In researching, I came across a comment like this: "When Pulau Derawan appeared, I burst into tears. It was the island I had been dreaming of."
I can say that although my arrival was a little different, especially because I could not see a tail, the next day I understood (and shared) the same feeling.
How to get to Derawan Island
Our trip to Derawan was very long.
It started in Surabaya, where we had finished the 3 days and 2 nights route between Bromo and Ijen the day before.
There we took a flight to Berau with a stopover in Balikpapan.
From Berau airport we took a cab to Yani Street, next to the river.
There the cab driver helped us hire a Kijang (4×4 vehicles) to Tanjung Batu for 250.000 rupiah (20€).
It turned out to be more expensive than expected for going alone (it was too late and I could not fill it with more travelers).
It took 2 and a half hours to reach the port of Tajung Batu, already at night.
There we took a speedboat to Derawan for 8€/person (in this case we did share) that took almost an hour to arrive.
In a nutshell:
Plane + cab + kijang + speedboat
12,5 hours traveling
184,6 (92,3€/person)
The return
Travel time from Derawan Island to Berau airport is a minimum of 4 hours, so try to book an afternoon flight.
I tell you this from experience.
We had to spend a night in the town of Berau on the way back and it was not pleasant. I'll tell you the details in a moment 😉.
Where to stay
On Pulau Derawan
Of all the options you will find on the island, I can personally tell you about 2 very different experiences:
✘ Homestay Danakan
The night we arrived we were shattered, so we went straight to the Lonely Planet recommended budget accommodation, Homestay Danakan .
We were so disappointed...
The owner asked us if we would book diving trips but since we said we would only be snorkeling (at least, that was the apparent reason) he told us that the only room available was one of the cabins on land with a shared bathroom (not true, that's for sure).
The price? 150,000 rupees (12€) per night.
The bathroom was a mess to cry in, and the bed made you sink just by looking at it.
Also right next door was the Reza and Dira, a restaurant-karaoke that, as if the noise was not enough, took away the view of the sea.
We only lasted one night. The next morning we woke up early and went around the rest of the accommodations in search of something better.
Notice:
1. Booking by phone or in person will always be cheaper than online, especially in low season.
2. The breakfasts included in these accommodations are ultra basic: a pastry, a thermos with hot water and instant coffee, little else.
✔︎ Fisheries Cottage
The Fisheries Cottage was the most economical accommodation we found on the island, but at the same time it met the characteristics we were looking for:
- It was a cabin located on the water, with a good view of the sea.
- It had a private bathroom, albeit very basic (toilet, mandi or basin and cold shower).
- A comfortable bed with a real mattress (no soft foam).
It was a very simple room, with a front and back balcony that allowed to refresh the room in a second. And as soon as we moved in, the green turtles appeared to eat seaweed under our dock as a welcome.
Any negative points?
There was no safe, so when we left the house to go snorkeling we had to leave our money and other valuables hidden wherever we could.
But the truth was that nothing at all ever disappeared.
➜ Other accommodations on Derawan Island.
In our search on foot for an alternative to Homestay Danakan, I prepared the following market research on accommodations on Pulau Derawan.
Remember that prices and features are as of October 2012. Conditions will have changed a lot since then.
In Berau
As our return flight left early in the morning, we had to spend the previous night in Berau.
After walking around for a while we chose the Derawan Indah Hotel because it seemed the most "modern".
Anybody has a bad day, but that hotel did not have a good angle.
The room was dirty no matter where you looked: walls, sheets, bathroom....
And if that wasn't enough, the breakfast was also horrible.
Translation: don't even think of staying there.
If I had to spend a night in Berau again, maybe I would try to stay in this one, but don't mind me too much... Who knows! 😉
What to do in Derawan
Snorkeling
The wonderful thing about this island is that you can free swim among corals just a few meters off the coast.
You have two options:
- Go a little into the sea starting from the shore of the beach to reach the reef area.
- Walk along the last wooden pier before reaching the beach and enter the sea from there.
All the photos you see in this article were taken exactly at those points (I have marked them on the map at the end).
We rented 2 pairs of masks, snorkels and fins at Fisheries Cottage, where we were staying, for only 40,000 rupees per day (2€ per person per day).
