours speed boat ride from Tanjung Redeb. Since it is part of Derawan Sub-district, usually every tour package offers a trip to Derawan Island, Sangalaki Island, and Kakaban Island altogether. It offers a place to stay in Derawan and a day trip to Sangalaki and Kakaban. Both islands can be reached around 45 minutes speed boat ride from Derawan.
Sangalaki is a Marine Tourism Park (Indonesian: Taman Wisata Alam Laut). On this island, there is a Sea Turtle Monitoring and Research Station including a hatchery. One can camp on the island to witness nesting activity of sea turtles. Furthermore, one can also release sea turtles babies after they hatch.
But be careful with the monitor lizard, the natural predator of sea turtles eggs, and the itchy bug (Indonesian: tungau); these could make your camping turns into nightmares. The lizard normally won’t bother human but they might get attracted to your food supply and stealing it. While for the tungau, if you got it, just take a bath in the sea until the itches gone. In general, ask the ranger for advices before start camping.

Nunukan Resort

This resort is located in Maratua Sub-district, on a tiny island called, of course, Nunukan. Most part of the island are consists of stony coral and has no ground water which perhaps considered as ugly or uninteresting. But this is what I admire from the owner/ designer/ investor, he or she can make a beauty out of nothing. What a truly entrepreneur!

The resort is not just beautiful but also expensive. I was so lucky that I can experience its service. I have to host VIP guests of my office from Denmark. And although the trip itself was very mentally exhausting for me, but on a bright side, it’s a very nice opportunity to stay at a high-end resort :)

Island of Maratua and of Derawan

Maratua and Derawan are the two out of three most famous islands in the Derawan archipelago. Together with Kakaban Island, the three are the tourist destination.

Actually I went to these two accidentally. I didn’t have any working agenda there at that time. I went there to accompany my coworkers who dove in Maratua and took an air compressor in Derawan. Of course I didn’t waste my time just for watching others went diving, I went diving also :)

Maratua
This is the furthest island of the Derawan archipelago. It takes around five hours speedboat ride from Tanjung Redeb to the northeast.

The island is a home for a few international diving resorts. A few villages are also found here. Various fish is the selling point of the diving trips here.


Around the jetty in Payung-Payung Village, it is a feeding ground for sea turtles. One can snorkel around with the turtles as long as not bothering them. And for backpackers like myself, Payung-Payung Village has homestays managed by the community. So no worries, you can swim around with sea turtles on a limited budget.
Derawan
This is the icon of the archipelago. It is famous as the sea turtle haven. One can see sea turtles swimming around near piers in the island every afternoon.

The island has various homestays, from non AC rooms to constant-supply-of-AC rooms although the normal electricity is limited, are available.

Snorkeling and diving with turtles are the selling point in here. Normally, tourists go to Tanjung Batu by rented car or taxi from Tanjung Redeb. In Tanjung Batu, speedboats are available. However, the boats are taxi, not ferry! So it’s better trying to share with others.

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 :)

Tepian

Tepian is a certain spot in the Segah River bank which is filled with beverages vendors. The crowd is started in the evening.

It is nice to sit along the river, feel the river breeze, chatting with friends while enjoying some beverages. The beverages available are, of course, non alcoholic ones. Hot drinks like coffee, tea, hot chocolate as well as fresh juices are available. Some simple snacks like friend banana can also be found here.

Tepian is the most famous spot to hang out in Tanjung Redeb. You never have been to Tanjung Redeb if you haven’t visit Tepian.

Gunung Tabur Museum

Ancient Berau was consists of two small kingdoms: Gunung Tabur and Sambaliung. Gunung Tabur is located near the Segah River while Sambaliung is near the Kelai River. These two rivers meet at the tip of the cape or tanjung which form the recent Tanjung Redeb.

Part of Gunung Tabur palace becomes a museum. Here, one can see remaining treasures of the kingdom. Next to the museum, there is a house lived by the princess.








The entrance












The symbol of Gunung Tabur kingdom









A dragon boat

Old cannons

Crocodile Farm

Outside the city of Tanjung Redeb, there is a crocodile farm managed by the government. This farm is located after the city forest if we start from the city.


A croc sunbathing

Here, there is a big pond as a home for the crocs. According to the animal keeper, there are more than 20 crocs inside the pond. However, the crocs are not the showing-off type. Only one to two crocs appear on the surface at a time. One has to be patient to wait for another croc to appear.

Me, trying to take a pic of an appeared croc
Photo courtesy of Candhika Yusuf

If you are generous enough, just donate a 60 kg of chicken meat for the crocs. This place has limited funding which makes the crocs underfed.

City Forest

At the suburb of Tanjung Redeb, there is a city forest of Berau. The forest here is a natural one. It means, no special arrangement or management is present.

No trekking route available, one has to have a bold adventure nerve to go inside.

There is no entrance fee to explore the forest, so it is really worth to see. However, take care of yourself as land leeches are abundant. I got one of these bloodsuckers on my right foot and it felt pretty painful. My blood kept spilling out after some hours :(








1st and 3rd photos are courtesy of Candhika Yusuf