Derawan Island, Indonesia Blog
Dec 2012
Very excited about this diving trip to Derawan Island, Indonesia, oganised by Regal Dive. Long time dive buddies Graham, Lynn and Paulette are going too. We all enjoyed a Red Sea liveaboard back in 2011, so I knew the company would be good. Took a few days to think about it, cost was a bit of a concern as my wife and I already had already booked for the Cayman Islands in June 2013, but there was nearly a whole year to save up for Indonesia.
Jan 2013
Finally on 1st January 2013 I committed to going. Its gotta be done if you want to dive these places. I paid my deposit on 9th January and secured my place on what I knew would be a diving trip of a lifetime.
Tasik Divers on Derawan Island Derawan Dive Lodge promise an idyllic, on the beach, lodge type accommodation, built specifically for divers, but also welcoming snorkelers and sun seekers. I won't go into detail since you can follow the link to the web site, but it does look pretty good, I'm sure you'll agree.
July 2013
Vaccinations? Turned out I'd already had all of the necessary ones prior to going to the Cayman Islands earlier this year - a highly recommended place to visit but a tad on the expensive side, although Living the Dream Divers were superb. Anti malaria tablets (on a private prescription) in case of mosquito bites were a must though.
August 2013
I'm addicted to air! Just can't get enough of the stuff and need to satisfy my habit 24/7, even whilst asleep or underwater! Figured I'd better check out the availability of 15L cylinders at the resort. Daniel at Tasik raised a possible problem - they didn't do 15L cylinders, only 12L, which were included in the package. So, I asked him the question. Would it be fair on my dive buddy to have to cut short his/her dive because I was out of air?
Not a problem, said Daniel, I'll get some from somewhere off island. It won't be cheap though, he said! Now why did I know he was going to say that? Reckoned it would cost around $15 per day per tank (3 of). My reply, as you can imagine, was "no way, I'll cancel" because that was silly money. Anyway, finally agreed on $5 per day per tank. Of course, Nitrox was extra, $9 per tank fill extra! Am I made of money? Once more, reservations were expressed and we finally agreed on $100 per week for the three tanks. Much better at 21 Nitrox tank fills for $100.
17 October 2013
A glorious day at Stoney in mid October and a couple of dives with Paulette before we go. Surprised that the water temperature was still 12 degrees at 20M, although the vis was sh!t. No matter, soon it would be warm, clear and blue, forget the dry suit and enjoy the freedom of the wet suit, what could be better?
Also started 3 days of trial of anti malaria pills (Doxycycline) to ensure no side effects present. Much relieved to find I didn't turn into a green skinned monster or other such affliction.
The date fast approaches, the mini-bus is booked for Heathrow, the flights are booked, the seats reserved and I've started packing.
Nudibranch at Long Island
27 October 2013
Biggest storm in 10 years going to hit south tonight & tomorrow! Will flights be delayed? Who is it up there that doesn't like me? Early night tonight as got to be up and in Long Sutton to catch mini bus at 6am. Better set the alarm!
28 October 2013
Heavy rain first thing but turned out to be a storm in a teacup, Had passed over Heathrow by the time we got there and flight departed more or less on time. 12 hour flight to Singapore and watched 3 films - Red 2, Star Trek into darkness and RIPD. The bloke in front pushed his seat right back so the screen was right in my face. I'm crosseyed now! Flight to Balikpapan was delayed 2 hours (typical), so arrived at the Zurich Hotel around 6pm (10am uk time = 8 hour time difference) on Tuesday.
Turtle at Kakaban
30 October 2013
The Zurich Hotel was OK, about 3* by my reckoning. Had good nights sleep, about 8 hours dead to world. The 737 from Balikpapan to Berau was full, we were met at the airport for a mini bus journey through the rain forrest to coast, about 3 hours along badly maintained roads where landslips often took away half the road and broken tarmac left large areas badly rutted.
Families of 4 - mother, dad and two kids, 4 up on motorbikes, is the norm, weaving in and out of traffic, up the inside, outside, and would have been over the top too, if they could. Then a thirty minute boat trip and we finally arrived at the accommodation on the island around 4pm on Wednesday evening. Went for a snorkel.
31 October 2013
Last nights meal was basic but nice and very filling. Soup rice, chicken, beef, fish and fresh pineaple. Out on the boat today for 3 dives, all drift dives along a coral wall. Turtles and barracuda the main highlights. Strong currents made the dives challenging and the reef hook was essential to stop yourself drifting off into the blue. Heading back to the lodge we are heading into a massive storm cloud, didn't seem to bother the pod of dolphins who came calling though. Drank coconut milk from a freshly cut coconut from the tree in front of the cabin when we got back. Got a great light show from the lightening over the rain forest as we ate our evening meal.
1 November 2013
Rained heavily during the whole night and woke me up several times as the noise on the tin roof got louder. Set off after breakfast for Sanga Laka where we were promised Manta Rays. Everyone excited at posibility of seeing them. The sea was rather lumpy as a result of the previous night's storm and the sky still overcast, but it didn't matter.
