The Mystery of Ancient Kakaban Lake

Have you ever felt a sensation of diving along with thousands of jellyfish that float around you? If not, you must try it although just once! Come to Kakaban Lake. In brackish water lake Kakaban you will witness the thousands of jellyfish swim in  waters. Jellyfish Lake is one of the uniqueness of  Kakaban nature that given by God to mankind. Miracles do not ever go on sale in any place. Yes, in this world there are only two such lakes, Lake Kakaban in Kakaban Island, part of Derawan Islands, East Kalimantan and the other is a lake in the Palau Islands, Micronesia,

In 1929 to 1930 the expedition Senellius I,  a researcher, Kuenen presented their research in geological approach. He collected seafloor sediments. He said that  the geology Kakaban formed atolls (coral) are lifted from the oceanic plate. From the depths of approximately 200 to 300 meters. Land in the middle and then drowned. Atoll rising to a height of 40 to 60 meters above sea level. This process takes between one and two million years old
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Just for you know, that the expedition Snell-I conducted in 1929-1930 by the Dutch Colonial Government of the Netherlands in the waters of eastern Indonesia. This expedition includes some aspects and marine disciplines. In this expedition Dr. Philip Kuenen; young marine geologist who later became famous for leading marine geologist have participated. Snell-II Expedition in 1984-1985 is also held in the waters of eastern Indonesia. A second expedition was organized in partnership between the Government of the Netherlands (such as the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences; Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) and the Government of Indonesia (including Indonesian Institute of Sciences; Development Center Marine Geology). In this expedition; PPGL given responsibility for the theme-I (Geology and Geophysics of the Banda Arc and adjacent areas)

In Lake Kakaban there are four types of jellyfish that inhabit the lake Kakaban. All four, including endemic. They are, Cassiopeia ornata, Tripedalia cytophora, Mastigias papua and Aurelia aurita. The two latter types do not have the ability to sting and the majority number in the lake.

Some researchers and tourists have proved the truth of jellyfish that does not sting. They swim and dive  in water and then put the jellyfish on the palm of their  hand. Directly touch the jellyfish with their bare skin  and it's true, Lake Kakaban jellyfish does  not sting.  This one kind  of jellyfish that you will never find  on the sea.

In this ancient lake,  tourists will witness the beauty of so many  small fish that swim in the lake. Occasionally you will see Anemone. A kind of  jellyfish  predators. It is white,  having many legs or tentacles are clear. They are ready to suck unsuspecting jellyfish. Lake Kakaban long evolutionary process  bring the magic and its own beauty. Just come once in your life time or you will regret, have missed the thrill of natural beauty beyond your imagination.

Kakaban, An Island With A Beautiful Lake Inside

Kakaban is a little island, a part of Derawan Islands, located in the Sub District Derawan, Berau, East Borneo with an area of 774.2 hectares.

The divers like Kakaban because its natural attraction,  swarm of barracuda in the water of Kakaban Island. And they will see also the  emergence of sharks, rays and reef fish and other exotic fish. Like fish Napoleon (Napoleon Wrasse). Don’t you worry, at this time, there are three private companies serve as a diving resort and surrounding Derawan.

Kakaban attract foreign tourists with its characteristic. It has a beautiful lake in the middle of  the island, Kakaban Lake. The lake is filled by a mixture of rain water and sea water from the soil pores and create a habitat different endemic in most other lakes in the world.


The closest airport to the Derawan Islands is the Juwata International Airport, Tarakan. The biggest airport in nort east Borneo. The only International flights to Tarakan is from Malaysia, with the Tawau - Tarakan. Domestic flight are available to almost all big cities in Indonesia. So tourist from Jakarta, Surabaya or Bali will not find difficulty to get their flight to Tarakan. The nearest International Airport to Juwata International Airport is Balikpapan Sepinggan Airport. From Tarakan traveler can take an internal flight south by either KalStar or Deraya Airlines (DAS) to Tanjung Redeb in the district of Berau. Boats will take you from here to Kakaban and other Derawan Islands.

Actually  there is another choice, traveler can fly with  SilkAir from Singapore and Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur to Sepinggan International Airport at Balikpapan, one of the big city of  East Kalimantan But you still must go by internal flight to Tanjung Redeb.



