EXPLORE EAST BORNEO - DERAWAN ISLAND

Maybe some of you saw that one of us went to Derawan Island on this early March from Instagram, especially since it's a bit of a spam..lol! It's just because the place is just so beautiful that I want to show you all of them! Show that our Indonesia is actually gorgeous! Land nor underwater, all of them are pretty and after sharing them, a lot of you also ask some questions about this, so here's all the answers you need! Let's tour!!

It's a bit of a tiring trip if you're from Jakarta though, as it's from Jakarta to Balikpapan to Berau to Tanjung Batu, and then to Derawan. From Berau to Tanjung Batu, you'd have to ride a car for about 150-180 minutes drive, depends on your driver..lol! The road is far from smooth and you'd be going into the woods (playing that TS song..lol!), from then on going to Derawan will be taken by a speed boat with about 25 minutes of travel. Other alternative if you don't want to go through Berau, is going through Tarakan, though if I'm not mistaken, you'd be going on a long journey by boat. I'd much prefer a long way by car than boat, you see!

You can't imagine how happy I am upon arriving! It's been a tiring journey with lots of stops too. Here it is! The scenery of the front dock!

This is the Rainbow Villa, which is recently built. Kind of like an Indonesian version of Australia's Brighton Beach, aye? Lol!

From the front dock it's a 15-20 minutes walk to the place I was staying and that is Fisheries Eco Villa! Going through the village of Derawan Island's resident. Well, actually we could just drop off at the dock in front of the villa but the tide is low, so we couldn't harbor there!

Here's the water cottage, which is much cheaper than the water villa. Why? Cause they don't have a balcony and the washroom only uses a water dipper, whereas the villa has a shower, plus there's no washbowl here and the bed is also a small one, and other small details that doesn't really matter to me. Personally, I find this water cottage perfect for backpackers but I'm in the mood for more luxury, so I went with the water villa. The price for the water villa is IDR 3,7 millions and for the water cottage is IDR 2,7 millions, this price includes a 3 days 2 nights tour!

Ta-dah, here's the water villa! You can see it's more classy and located on the edge, so you won't get disturb nor disturb other people. The ones passing are only the water villa residents!

This is the balcony that the water cottage doesn't have. There's a hammock and you get a wonderful view of the sea! Super relaxing and cozy!

The plus point of this villa is that you get small snacks each morning and on the first day, we got bread, on the next we got doughnuts!

If you go out the villa, you'd immediately see a sunset view point, which is my favorite part!

This area is called the Derawan Beach Resort. It's the view that you'd see on our new IDR 20K money, if you pay close attention. Even I didn't notice it until the tour guide told me!

From our water villa to this Derawan beach restort takes 20 minutes walk but you can also rent a bike if you don't feel like walking!

This resort is on par with the water villa when it comes to beauty, though I don't really know the details cause I didn't spend the night here!

You can also fishing here fyi!

Or you can just swim and enjoy the cute and pretty fishes! Super in love with Derawan!

At night time, I even got a chance to take this pretty photo just from my water villa!

DAY 2

MARATUA ISLAND

From Derawan to Maratua takes more than 1 hour with a speed boat. Pretty long but definitely worth it!! It's amazingly gorgeous and there's also a water villa here with a price of IDR 1,3 millions per night per person!

Usually people came here for the sunset but I don't understand why I was taken here at noon by the guide and it even rained a little, which totally puts me in a sour mood. Thankfully the water is still very blue and I got to take a dip, which I personally think is a must! Don't miss the chance people!

Here's the water villa called Maratua Paradise Resort! Such a paradise with all the beautiful sceneries, I just can't stop admiring it's beauty!

GUA HAJI MANGKU

Still on Maratua Island, this is at the back of it, if I'm not mistaken..lol! Need to ride a speed boat to get here, which takes about 10 minutes!

To get to the cave, you'd have to go through the woods but the track is pretty fast, just about 10 minutes walk or so!

Doesn't look deep right? But if you're thinking of jumping in, then think again! It's scary to see what's below this, not because it's deep but because of all the coral rocks! Be careful not to hurt yourself now and if you'd jump, be sure to jump to the middle, kay!

Ta-dah! This is the beauty of the cave! It's really deep to the point that I'm a bit terrified to see down below. Very transparent and gorgeous!

DANAU KAKABAN / KAKABAN ISLAND

If you came on your own, you'd have to pay IDR 20K per person for cleaning costs but since I went with a tour, it's already included. Kakaban here is where all the jellyfish are. Don't worry, it won't sting and completely harmless, so you can swim in it!

These photos are taken from the bridge of the dock. Pretty, huh? You can already see the corals because of how clear the water is!

To get to the lake, it's a 10-15 minutes walk and going down the stairs but you're walk will be accompanied by beautiful scenery, so I bet that you won't mind it!

Made it to the jellyfish lake!! So happy that we are the only ones here making it feel like our own private lake..lol! Good thing I came here not on holiday season or else this place would've been crowded!

Enjoying the lake like a boss..lol! This unicorn can be rented on Derawan Island for IDR 100K per day!

Let's swim with these harmless jellyfish! Be warned that you're not allowed to use any kind of sunblock or lotion or chemicals and no fins! You'll kill these cute jellyfishes!

The more you swim to the middle, the more jellyfish you'd find!

MANTA POINT

Such a great coincidence that our journey from Kakaban to Sangalaki Island is filled with lots of Mantas, so we stopped to swim. Don't worry cause these are harmless! Their tails don't sting like stingrays!

PULAU SANGALAKI

Here's where they breed tukik, which means sea turtles!

When we came, it was hatching season but usually they are let out at night, so they won't get eaten by eagles or other animals but the kind staffs allowed them to be let out, so we could see it! :)

The scenery at Sangalaki is also pretty. Clean beach, white sand, and most importantly, you can WATCH THE SUNSET here! Wohoo!

And that's about it for our short but exciting getaway of 3 days at Derawan Island! The tour I used is my friends, look it up at Instagram @lookindonesia.adventure if you're interested! You can contact them right away there.

Well, thank you everyone! See you on our next getaway!