We spent hours and hours every day exploring the island's reef. For me it is something like paradise on earth (in the water, in this case).
Want some advice? Snorkel in a T-shirt and knee-length swim trunks, if you have them. Your skin will thank you.
I tell you from experience...
Scuba diving
Most hotel businesses in the Derawan archipelago offer these types of activities, and the main island (Derawan) is no exception.
We didn't sign up for any excursions because we didn't have our diving license yet.
However, it is true that you can do the course right here, and more economically than in Spain, for example.
What is clear to me, seeing the quality of the snorkeling, is that diving in Derawan must be awesome.
Visiting other islands
During the 7 days we spent in Derawan we only made one excursion by boat to the neighboring islands: Kakaban and Sangalaki.
It cost 700,000 rupees (56€) between 4 people (we made some Australian friends, who we later visited on our trip to Australia), that is, 14€ per person.
This is what we found:
- Flying fish
The trip began by watching the flying fish fly over the water.
I say fly because they didn't jump and fall back down, as you imagine a flying fish to do. No...
We were in a speedboat, and the fish would come out of the water and hover for several seconds (5-6?) in the air, moving forward beside us like birds, and then dive back in.
- A jellyfish lake in Kakaban
Shortly after, we arrived at Kakaban.
We moored at the end of a wooden jetty and walked for a few minutes towards the interior of the island surrounded by dense jungle...
And there it was: a lake of jellyfish without stinging venom.
Due to their isolation and lack of predators, these jellyfish have lost their venom, so they are totally harmless.
There are so many that when you swim you not only push them away with your hands, but with your whole body.
Can you imagine floating in a sea of jellyfish?
- The reef cliff at Kakaban
After the crowd bath we went to the beach where we had embarked and jumped into the water, of course!
And the spectacle we saw a short distance from the pier exceeded all our expectations.
There was a coral cliff under the sea full of life: lion fish (poisonous), puffer fish, reef sharks....
The wall of colors was lost in the depths.
If the sensation of snorkeling there was unique, I don't want to imagine what it will be like to scuba dive in Kakaban (well, I do want to actually) 😉.
- Blankets and turtles in Sangalaki
The waters around Sangalaki are famous because there are almost always manta rays... except that day, or at least at that hour.
Then we were told that it's best to go there very early in the morning to make sure you see them, but our guide didn't seem to know that. I hope he has learned by now 🙂 🙂
As we arrived early, he let us walk along the beach and we discovered that it is an island with thousands of sea turtle nests.
We didn't see them either, but the hatching and spawning marks were there.
From here we return home.
Other islands: the reef and resorts of Maratua
The Australian couple we befriended in Derawan had spent a week at a resort on Pulau Maratua, specifically the Nabucco Dive Resort.
As the name suggests, the stay in these resorts is intended for diving enthusiasts, so I do not recommend you to go if you are not also going to hire a dive package.
The underwater part they really enjoyed, although I think the hotel was too "artificial" for them.
They liked mingling with the locals of Derawan much better than staying on the tiny island of the Nabucco Hotel.
However, there is a large population on Pulau Maratua where you can probably get an authentic experience more like Pulau Derawan. I have marked the area on the map in case you want to investigate 🙂 🙂
Relax
This is the perfect island to disconnect.
- Reading a book with your legs dangling over the sea from the dock where your room rests.
- Get to know your neighbors while you wait seated at the table of the place you have chosen to eat.
- Lying in the sun or strolling along the shore on the beach letting the hours go by with a blank mind.
Do you remember the last time you had nothing to do and, above all, enjoyed the feeling?
Where to eat
There are several restaurants on the main street of the village, of which we tried only 3, but they all had something in common:
- The food was delicious(mie goreng and nasi goreng, our favorite Indonesian dishes).
- You could say NO CHILI all you wanted. Whether the dish came spicy or not was a lottery (and it usually played) 😉.
- Service was always slow. It took about 2 hours on average from the time we sat down at the table until we finished eating, but we quickly got used to this island pace.
