Some words about the author and the place selected.
I am dive instructor working mostly in the Red Sea (as instructor and guide) and also organizing some group tours all over the world. So once in a while we (just me and my girlfriend) travel to some "Unknown" destinations to find some new place to organize the visit to. And Maratua island as well as Sangalaki island were fitting the profile. To make the story shorter you can find some details about the place at: Maratua Paradise Resort (Google)
Short version of the text below ;-)
Sangalaki in the nice place to dive!, but my recommendation is to avoid Maratua resort. Our choice was partially affected by the company running the place (or let say "Sale office" the same company is running M/V Celebes Explorer... But organization part is just out of order or not controlled at all.
The price paid: (Actually, from my point of view, it is not a good sign to hide prices from the Web site, so here is the deal)
14D13N Maratua Dive Package(Ex Berau)(Twin) USD 2565 x 2 person = USD 5130
Special Discount if stay 14D13N: Less USD 83 x 2 person = USD(166)
Roundtrip airticket from BPN/BEJ/BPN + Airport/Jetty Transfer Fee USD 295 x 2 person = USD 590
1N hotel in Berau with breakfast + hotel transfer (Single/Twin) USD 75 per room per night =_ USD 75_
Total Amount =_USD 5629_
Let the story begin...
Transfer in (long story, but funny and important one):
All the reservation was made almost 2 month in advance with all the flight data before and after the resort. (Why have I mentioned this? You will see...)
We arrived at the "Meeting" point Balikpapan airport without any delays and were surprised not to find anybody to meet us. So I called the transfer number provided and 40 minutes later we were approached by the "Transfer" man". He told us that the flight promised does not exist and we have to wait 4 hours till our flight (No such information were provided from the office). He was also meeting 3 pairs to Nabucco resort and 1 more to Maratua... So 4 hours later we were heading Berau on some old propeller plane - actually quite nice flight ;-)
Resort fellow was waiting for one pair instead of two (funny thing to say to a guest ;-) So we were heading to local "port" - 6 people in the 4 seat car ;-)
"Transfer boat" was just a dive boat with tank holes covered with some matrasses, moreover boat was full of people (villagers from Maratua 8-/) and a food, boxes, etc...
5-10 minutes in to the transfer one of the engine was dead, they were trying to fix it (and they did several time) till the night and than (5 hours in) we were lost (no kidding, they were unable to find the way home and manage to hit a reef near one island - engine were completely gone). So 6 hours after transfer starting point we were at the Derawan island with the promise to send us to Maratua tomorrow and in some old rooms to spend the night in.
Let's cut the room description and the dinner organized at the local staff cafe -this going to be too much ;-)))).
The next day we were transferred to Maratua resort (they were saving the way using 2 GPS - for the next time (?) ;-)
Accommodation:
Room:
Chalets are big, roomy, with fan and AC + bathroom with shower and bathtub. The bad thing is that there is no overhead cover between room and the roof - all day the hot air is building up under the roof and no AC on earth will cool it. So the only way to sleep is to do it directly under AC air flow (beds are moved this way from original location - it is easy to notice) and the result is predictable: From the 4 arrived I was the only one diving after 8 days (inflammation of the ear, cold, etc...) - it is not so easy to kill an instructor ;-).
Kitchen:
Everything is more than ok. Really... May be, except for the fruits. They personally gave us 3 piece of watermelon or papaya (some days unripe melon) per person after the food. Do you still remember the price paid for this resort?...
Local managements:
As far as I could see resort was run by 2 local "teenage girls". They were playing cards almost all the time... So just give kids resort to play with - you will see the results ;-)
Just several examples: We were given the color shampoo at the day of arrival (it is not a joke - black toning color shampoo)! Thank gods I am not blonde, but I was stupid enough to use it for my white turtleneck sweater (after the transfer described above, I was not ready to learn Indonesian before using shampoo)... Some black stains are still visible... Ok, Hey... at least I was young looking again... ;-)
It also seems like some box on the transfer boat were wet after all, so they dried boxed tissue paper from these boxes... Just imagine the quality of this paper after... Unbelievable...
Housekeeping:
I just have to say that 2 or 3 girls cleaning the rooms were later working in the bar, kitchen, etc... Seems like the only personal working... Look at the playing cards story above...
Diving:
DMs:
We were diving with two divemasters over the period.
1) Do not remember the name. But he was showing some magic tricks at the concert day before departure ;-) I can only assume he was just starting (despite the age). Very basic English, empty briefings, etc... Most dive sites are visited in drift, and if you unaware what to expect you will miss it one way or another...
