Kingdom of Turtles in Derawan
Sunday, July 15, 2007
If you wonder about beaches of white sands and clear blue water, then Derawan islands is one of your heaven to visit. Plus, the inhabitant of green turtles! Chelonia Mydas. And also another species which rarely found on another part of the planet, such as penyu sisik (Eretmochelys imbricata), dugong (Dugong dugori), Napoleon Fish (Cheilinus undulatus], kerang kima (Tridacna sp.), dan Canary Crabs (Birgus latrd).
Geographically, Derawan islands which situated on the north of Berau residence, East Kalimantan, consists of main islands which are Panjang, Raburabu, Samama, Sangalaki, Kakaban, and Maratua, and some reefs which are Muaras, Pinaka, Buliulin, Masimbung, and Tababinga. Some of those islands have an amazing sceneries around.Kakaban Island
You can reach Kakaban by using 80 HP motorboats which will spend you 45 minutes of travelling. But, if you choose to spend more time on the boat and save more expenditures, you'll choose on a fisherman's boat that would cost you only Rp 300.000 [about $30]. 3 times cheaper than the motorboats.
Along the trip to Kakaban, you'll find the calm blue water splashed along the boat. As you begin to see the rocky side of Kakaban, the water would be a little rushy that would swing your boat harder. As you approach the island, you'll found a plain terrain which about 50 meters wide on the west of the island.
This trip is not an ordinary trip where you can land the island with dry feet. You would set-off from the boat by
using your snorkling peripherals, 'forced' to reach the edge of the island by swimming. Some parts of the reef terrain are covered by shallow water about 30 cm deep. You can see tiny fishes swim around a living reef. Those fishes are trapped around the shallow water, thus they could go nowhere.As its atol reef with salt-water lagoon, Kakaban are one among the rare sites in the world. Another similar characteristics with Kakaban are Palau island, Micronesia, 1.000 km from Phillippines.
Another unique characteristic is the shape of the island that similar to the shape of number "9". On its center, there's lagoon which inhabitants called "Kakaban Lake". According to the Dutch scientist, Kuenen, on Snellius Expedition I, this atoll had increased up to 40 - 60 meters above sea level by a process for about 12 million years.
Derawan Island
Derawan Island can be reached from Berau. It would spend you an hour of journey by boat [unless it rains] which will offer you a nice view. White sands will meet your feet as soon as ypu land on its shore. An interesting thing you can discover here is the hospitality if its natives. You can use the local houses as lodgings. There are two advantages on this matters: the first, you can socialize with the natives and get involved in their daily life, and the second is you will spend less money for lodgings rather than take a Resort.
But, if insist to look for resorts, then Derawan has two of them: BMI Dive Resort (Bumi Manimbora Interbuana) and Kiani Resort. These resorts are located nearly side-by-side. These resorts offers you a magnificent scenery against the sea-side where you'll find a huge white sand lies far from the beach lines whenever it's ebb tide.
You can dive in Derawan, but the visibility is not so good. The best diving is at the Jetty in shallow 5m, where you can find some very interesting critters such as flamboyant cuttlefish, squat lobsters, ghostpipe fish, bluering octopus, nudibranchs, seahorses, ribbon eels and scorpionfishes.
Sangalaki Island
Known also as Sangalakki in local language, this place is a white sand isle where green turtles lays their eggs. If you're indulged about how these creatures sustain their species, then you are about to experience it live! Green turtles usually lays their eggs on midnight. So keep your voice down while watch them drop the eggs one by one. It's amazing when you find that the creature could lay more than one hundred eggs. But, unfortunately, when these 'juniors' hatch from their eggshell, only less than 10% of them would survive to an adult.
This place is also known for large gatherings of manta rays that come here to feed on plankton. For divers, shallow water are the area you can explore, since the mantas feed near the surface. Unlike Sipadan, Sangalaki does not have walls. It is surrounded by a shallow lagoon and the reefs start a distance out from the island, dropping from about 4m to 18 to 24m and up to 40m at some point.
Maratua Island
This island is little more wide than Derawan. It shapes the 'U' alphabet when you look it from an airplane, with massive lagoon inside. You'll have a good chance to see large pelagics like sharks, tuna, eagle rays and schools of barracudas, trevally and mackerels. On the island there are several villages so some of the reefs are quite heavily fished.
For those who like caving, there's a beautiful spot they called 'Langka-Langka Cave'. We can use some men from the locals to be our guide to discover the cave. Also, don't forget your trek-shoes.
Labels: Indonesia, Kalimantan [Borneo]
posted by Daniy @ 4:19 PM,
