Explore Derawan (Part III)

The big day has come. I’m ready to explore Derawan Archipelago that I have dreamed off going in my whole life. Our first destination is Maratua Paradise Resort a comfortable resort resided on Maratua Island, the biggest island in Derawan Archipelago. Actually, Maratua is one the best diving spot because it has an exotic underwater landscapes but this time, I have to put that aside, I just need to relax on the beach and bask in the glow of the sun. When boating from Derawan to Maratua, we luckily met flocks of dolphins who jumped around our boat, very fascinating ! 

When our boat arrived in Maratua, I was stunned by a sapphire clear water, I can see fish strolling around under our boats on white sand. I never saw such beauty. We spent around 1 hour on Maratua Island before our boat took us to our next destination which is Goa Halo Tabung / Goa Haji Mangku (Haji Mangku Cave) which located in Payung-Payung Village, close to Maratua. Haji Mangku Cave is located in the middle of the island so I have to perform trekking for 5 minutes in order to get to the location. According to the locals, the cave has a mystical history. However, nothing strange happened to us, but I agreed that the ambience is a bit creepy therefore I didn’t do swimming or jumping from the cliff. I just took some photos with any features of the cave. However, those who love challenges should come to this place. The site is worth an exploration

After enough exploring Haji Mangku Cave, we can’t wait our next destination, Kakaban Island with its unique Jellyfish Lake. Once on Kakaban, we need to take 10 minutes walk to get into the middle of the island where the huge lake exist. The lake has warm brackish water and the bottom is covered with marine green algae.  In the Kakaban Lake, we swam with thousands of jellyfish which are harmless to human live. The jellyfish consist of four different species but we only meet 3 of them. I heard that there is only 3 places like this in the world : on Kakaban Island, Togean Island – both in Indonesia and Rock Island in Micronesia. We spent over an hour in the water and then had a lunch on the beach.

In addition, I would like to share a few tips to make you have fun with the jellyfish without harm them:

1. Don’t bring your fins to the lake
2. Don’t put sunscreen on before you swim because it could pollutes the water and harms the jellyfish.
3. Be a gentle swimmer.

After lunch, we continue on our Journey, this time is to Sangalaki Island which is called the capital of the manta rays. This island is a paradise for traveller who want to experience diving with these majestic gentle giants, but unfortunately we didn’t meet one of them, so we decided to go back to Derawan to see the green sea turtles. Luckily, we meet 3 turtles and I successfully took photo with one big turtle (mission accomplished!). Not only turtle, we also approached the nearest dock and feeding the small fish.

At the end of the tour, our boat took us to a place with so many starfish and then to white sandy at Gusung Island. Gusung island is a sand dunes which you can visit during low tides. We finished the trip just before the sunset, and we enjoyed the sun setting down from our deck.

At night, the starts are so bright, contrast with the black vast ocean, make it a perfect moment to gazing the start and enjoyed listening some music. Today was an amazing day, we are so tired in an enjoyable way.

Swimming with thousands of jellyfish

Selfie with Big Jellyfish!

Stingless Jellyfish

Got a chance to had a wefie with Big Turtle