Nothing of note was to be found on the first dive except a blue spotted ray. Elli, the guide said 'no plankton so no Manta'.
Moved the boat a little for the second dive, suddenly we saw some Manta from the boat, dropped in and there they were, about 10 of them! Absolutely awesome! So graceful in flight, unhurried and moving easily.
Just a cuttlefish on the 3rd dive but that was ok, nothing could take away from the Manta.
Our Dive Boat in the rain.
2 November 2013
Heavy rain this morning, started before breakfast and followed us all the way to the first dive site. Sea lumpy again, but once more it didn't matter because the White Tip shark was awesome, just resting on the bottom at around 20mtr mark. A turtle also resting on the bottom decided to move as we passed over it, and actually swam along side me for a short time before cutting me up and disappearing. Dives today spoiled by ear problems, reverse block on ascent all three dives. Hope its better tomorrow.
Pygmy Seahorse at Long Island
3 November 2013
Lovely day today, blue sky abd sun. Need some sun cream on my neck! Also hope the ear problem has resolved overnight, only one way to find out. The dive boat with its twin 115hp Evinrudes is waiting to whisk us away as soon as breakfaast is over. We're going to 'long island' today which is close by, lots of small macro stuff to photograph.
Three good dives today, lots of nudibranch, turtles, a stone fish, pygmy seahorse (see pic), spider crabs, puffer fish, pipe fish, lembeh sea dragon. Gloriously hot and sunny, stayed close to lodge today with just short boat trip to long island. Sea like a mill pond. Doing a night dive tonight.
4 November 2013
Last nights night dive was enjoyable, its great to see a different perspective on the underwater world. Highlight was a huge turtle, almost the size of a mini car, sleeping on the bottom. A little rain last night and over cast as i write this, but things change quickly here, probably be sunny after breakfast.
Turned out to be a lovely day and 3 more deep and good dives. The highlight was the last dive when we went back to Barracuda Point. Thousands of them just hung in the channel facing into the current, an awesome sight. We watched from the bottom whilst hooked on with our reef hooks.
Then it was time to go, we let go and joined the ride of our lives as the strong current pulled us away at a great rate on knots as we slowly ascended from 20mtr to 5mtr to do our safety stops. It was like a runaway train, unstoppable and exhilarating, the closest thing to flying I've ever experienced! Truly remarkable.
Barracuda Point
5 November 2013
Went back to Sangalaki today looking for Mantas but none were to be found, the season is ended and we were lucky to see the onces on Friday. However the day brought other rewards with White Tip and Black Tip sharks, an Eagle Ray and, once again, the loveable Turtles. Came up after the first dive to find it absolutely bucketing down, we could see it on the surface from below. Hurried to get back on the boat as we were getting wet! I wonder what we shall see tomorrow, it is our last day. It would be good to see something special again before we hang up our wet suits to dry.
6 November 2013
Heavy rain in the night woke me up but hot, dry and humid when I got up at 6am. Mosi bites are very irritating and no matter how carefully you apply the deet they always find somewhere you have missed. Wifi not been working for 24 hours now but there appears to be no urgency to fix it and why did our shower curtain disappeared 2 days ago, never to return?
3 nice dives today, nothing spectacular (if the fantastic undersea world can be called not spectacular) but barracuda, turtles and nudibranch a'plenty. Lots of places visible where the reef had been blasted with dynamite, a form of fishing, apparently. Hundreds of years of coral growth destroyed for a few fish! Is that logical? Took some pictures with Scuby at the seabed and also with the crew, which was fun. No more dives now, got to get kit dry for packing tomorrow night ready for leaving early Friday. Its party time tonight!
A busy beach on Derawan Island.
7 November 2013
Waited for the morning tropical storm to abate then went for a walk all the way around the island. There is a population of several thousand people on Derawan, the main 'town'is several streets of wooden houses, v.small supermarkets and tourist shops. Some lovely deserted beaches with palm trees and white sand slope gently down to a clear, blue sea. Got back to the lodge at 11:30, still no beer,cold or otherwise, even though the provision boat had returned from the mainland. Tonight, said the chef in the restaurant, cold beer tonight! as if it was a major event we should look forward to. I think they have a lot to learn about the hospitality industry. I can guess what will be for dinner tonight; soup, rice, chicken, fish, red meat of some description (I heard deer mentioned) and green beans with melon or fresh pineapple for afters. I know this because it has been the same each evening since we got here (and every lunchtime too, for that matter). P.S. still no shower curtain.
We have beer, as promised! Had a lazy afterenoon doing nothing in particular but finished it off by packing ready for tommorrow. Straight after breakfast we set of on a 45min boat ride to the mainland, followed by a three hour car journey on the subsiding road through the rain forest to Berau. Here we catch a 12:40 internal flight to Balikpapan, then another flight to Changi, and from there aacross 8 time zones back to the UK where I hear the weather has turned cold. 34 degrees in the shade here today, a bit different on Saturday morning back home, I suspect!