Nunukan Maratua Atoll East Kalimantan Trip Report

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Immeriswas

Contributor
Messages
124
Reaction score
98
Location
Germany
# of dives
200 - 499
Just came back from a longer stay in Indonesia and like to share my experience with Extra Diver on Nunukan island our first dive stop on a mixed over/underwater trip .
The island has 20 well fitted bungalows, not to close together with a spaciuos terrace/balcony, on witch a wide double matraze invites to relaxe, watch the sunset and even spent a night under the stars ( if the mosquito situation allows it ).
Between Nunukan and the next island- Cocoa palm, a luxuriuos yoga retreat resort - is a 1 km long wooden walkway on witch you can see above the laggoon already a lot without getting wet at all: barracuda , turtle, oktopuss, black tips,blue dotted stingrays, batfish etc.
Beside it gives you a opportunity to walk a bit or even jogg if you feel to do.
At the time of our 10 days stay there were a total of18 turtle nests and we had the luck to see two " protected " hatchings of arround 60 turtle babies each.
The island is rarely fully booked, so that there is ample of space to have your privacy and the two restaurants were never crowded.
We were lucky to be there only with 2-4 other guests, witch leads to very flexible and "custom made " diving opportunities.
The swiss run dive center is well organized , the rental equipment in a very good condition and the guides very helpfull with Eagle eyes - as usually in Indonesia .
The dive sites are between 5 min ( 8 spots alone along the 3km long housereef) and 45 min away.
One highlights is the " Big fish country " , a channel near the sister island Nabucco island, where you hang -after a negative entry - around with the reef hook in about 25 m depth and incoming current to watch the numerous gray and reef sharks before you work your way over the 30m wide channel, to reach the south side, where a stationary baracuda tornado with far over 1000 indviduals is a very impressive sight - like a darkening cloud blocking out the sunlight.
The other two highlights are first the jelly fish lake at Kakaban island with four different types of not stinging jellyfishes (one swimming upside down)- a bit like in Palau i guess- and the other is Sangalakis Manta point where the chance to meet the white and black species like in RA is over 90 %.
The day we were there , we had got lucky and encountered over 60 ! on both dives and in the surface interval a snorkel drift thru this massive amount of this fascinating animals.
Together with all the other very good dive sites I would really give this place a recommandation to visit.

Here are some pictures

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129925047@N03/albums/72157676306182582
 
We stayed at Wehea Jungle Lodge before we drove 7 hours to Berau, where you normally fly in from Balikapan .From there the boatride took around 3,5 hours in a comfortable speedboat . Next year in February the new airport on Maratua island 25 min away from Nunukan is due to be opened , but they already sold tickets for the flight Balikapan - Maratua for 2016 ! So I would not bet on this date.
 
Derawan, Sangalaki, Kakaban, Maratua and the surrounding area offer awesome diving. It is still one of the better kept secrets given the "lack of" proper infrastructure and the travel time to get there. I was there 3 years ago and have been yearning to go back.
 
Derawan and Sangalaki were well known but for some reasons their popularity plummeted over last 10yrs.
 
It's a bit of a mess over there I guess. It does not help with the fact that it takes a day to get there - and this is from Singapore. I stayed with Tasik Ria when they opened up a dive outfit in Derawan, but it was burned down last year.

When I was there, I was told by the locals that all the dive resorts (foreigner owned) were cleared out by the Indonesian Navy the year before and the locals seized control.

It is a great place to dive, but you are not going to find any creature comforts or luxury amenities with the accommodation offered (well, this was three years ago). Given the money, time, and resources spent, there are other options that are more easily accessible and provide more bang for your buck and efficiency. Nevertheless, if you want to go somewhere that has the macro and pelagics along with great wall diving and not a whole lot of people, it is a great place.
 
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Actually when I planned this trip with Indo Diver ( a great , reliable dive travel agency specialiced on Indonesia, which whom I booked all the last 4 trips to Indonesia ), my first choice was the dive resort on Derawan island, which unfortunatly burned down.
So that way we choose Nunukan run by Extra Divers . I would say by european standards a 4 star resort, with all I need for comfort. Especially the cooking was great with a deluxe 4 course dinner.
The latest information we got -unfortunatly too late for us - on the way to the Maratua Atoll is, that there is a dive operator now on Derawan, who does trips to a place near the coast of Berau , where are stationary whale sharks !! at pagans like in Cenderawasih or Triton bay.
On Nunukan they knew about that discovery as well , but it is a long way from there ( speaking of a full day trip ) and you have to know exactly at which of the hundreds of pagans to look for the whale sharks, so that they did not take the risk.But maybe in the future ?
 
Did not know about the whale shark thing. That is pretty cool. Looks like I will have to go back there for a trip soon. LOL. Tks for the info.

The flight from Balikpanpan to Maratua will be a blessing as well. Save an extra flight and the 4-hour car ride to the jetty and the 1+ hour boat ride.
 
If you go back, be so kind to give a feedback, because after cancelling the trip to Ahe ( Cederawasih bay) in 2013 due to serious back problems and missing them again in Triton bay last year , I am really keen to encounter this fascinating animals.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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