Hello there,
I'll be in Eastern Kalimantan (Derawan, Sangalaki, Maratua, etc) in early May. Altogether I have 2 weeks. Should I stick to the area or try to transfer to Sipadan for the second week? Is it easy? I understand there is enough in Kalimantan for 12 days of diving but obviously Sipadan is tempting and not so far. The cons are extra costs, hassle and Indonesian visa which I guess will be just one-entry visa unless I apply for a different one beforehand (I will be flying in and out from Indonesia).
I wonder what your opinions might be. I am into macro stuff. Thanks.
Raf
Raf,
My wife and I traveled from from Tawau to Sangalaki and back by ferry in '03 which saved us quite a bit of money on airfare. While recently on Sipadan (DEC 07) I was speaking with the resort manager for Maratua Paradise Resort and he said that the ferry is still on option that he sometimes uses. Here is a link to some info on the ferry that runs between Tarakan and Tawau.
Tarakan travel guide - Wikitravel
You then still need to make ferry arrangements to get to/from Tarakan and Tanjung Batu and to/from Tanjung Batu and Sangalaki/Derawan/Maratua/etc (wherever you will be staying. I'm sure the your resort can assist with this part of your travel should you decide to go via ferry. This link has some info on that part of the trip.
The Rough Guide to Indonesia - Google Book Search
Our journey went like this. We started from Tawau, Malayasia (in northern Borneo) and took the high speed ferry in the morning from Tawau to Tarakan (3.0 hours), RONed in Tarakan, took a smaller high speed ferry from Tarakan to Tanjung Batu (2.5 hours) the following morning where the Sangalaki Dive Lodge had a boat waiting to take us to the island (1 hour).
This is a good option if you have lots of luggage (i.e. photo equipment, etc) because there are no weight restrictions. The ferry between Tawau is very nice and fast with A/C, aircraft like seats and a movie. The smaller ferry between Tarakan and Tanjung Batu is also fast but not so nice
We made our own arrangements for the ferry between Tawau and Tarakan upon arrival in Tawau. The hotel arrangements in Tarakan, transportation to and from ferry landings in Tarakan and the ferry arrangements between Tarakan and Tanjung Batu were all taken care of by a Sangalaki Dive Lodge agent in Tarakan.
We loved both locations and Sipadan is one of (if not) our favorite dive location that we've been to. But you are going to lose out on about 3 days of diving if you try to add Sipadan to your currently planned trip. Physically the distance from Sangalaki is probably less than 200nm but travel-wise it could be on the other side of the world because of the amount of time it takes to travel between the 2. If it were me I'd not want to lose those dive days and save my trip to Sipadan for another day.
You can see photos from both locations if you click on the link below to my Picasa Web Photo page.