Because there’s no flight to Kakaban or Derawan Island, when you are in Berau, try to find speedboat. You can hir it  for the 2 hour ride to the Derawan islands. It usually  has capacity of 15 people. You can directly rent it to go to Kakaban. But remember you must prepare to stay in neighbouring islands of Sangalaki, Maratua or Derawan, there’s no hotel in Kakaban. You can reach Kakaban in  20 minutes from Sangalaki, 30 minutes from Maratua and 45 minutes from Derawan.

Zapin International Dance Festival, The Shine and Etam Cultural Art Festival

Indonesia through East Kalimantan Province, ready to hold an International Festival Zapin arranged in Festival Kemilau dan Seni Budaya Etam (The Shine and Etam Cultural Art Festival). Zapin International Dance Festival will be followed by some neighbor countries such as Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia.

Actually  Jepen Dance is not as popular as Wayang Orang. Though this Malay traditional dance and coastal communities is quite energetic with a wave of the hand, the music and singing in the breath rhythm of Islam. As social dance, dance to music Jepen harp and sometimes interspersed unrequited rhyme. This dance is usually performed at weddings and circumcision ceremonies, as well as to welcome the guests of honor.
But in Brunei, this dance is popular dance.  As  a southeast Asian country located on Borneo between the states of Sabah and Sarawak which are part of Malaysia. Brunei shares some Cultural perspectives and links with the countries of South East Asia such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines. Although Brunei has similarities with others, there are significant differences in terms of culture and heritage including its folk music, folk dance, and folk stories. The strong Islamic influence means that dance performances and music are somewhat restricted.

The jury in the International Zapin held from 13 to 16 November in Sempaja Madya Stadium, Dublin, there are five people, three judges of the dance artists Zapin in East Kalimantan, and two judges from Jakarta.
All judges in the race are the judges qualified and familiar with the rules of dance Zapin. In addition they are also perpetrators of dance and very  familiar with the history of and Zapin Dance.
Besides Zapin Dance International, he continued, in a series of Sheen's Festival, East Kalimantan Cultural Park also held a number of dance and traditional arts area. The competition was followed by 14 counties and cities in East Kalimantan. Traditional art is a Rural Creative Dance (Dance Dayak), Regional Creative Music (Tingkilan), and Coastal Creative Dance (Jepen).

This Jepen Festival is expected to give the value of cultural pride for Kalimantan and also the means to conduct tourism promotion. It will attract more tourist to visit and stay in Kalimantan due to this event.
The festival is the fourth  festival,  previously held in 2009 and 2010 in Tarakan, and 2011 and then in Berau, East Kalimantan.

The Brazilian Legendary Band in Tenggarong, East Borneo

Sepultura,  will perform a concert back in Indonesia. This time, Tenggarong one district in East Borneo get lucky  to be the city where the first concert took place  for  Sepultura Concert on their tour plan to Indonesia. Spultura is strongly magnetic rock music  fans. So the audience is expected  that will come to this show  not only  from East Kalimantan or ather province of Indonesia, but also from nearby countries  like,  Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam and Singapore.

It is more interesting,  Sepultura concert in Tenggarong, Kutai, East Kalimantan is free. The audience does not need to spend money to watch their idol in action . The  Local governments of Tenggarong have to bear the costs to bring the rock band from Brazil  to entertain the citizens of Tenggarong, and surrounding areas

The stage,  18x16 meters and  160 thousand watt sound system that will be used  on Sepultura concert in Tenggarong, 9 November will have been ready soon.  Since yesterday, the organizers have started to bring all stage properties for the success of this concert

Sambaliung Islamic Sultanate of Old Berau

Witness the beauty of the sun set behind the mountains in the village of Long Ayap, Segah river upstream. A village in the remote area of Berau. Like the other villages in the remote area, we will witness the beauty of nature in its original form. We will never forget this experience if you come and see the authenticity of the natural in land Dayak tribes of Borneo once.

Gunung Tabur Palace

Located 120s  km from Tanjung Redep,  the capital of Berau Regency is another option offered in Berau, East Kalimantan, in addition to the beauty of the island Derawan . When you have come on the island Derawan,  it is bad if  you do not visit another interesting place.

