Green turtles
Around the jetties.
consigliere ivan from Bontang, Indonesia — CC BY 2.0 · Avrian Priyono — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Deffy Kuswanto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Deffy Kuswanto — CC BY-SA 4.0
A small island with a quiet fishing village in the Derawan archipelago off Borneo's east coast, the gateway to an archipelago counted among the world's richest areas of marine biodiversity, within the Coral Triangle. It is best known for green turtles that swim around the wooden jetties all day and nest on its beaches at night. Turtles can be seen straight from the jetties, or you can swim quietly alongside them, with coral reefs and colourful fish in the clear water around the island. The island has hotels and homestays over the water and seafood restaurants, and boats leave from here for Maratua, Kakaban and Sangalaki. There is no fee to visit the island; boats to the other islands are fairly expensive and usually shared in a group. Getting there means flying to Berau, then about two hours by car and an hour by boat from Tanjung Batu. Plan at least three days and use Derawan as a base. Do not touch or chase the turtles, and no flash near nests at night.
Around the jetties.
Huge marine diversity.
A calm stay.
Derawan archipelago, Berau, East Kalimantan
Fly to Berau (Tanjung Redeb), usually via Balikpapan, drive about two hours to Tanjung Batu, then a speedboat of about an hour.