We decided to take a trip to the Derawan Islands as we had heard great things especially about the scuba diving. As soon as you get to Derawan your life takes a different turn, especially since it is such a whirlwind to get there. We caught a flight, car and ferry to reach the remote islands.
The Derawan archipelago is made up of several islands. These are the main ones we visited and our favourite memories:
1. Kakaban, the jellyfish island
We didn’t realise until reading up closer to the time that Kakaban has a *stingless* jelly fish lake where you can swim with the creatures.
This is one of two places in the world where you can do such a thing. The four varieties of jellyfish in the lake became stingless as they were confined in this lake without predators and consequently lost their natural defences. It felt incredibly cool and like jellyfish paradise to be swimming alongside so many of them.
2. Sangalaki is an island where many turtles lay eggs and around 150 manta rays can be found
We saw our first manta rays here and we were shocked at how close they would swim to you.
The current was strong so sometimes we would hook onto ropes deep underwater and watch the mantas pass by. After the dive we rested on the beach and saw a baby turtle hatching and making its way into the ocean for the first time, which was an amazing experience.
Also, Sangalaki was our first citing of a shark (white tip reef shark) since completing our Open Water PADI.
3.Derawan is smallest of the islands and has beautiful corals.
We saw a lot of giant turtle and had never seen ones so big. We were amazed by the clear water and the abundance of coral and marine life.
So far the Derawan Islands was the most difficult place to reach on the trip. Despite the mission to get there it was absolutely beautiful and it felt like a family on site with the small groups for diving that you really got to know everyone. It had some of clearest water and stunning corals we had seen ever so has set the bar for diving on the trip.