2) Rivi: Nice fellow, "Good eyes", good English, good spotter. Briefings were short but informative with dive maps on a white board, etc... The only thing to say here is "Thanks"
Boats:
Usual for Indonesia and Malaysia, but with the weaker engines like 75HP, etc... Anyway it was more than enough. For Sangalaki trip they use big wooden boat with let's say several cabins, sun deck, coffee-tea area, etc... It is very nice idea, actually... Transfer time to Sangalaki is 2 hours, to Kakaban ~ 40 mins, to most remote part of Maratua itself ~ 1 hour, to the usual dive places it is just 15-20 min max.
Diving itself:
Sangalaki Island:
We went there 3 times and found 6 mantas in total (during the first visit, no mantas for second and third visit), moreover main group found only 2. We were hoping to use our own spotting experience and were manage to find 4 more... But anyway mantas or no mantas I just LOVE the place now... It is hard to explain (some relaxed atmosphere) - it is very nice indeed (I have several month! of diving time in total and this place is really something).
P.S. One more word about the resort management here too... Second time we were send to Sangalaki with the small transfer boat (no space, no fresh water (10L of drinking water for 7 person in), I had photo equipment more expensive that this boat and no place to "fresh" it). The big wooden boat was sent to take some villagers, furniture, staff, according to our DM all the water tanks were on that boat, so no way to take more fresh water with us... Unbelievable...
Kakaban Island:
There are two main attractions: Barracuda point and Jellyfishes Lake.
Barracuda point:
I think it is just too much of a fight with the current at the end, etc to see some one hundred barracudas... The second visit I just asked to drop me to the lake directly...
Lake with jellyfishes is very much ok. Comparing to Palau one viz is little bit worse and the total amount of jellyfishes is lower, but the place is nice and relaxing. It was little bit hard to get in with the photo housing waiting some 10kg and weight belt to freedive in, but still "must" see place.
P.S. If you are still not tired than one more detail about our first divemaster. First time at Kakaban we were unable to get to the pier (very low tide), so he told us to jump and swim to the shore and he will wait on boat with the driver, etc... First of all idea of climbing up the reef is bad enough, so this trip were suppose to be scheduled another time, but drop your guests into the water and wait on boat - this is crazy...
Maratua Island:
Home reef is 90% broken unfortunately just heap of broken corals, etc. You can still find some macro creatures in there, but with the usual current, etc it is just waist of time unfortunately. So most guest were making night dives ones or twice per week maximum...
As to the daily diving places. It is not so easy to look at for dive professional. I saw bombed reefs, lots of old nets and almost no fish. There are a lot of turtles! may be even more than in Sipadan, but when you find one with broken shell or one almost choked by a fishing line no fun. I have now too much "Conservation" related photos.
No, it is not so bad it is fished day and night (5 fishing village on the island) but some big gorgonians, special barracuda places (like "Big Fish County" or "The Channel", "Turtle Traffic" site is still nice to look at.
Finnish line...
So it is time to finish this story... if you are still remember transfer in do not think that transfer our were not funny ;-)
We were planning (it was arranged with resort and paid for) to spend one night in Berau after the Maratua Resort and flight the next day to continue our trip in Indonesia. I was approached by some resort fellow before the last day lunch (and after two dives) and told that there is no flight from Berau at the day arranged and we should fly the next day with the rest. To make the story short let's say: I just notified this person about several other flights at the day in question (ok, I am used to check and recheck all the schedules and flights most of the times I have group to bring home...). And half an hour later we were told that everything is fixed, they book us a flight at 14-30, etc... "Be ready at the hotel 12-00 we will transfer you, etc..."
And now, please, scroll all the way up look again at the transfer price ($520 for 2) on the way back boat was full of people again, some kids, families, people were vomiting... Night at the hotel was ahead of us... So we were relaxing as much as possible.
You not going to believe it, but actual flight were at 12-00 and not at 14-30 (the one they call canceled to me I can only emphasize that it was simpler to send us day before directly and the story about canceled flight was not very honest...) and they came for us at 10-00 and not at 12-00... For some reason we were ready and packed (we were expecting something like this from this resort management). Just reread the ÅÕransfer in part and imagine my face after this part of the trip ;-)))
So at the end...
There are still tons of things to say (like dive compressor air intake exactly on top of boat parking place you can imagine air quality some times, etc, etc, etc...). Place is nice, reef is still recoverable; Sangalaki is just perfect (this is my IMHO)... all they need to do IMHO is to fully change the management at least.