As an old city,  Berau also has the potential on historical tours. We can follow the historical heritage of the city in past time by visiting the Royal Palace and Museum Sambaliung.  Just for you know, the kingdom of  Sambaliung is Islamic sultanate. Traces historical royal heritage Sambaliung with the last king Sultan M. Aminuddin (1902-1959). This place has a unique collection that is on the front page of two poles carved ironwood Bugis original script which is believed to be relics of the followers of Raja Alam from Bugis Wajo derivatives. According to the museum guard, characters that form the rules when the people across the palace.

Faced with Sambaliung palace, split by the River Berau, longitudinal Istana Gunung Tabur. The place can be reached in about 20 minutes over the bridge Segah or three minutes if you choose this ketinting ride, known as the Museum of Batiwakkal. Here are stored in the form of around 700 precious collection of historical objects, ceramics, objects of archaeological, ethnographic, and manuscripts. The museum was built in 1990 and inaugurated in 1992. The visitors can also see the palace residence of Princess Gunung Tabur.

Hotel in Derawan Island

There are some choices on accommodation in Derawan Island. With the price from  one million until the Rp. 400,000 (US $ 38) for so called a homestay, you can rent a house with your friends. Don’ you worry not to get place to stay, at least you can use  tent or you can stay in the homestay owner.

Inn Danakan is one of  good place to stay .This is the first inn in Derawan Island  with the long shape to the sea, so tourist can look and enjoy the beautiful of sunset or sunrise. And even you can also see the turtles just under the inn. It will be easier you want to go swimming. The building of Danakan Inn  was made of wood,  with simple rooms and bathrooms inside. Of course there’s air condition in it. Besides Danakan Inn, there a lot of place to stay now. You can choose Homestay Dira, Penginapan Pelangi, Derawan Café & Resort, Derawan Dive Lodge, Tasik Derawan, Derawan Lestari III, Derawan Lestari I & II. Penginapan HAMS and Yogie Mas with the lower price of rent tariff,  Rp.125.000  -  Rp.175.000/night ( $1 = Rp.9.500)

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Or even you choose to stay in Tarakan if it is your route choise?!

Maratua Island in Berau

Maratua  island has an area of ​​2375.70 ha which is the outer islands which has extraordinary nature and for divers, the island is known as "The Big Fish County" because a bunch of sharks and barracudas, as well as whales and various species of ornamental fish can easily be found in the waters of the island that has  Maratua this village.

In these attractions can be enjoyed beauty of the coral reefs that is unmatched, the largest turtle nesting places in Southeast Asia, panoramic sunrise and sunset is very beautiful, and the traditional life of the Bajau and typical forest along the atoll.

This island can be found in tourist facilities and services such as accommodation Maratua Paradise Dive Resort, Nabucco, and Partners East Kalimantan. In addition to tourists who want to interact with nature and the surrounding communities, offer package tours run by local community groups in four villages along with NGOs Bestari in Community-Based Ecotourism Program. Travelers can stay in local homes (homestay), enjoy a unique culinary Bajau community and visitors will be invited to venture into every corner of the island and see the lives of fishing communities Maratua Island with local tour guides who are trained and experienced.

There are 30 home-transit, culinary 3 groups and 20 local tour guides are spread over the four villages are ready at any time to serve the wishes of visitors Through this program, the tourists can contribute directly to the local communities in development programs and the preservation of their environment developed.

Visiting Derawan Via Tarakan

There are hundreds of coral in Derawan region. It is a region that has the highest hard coral diversity in the world's  after Raja Ampat in Papua. Derawan also famous as the location where many green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), the largest in Indonesia.

This archipelago consists of severalislands, but most tourist destinationare Derawan Island, Island Sangalaki, Kakaban, NabuccoIsland, and Island Maratua. Perhaps only inDerawan, we can easily find that green turtleswere foraging swimat the beach. In Kakaban, the part of Derawan islands, we can swim withstingless jellyfish there. On a sunny day, if you're lucky, you can swim with stingrays,dolphins or evenyou can meet Whales.

There are no direct flights to get to this area. There are two  waysto go to Derawan;  through Tanjung Redeb or Tarakan Both can be achieved by a commercialflight from Jakarta and Surabaya, Balikpapan through. Well, from Tarakanand Tanjung Redeb, proceed with Speedboat. Comparedthrough Tanjung Redeb, the route via Tarakanis recommended because the distancebetween Airport Juwata, Tarakan and harborspeedboat is not too far away. Though the travelingTanjung Redep - Derawan relatively close to reach.