The top 26 dive and snorkel sites in East Kalimantan, ranked by diver reviews, with maps and photos. Read the East Kalimantan guide
The lake is full of millions of jellyfish: 4 different species of non-stinging jellyfish and some marine life not found anywhere else in the world! The lake is the center of Kakaban island, it covers most of the Island.
The entrance of the cave is just below the surface (2 meters deep at low tide). A narrow chimney dive to 21m, then to 30m deep. A crack allows you to exit at 45 meters or 65 meters! For those who don't like caves, the 'external' drop-off is also a great dive... running down to 250 meters! You can meet sharks, groupers, tuna, jacks, barracud and Manta Rays. Along the south coast of Pulau Kakaban.
A cool dive compared to other drift dives of the reef! Nice marine sea life; good for snorkeling. And close to the main dive site to see mantas! Just east from the lighthouse of Sangalaki
Not too many people have yet visitet these lakes. They are smaller than the one on Kakaben but the species differ in color from the jellyfish on kakaben island. Watch out - there might still be some saltwater crocks inside. from Maratua Paradise Resort on a 30 minutes walk through the mangroves.
Really cool place for a shallow water dive. Lots of snakes! Some venomous some not. I heard that there might be a crocodile but I haven't seen it. You'll see all the juvenile fish of the reef in front of the mangroves for example baby blacktip sharks. Lots of stingrays - watch out. By boat from Maratua, Sangalaki or Derawan.
THE place to see cuttlefish mate or lay eggs. Some crocodile fish, some turtles, some lionfish and nice coral.
Drift Dive with mantas and a nice reef in the shallows. Manta Parade is also known as Manta paradis Resort.
Cool place for Macro photography and night diving! Giant clams, cuttlefish and lots of critters.
Great place for nightdiving! Shallow sandy area with a slight current drifting south. Stargazers, stonefish, pipefish, ribbon eels and so on... Don't forget your camera.
If you like to see green seaturtles this is the place to go. Maybe 30 on a dive. Cool spot for a nice and relaxing drift dive. Also you might see small groups of barracudas, jackfish, stingrays and so on. Take your time to search for critters on the reef. This side of maratua is really nice for macro photography! Turtle Traffic is also known as Maratua Turtle Traffic.
It's a drift dive down to small fish country. Nice coral, some Napoleons, sometimes tunas, leopard sharks and so on. I recommend to try a reef dive in 3m depth. The coral up there's spectacular and you might see big barracudas and maybe cuttlefish. by boat from nabucco island
Strong current. Sometimes grey reef sharks. On the eastern side pygmy seahorses. by boat from nabucco island or from maratua paradise resort
Drift dive to Turtle Parade Nice reef. Sometimes big fish. Some Turtles. by boat from Nabucco island
Small fissh country is a beautiful walldive and you'll see the big school of barracudas when they're not in the channel. Usually it's a drift dive to the channel. At entry sometimes you have to fight against the current in order to reach 25m before the channel's entrance. This way you can stay right at the bottom rim of the entrance where there's no "washingmachine". If you go deeper there will be a strong downdrift, if you go higher there will be a strong updrift into the lagoon. Maratua Island
Channel Entrance is also known as Sangalaki Island Channel Entrance.
Just go to the west from the channel and stop at the reef. You'll see some turtles and some blacktipsharks maybe. West of the channel Coral Gardens is also known as Sangalaki Island Coral Gardens.
Great divesite for macro photography with sometimes strong currents. But on the other hand big stingrays and sometimes whalesharks. Hard to decide which lens to take. Sandy areas in the middle of that channel which is about 250m wide. Nice reef on the sides. Giant clams, staghorn coral and lots of critters like frogfish, ghost pipefish, flatworms, nudibranch. One can go there by boat on daytrips from Maratua island, from Derawan Island or from Sangalaki Island (which is closest and about 30 minutes away).
At the lower rim of the channels entrance there's a small area without current. If you go higher you'll be pulled into the channel. If you go lower there's a washing machine with a strong downdrift which will pull you to +50m in no time. So better refrain from swimming next to the big fish out into the blue or you'll end up somewhere deep before you notice. You'll see big schools of barracudas, tunas and often groups of eagle rays Sometimes seasnakes, whalesharks and hammerheads. But also sometimes there's just nothing. By boat from Nabucco island. Big fish country lies right in front of the entrance to Maratua channel.
Nice wall dive / slope dive. The coral is great in some places and broken at other parts of that divesite. Not as many turtles as at "Turtle Traffic" but sill quite a lot. Vis is bad at lowtide and good at incoming high tide. by boat from nabucco island