The next stop was NAD-Lembeh resort the good example of nice management, good guides, etc, etc, etc... But this will be another story... They were able to make us happy again! ;-))))
I am dive instructor working mostly in the Red Sea (as instructor and guide) and also organizing some group tours all over the world. So once in a while we (just me and my girlfriend) travel to some "Unknown" destinations to find some new place to organize the visit to. And Maratua island as well as Sangalaki island were fitting the profile. To make the story shorter you can find some details about the place at: Maratua Paradise Resort (Google)
Short version of the text below ;-)
Sangalaki in the nice place to dive!, but my recommendation is to avoid Maratua resort. Our choice was partially affected by the company running the place (or let say "Sale office" the same company is running M/V Celebes Explorer... But organization part is just out of order or not controlled at all.
The price paid: (Actually, from my point of view, it is not a good sign to hide prices from the Web site, so here is the deal)
14D13N Maratua Dive Package(Ex Berau)(Twin) USD 2565 x 2 person = USD 5130
Special Discount if stay 14D13N: Less USD 83 x 2 person = USD(166)
Roundtrip airticket from BPN/BEJ/BPN + Airport/Jetty Transfer Fee USD 295 x 2 person = USD 590
1N hotel in Berau with breakfast + hotel transfer (Single/Twin) USD 75 per room per night =_ USD 75_
Total Amount =_USD 5629_
Let the story begin...
Transfer in (long story, but funny and important one):
All the reservation was made almost 2 month in advance with all the flight data before and after the resort. (Why have I mentioned this? You will see...)
We arrived at the "Meeting" point Balikpapan airport without any delays and were surprised not to find anybody to meet us. So I called the transfer number provided and 40 minutes later we were approached by the "Transfer" man". He told us that the flight promised does not exist and we have to wait 4 hours till our flight (No such information were provided from the office). He was also meeting 3 pairs to Nabucco resort and 1 more to Maratua... So 4 hours later we were heading Berau on some old propeller plane - actually quite nice flight ;-)
Resort fellow was waiting for one pair instead of two (funny thing to say to a guest ;-) So we were heading to local "port" - 6 people in the 4 seat car ;-)
"Transfer boat" was just a dive boat with tank holes covered with some matrasses, moreover boat was full of people (villagers from Maratua 8-/) and a food, boxes, etc...
5-10 minutes in to the transfer one of the engine was dead, they were trying to fix it (and they did several time) till the night and than (5 hours in) we were lost (no kidding, they were unable to find the way home and manage to hit a reef near one island - engine were completely gone). So 6 hours after transfer starting point we were at the Derawan island with the promise to send us to Maratua tomorrow and in some old rooms to spend the night in.
Let's cut the room description and the dinner organized at the local staff cafe -this going to be too much ;-)))).
The next day we were transferred to Maratua resort (they were saving the way using 2 GPS - for the next time (?) ;-)
Accommodation:
Room:
Chalets are big, roomy, with fan and AC + bathroom with shower and bathtub. The bad thing is that there is no overhead cover between room and the roof - all day the hot air is building up under the roof and no AC on earth will cool it. So the only way to sleep is to do it directly under AC air flow (beds are moved this way from original location - it is easy to notice) and the result is predictable: From the 4 arrived I was the only one diving after 8 days (inflammation of the ear, cold, etc...) - it is not so easy to kill an instructor ;-).
Kitchen:
Everything is more than ok. Really... May be, except for the fruits. They personally gave us 3 piece of watermelon or papaya (some days unripe melon) per person after the food. Do you still remember the price paid for this resort?...
Local managements:
As far as I could see resort was run by 2 local "teenage girls". They were playing cards almost all the time... So just give kids resort to play with - you will see the results ;-)
Just several examples: We were given the color shampoo at the day of arrival (it is not a joke - black toning color shampoo)! Thank gods I am not blonde, but I was stupid enough to use it for my white turtleneck sweater (after the transfer described above, I was not ready to learn Indonesian before using shampoo)... Some black stains are still visible... Ok, Hey... at least I was young looking again... ;-)
It also seems like some box on the transfer boat were wet after all, so they dried boxed tissue paper from these boxes... Just imagine the quality of this paper after... Unbelievable...
Housekeeping:
I just have to say that 2 or 3 girls cleaning the rooms were later working in the bar, kitchen, etc... Seems like the only personal working... Look at the playing cards story above...
Diving:
DMs:
We were diving with two divemasters over the period.
1) Do not remember the name. But he was showing some magic tricks at the concert day before departure ;-) I can only assume he was just starting (despite the age). Very basic English, empty briefings, etc... Most dive sites are visited in drift, and if you unaware what to expect you will miss it one way or another...
