Location : Kecamatan Maratua, Kabupaten Berau, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia.

Introduction :

Maratua Island in the Derawan Archipelago off the north coast of East Kalimantan, is a large tropical island partially encircling a massive lagoon on one end and fringed with sheer rocky walls and coral reefs along the other end.This giant upside down U-shaped island covers about 384 square kilometers of sandy white beaches and mangrove forests and 3,735 square kilometers of territorial waters which contain the third highest level of marine biodiversity in the world after Raja Ampat and the Solomon Islands.
One of the four most popular islands in the Derawan Archipelago, Maratua lies in the province of East Kalimantan. The Derawan Island chain includes the islands of Derawan, Sangalaki and Kakaban, and is home to one of the world’s only saltwater lakes as well as one of the largest green turtle nesting sites in Indonesia.

The next morning tour by bike to the opposite side of Maratua brought us pass coconut plantations and Hulpa’s house which had a photo of the founder of Maratua island, a certain Mr Lim a merchant/sailor from Shanghai. His descendents still owns a big chunk of land here and Hulpa takes care of their coconut plantations.

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Photo of the Shanghainese adventurer who founded Maratua
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Coconut plantation

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Berau, Derawan Archipelago, dive center, diving site, green sea turtle, marine life, nature, Obyek wisata, outdoors, pasir putih, Pulau, Sandy white beaches, tourist attraction, guide, underwater, village
Beautiful white sandy beach

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A kilometer long plank walk led us to the jetty with a good view of some of the islands nearby. Green turtles could be seen everywhere under the crystal clear water here.Berau, Borneo, Derawan Archipelago, dive center, diving spot, east kalimantan timur, homestay, Paradise Island Resort, marine life, nature, Obyek wisata, outdoors, pasir putih, Sandy white beaches, Tourism, tourist attraction, Berau, Indonesia, dive center, green sea turtle, homestay, Paradise Island Resort, nature, Obyek wisata, outdoors, pasir putih, Sandy white beaches, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, underwater, village, Berau, Derawan Archipelago, dive center, diving spot, east kalimantan timur, green sea turtle, homestay, indonesia, Paradise Island Resort, marine life, nature, pasir putih, Sandy white beaches, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, village Berau, Borneo, Derawan Archipelago, dive center, homestay, Paradise Island Resort, marine life, nature, outdoors, pasir putih, Pulau, Sandy white beaches, sunset, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, underwater, Berau, Derawan Archipelago, dive center, diving spot, green sea turtle, Paradise Resort, marine life, nature, outdoors, pasir putih, Sandy white beaches, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, underwater, village Berau, Derawan Archipelago, dive center, diving spot, green sea turtle, Paradise Resort, marine life, nature, outdoors, pasir putih, Pulau, Sandy white beaches, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, underwater, village

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Notice the turtle

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Berau, Borneo, Derawan Archipelago, dive center, diving site, green sea turtle, Paradise Resort, marine life, nature, Obyek wisata, outdoors, Pulau, Sandy white beaches, Tourism, tourist attraction, underwater, village Derawan Archipelago, green sea turtle, Paradise Island Resort, marine life, nature, Obyek wisata, outdoors, pasir putih, Pulau, Sandy white beaches, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, underwater, village

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Boat loaded with furniture and goods from the mailand

Maratua village

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Mosque
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Roadside stall

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Going off to Bajau villages

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Goodbye

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One of the many green turtle that come to feed early in the morning. They love eating banana leaves!
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Another green turtle

Berau, Derawan Archipelago, dive center, diving site, green sea turtle, Paradise Resort, marine life, nature, Obyek wisata, outdoors, Pulau, Sandy white beaches, Tourism, tourist attraction, underwater, village

Berau, Borneo, Derawan Archipelago, green sea turtle, homestay, Paradise Island Resort, marine life, nature, Obyek wisata, outdoors, pasir putih, Sandy white beaches, sunset, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, underwater, village
Pulau (Island) Maratua

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A section of Maratua they called ‘Payung’ because of the shape of the rocks cut out by strong current and big waves

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