- They don't have alcohol, but we don't miss it. Having cold tea, who needs beer? 🙂
When one of them was missing an ingredient, you would see how the chef, the waiter or the cook herself would go to the nearest restaurant to order (or buy) and come back with the eggplants from your plate.
All very chill out.
As a curiosity, this is a good place to eat lobster at a good price.
What to bring
Cash
In 2012 there were no ATMs or banks on the island of Derawan and accommodations or restaurants did not accept cards either.
I don't know if the situation has changed much, but I recommend that you carry enough cash.
If you book accommodation in advance, ask them, they will be able to give you more updated information.
Clothing
- 2 bathing suits (to dry one while you wear the other).
- Beach towel.
- 2 light, quick-drying T-shirts/shorts/dresses.
- Flip-flops.
- 1 thin long sleeve (just in case).
- Swimming T-shirt (this is already a 10).
Voila.
Protecciónsolar
Here's a little true story in a nutshell:
- The first day of snorkeling was cloudy.
- We did not apply creams because it seemed impossible for the sun to break through that gray barrier of clouds.
- We went to the beach to snorkel.
- We entered the water at 11:00.
- We left the water at 15:00.
- 4 hours that flew by...
- To us alone, because our backs had been crying out for help for some time.
- We spent the rest of the week in Derawan carefully creaming ourselves several times a day, because it hurt just looking at us....
- And snorkeling with a cotton t-shirt. EVERY DAY.
Now, you decide.
You learn from the experience of others, or you put your skin to the test as I did.
My recommendation?
Bring sunglasses, some kind of hat for your head, sunscreen (use it, don't wear it just to look pretty) and, if you can, a waterproof T-shirt.
Travel insurance
Don't gamble. Nowadays traveling insured with IATI, one of the best insurance companies for travelers, is very cheap.
The only thing we suffered on that trip were the sunburns I just told you about and diarrhea from not drinking bottled water (the cold teas were delicious, but they were risky).
So I had no need to use the insurance I had taken out.
However, how much does it cost for peace of mind to travel 3 weeks in Indonesia with quality health insurance?
110? Give me 2 to go!
Seriously, I don't travel without them anymore.
And if you want to save even more, book through this link and get a 5% discount on the final price.
Budget
How much does it cost to spend 7 days in Pulau Derawan, flights, arrival and departure transportation, accommodation, excursions and meals included?
- Cab to Surabaya airport: 10€.
- Flight Surabaya-Berau: 138.6 € (69.3 €/person).
- Kijang to Tanjung Batu: 20€ (10€/person).
- Speedboat from Tanjung Batu to Derawan: 16€ (8€/person).
- 1 night in Danakan Homestay (breakfast included): 12€ (6€/person).
- 6 nights in Fisheries Cottage (breakfast included): 48€ (4€/person and night).
- Snorkel rental: 24€ (2€/person and day).
- Excursion to Kakaban + Sangalaki: 28€ (14€/person).
- 7-day meal (approximate): 120€ (60€/person)
- Speedboat from Derawan to Tanjung Batu: 16€ (8€/person).
- Kijang from Tanjung Batu to Berau: 20€ (10€/person).
- 1 night at Derawan Indah Hotel (breakfast and airport transfer): 32€ (16€/person).
- Flight Berau-Jakarta: 180 € (90 €/person).
In total we spent approximately €665 for our 7-day stay on Pulau Derawan (flights and other transportation included), about €47.5 per person per day.
Useful Links
- Fisheries Cottage.
- Other accommodations in the area.
- Palmy hotel in Berau.
- Flights to Indonesia: Trabber, eDreams and Momondo.
- 5% discount when you purchase your travel insurance at IATI from here.
On the road in Indonesia? Then this is of interest to you:
- 3 weeks tour in Indonesia: Java and Borneo.
- 4 days klotok trip in Borneo: encounter with orangutans in the wild.
- Prambanan, the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia.
- Meditate with Buddhist monks at the Mendut temple.
- Experience a sunrise from the temple of Borobudur.
- Selogriyo: a Hindu temple among rice plantations.
- How to organize your visit to Bromo and Ijen: 4 options.
- Route 3 days and 2 nights by Bromo and Ijen.
Map
Any questions about how to get to Pulau Derawan? Leave it in the comments.