2) Rivi: Nice fellow, "Good eyes", good English, good spotter. Briefings were short but informative with dive maps on a white board, etc... The only thing to say here is "Thanks"
Boats:
Usual for Indonesia and Malaysia, but with the weaker engines like 75HP, etc... Anyway it was more than enough. For Sangalaki trip they use big wooden boat with let's say several cabins, sun deck, coffee-tea area, etc... It is very nice idea, actually... Transfer time to Sangalaki is 2 hours, to Kakaban ~ 40 mins, to most remote part of Maratua itself ~ 1 hour, to the usual dive places it is just 15-20 min max.
Diving itself:
Sangalaki Island:
We went there 3 times and found 6 mantas in total (during the first visit, no mantas for second and third visit), moreover main group found only 2. We were hoping to use our own spotting experience and were manage to find 4 more... But anyway mantas or no mantas I just LOVE the place now... It is hard to explain (some relaxed atmosphere) - it is very nice indeed (I have several month! of diving time in total and this place is really something).
P.S. One more word about the resort management here too... Second time we were send to Sangalaki with the small transfer boat (no space, no fresh water (10L of drinking water for 7 person in), I had photo equipment more expensive that this boat and no place to "fresh" it). The big wooden boat was sent to take some villagers, furniture, staff, according to our DM all the water tanks were on that boat, so no way to take more fresh water with us... Unbelievable...
Kakaban Island:
There are two main attractions: Barracuda point and Jellyfishes Lake.
Barracuda point:
I think it is just too much of a fight with the current at the end, etc to see some one hundred barracudas... The second visit I just asked to drop me to the lake directly...
Lake with jellyfishes is very much ok. Comparing to Palau one viz is little bit worse and the total amount of jellyfishes is lower, but the place is nice and relaxing. It was little bit hard to get in with the photo housing waiting some 10kg and weight belt to freedive in, but still "must" see place.
P.S. If you are still not tired than one more detail about our first divemaster. First time at Kakaban we were unable to get to the pier (very low tide), so he told us to jump and swim to the shore and he will wait on boat with the driver, etc... First of all idea of climbing up the reef is bad enough, so this trip were suppose to be scheduled another time, but drop your guests into the water and wait on boat - this is crazy...
Maratua Island:
Home reef is 90% broken unfortunately just heap of broken corals, etc. You can still find some macro creatures in there, but with the usual current, etc it is just waist of time unfortunately. So most guest were making night dives ones or twice per week maximum...
As to the daily diving places. It is not so easy to look at for dive professional. I saw bombed reefs, lots of old nets and almost no fish. There are a lot of turtles! may be even more than in Sipadan, but when you find one with broken shell or one almost choked by a fishing line no fun. I have now too much "Conservation" related photos.
No, it is not so bad it is fished day and night (5 fishing village on the island) but some big gorgonians, special barracuda places (like "Big Fish County" or "The Channel", "Turtle Traffic" site is still nice to look at.
Finnish line...
So it is time to finish this story... if you are still remember transfer in do not think that transfer our were not funny ;-)
We were planning (it was arranged with resort and paid for) to spend one night in Berau after the Maratua Resort and flight the next day to continue our trip in Indonesia. I was approached by some resort fellow before the last day lunch (and after two dives) and told that there is no flight from Berau at the day arranged and we should fly the next day with the rest. To make the story short let's say: I just notified this person about several other flights at the day in question (ok, I am used to check and recheck all the schedules and flights most of the times I have group to bring home...). And half an hour later we were told that everything is fixed, they book us a flight at 14-30, etc... "Be ready at the hotel 12-00 we will transfer you, etc..."
And now, please, scroll all the way up look again at the transfer price ($520 for 2) on the way back boat was full of people again, some kids, families, people were vomiting... Night at the hotel was ahead of us... So we were relaxing as much as possible.
You not going to believe it, but actual flight were at 12-00 and not at 14-30 (the one they call canceled to me I can only emphasize that it was simpler to send us day before directly and the story about canceled flight was not very honest...) and they came for us at 10-00 and not at 12-00... For some reason we were ready and packed (we were expecting something like this from this resort management). Just reread the ÅÕransfer in part and imagine my face after this part of the trip ;-)))
So at the end...
There are still tons of things to say (like dive compressor air intake exactly on top of boat parking place you can imagine air quality some times, etc, etc, etc...). Place is nice, reef is still recoverable; Sangalaki is just perfect (this is my IMHO)... all they need to do IMHO is to fully change the management at least.
The next stop was NAD-Lembeh resort the good example of nice management, good guides, etc, etc, etc... But this will be another story... They were able to make us happy again! ;-))))
Last edited:
