Page 66 - Diving Indonesia 21 November 2019

EAST KALIMANTAN

ast Kalimantan is an Indonesian province
in the east of the island of Borneo. It’s
Eknown for its indigenous Dayak culture and Many destinations claim that manta rays are frequent visitors but few can
truly lay claim to having resident mantas all year round, and so many of them!
rainforest areas like Kutai National Park, home to Most locations may hold encounters with mantas if you’re lucky, but when
orangutans. The Derawan Islands, off the north you’re scuba diving at Sangalaki, luck is not a pre-requisite. Nature is on your
coast, have reef dive sites and turtle-nesting side and manta rays are a common sighting here.
grounds. Besides Derawan, notable islands in this In the waters around Sangalaki there are numerous manta cleaning stations
archipelago are Sangalaki (which is known for its - cleaner wrasse and butterflyfish are found in droves here, and they feed off
manta rays), Maratua and Kakaban, known for its the parasites which they clean from the skin and gills of the manta rays. If
jellyfish-filled saltwater lake. you head out to one of these cleaning sessions, you have quite an experience
in store for you. You’ll find yourself eye-to-eye with the mantas as they are
generally inquisitive and quite friendly by nature and often approach divers
The island of Sangalaki is a superb dive spot where big numbers of manta rays frolic all for a closer look.
year round. All of the islands in this small archipelago offer excellent diving opportunities
well off the beaten track. There are a handful of dive resorts on the islands making shore
based stays possible as well as liveaboard trips.