Under 30 min away Kakaban Island
The stingless jellyfish lake, visited the same day as Sangalaki.
Destinations · Sangalaki
Sangalaki Island: manta rays and nesting turtles
A small, low island where reef mantas feed close to the surface by day and green turtles come ashore to nest at night. About 45 minutes by speedboat from Derawan.
- Speedboat from Derawan
- ~45 min
- Where mantas often feed
- 5 – 10 m
- Typical visit
- Half day
- Best season
- Apr – Nov
The island
Two reasons to go: mantas by day, turtles by night
Sangalaki is a low, sandy, tree-covered island ringed by beach, small enough to walk around in well under an hour. There is no village, no commercial strip and no resort, and nobody sleeps here on our itineraries.
What makes the crossing worthwhile happens in the water within a few hundred metres of the sand, which is why Sangalaki appears on almost every Derawan itinerary.
- Derawan Archipelago, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan
- Known for reef manta rays and green turtle nesting
- Speedboat only, around 45 minutes from Derawan Island
- Snorkelling and diving; mantas are usually shallow
- Guests stay on Derawan or Maratua
Manta rays
Reef mantas feeding in shallow water
Snorkellers and divers here are often watching the same animal.
Reef mantas gather off Sangalaki to feed on plankton near the surface, often in the top five to ten metres, moving in slow loops with their mouths open. A snorkeller on the surface and a diver at eight metres frequently see the same ray.
Sightings are never guaranteed: mantas are wild and plankton moves, and boats often reposition two or three times in a session. Manta Point is a second shallow feeding area used on the same day when conditions favour it.
Dives here are gentler than on Maratua: the reef slopes rather than drops, and most profiles sit between 10 and 25 metres, suiting newly certified divers.
Getting there
Every route runs through Berau and Derawan
There is no direct way to Sangalaki. Kalimarau Airport (BEJ) is the meeting point for our trips, so the road and boat legs are handled once you land.
| Leg | Mode | Approximate time |
|---|---|---|
| Your own flight to Kalimarau (BEJ), Berau | Flight, booked by you | Depends on your flight |
| Kalimarau Airport to Tanjung Batu | Road transfer | ~2.5 to 3 hours |
| Tanjung Batu to Derawan Island | Speedboat | ~40 minutes |
| Derawan Island to Sangalaki | Speedboat | ~45 minutes |
| Sangalaki to Kakaban | Speedboat | Under 30 minutes |
On our trips Sangalaki is part of day two, together with Maratua and Kakaban.
Green turtles
A nesting beach, treated as a conservation site
Females haul out after dark to lay, and hatchlings from earlier nests make the same crossing in reverse. Day visitors mostly see turtles in the water rather than nesting.
What you see
- Green turtles in the water around the island
- The nesting beach you land on
- Turtle conservation on the island
- More turtles in the shallows off Derawan
Never on Sangalaki
- Touching or riding turtles or mantas
- Flash or bright torches on the beach at night
- Digging, sitting on or driving across nesting sand
When to go
April to November is the best season
Reef mantas are present around Sangalaki year-round, so the season is about reaching the island. The Derawan to Sangalaki leg is about 45 minutes of open water; between roughly December and March, the wetter period, the Sulawesi Sea is rougher and a manta day can be lost to swell.
April to November is the best season, though trips run in every month. Plan half a day on Sangalaki: one or two water sessions and a short beach stop.
Best time to visit Green turtle nesting- Jan Rough Reduced
- Feb Rough Reduced
- Mar Variable Mixed
- Apr Calm 20 m+
- May Calm 20 m+
- Jun Calm 20 m+
- Jul Calm 20 m+
- Aug Calm 20 m+
- Sep Calm 20 m+
- Oct Calm 20 m+
- Nov Variable 20 m+
- Dec Rough Reduced
In season Crossings weather-dependent Sea state · visibility
The rest of the route
How Sangalaki fits the archipelago
Each stop does a different job. A complete route touches all of them.
Under 30 min away 
Walls and channel Maratua Island
The atoll rim and the deepest diving in the archipelago, visited on the same day two.
Early morning Talisayan whale sharks
A dawn stop on the mainland coast, on day three of the 4D3N trip.
Mainland Labuan Cermin
The fresh-over-salt mirror lake, on the same day-three run as the whale sharks.
For background on sleeping aboard, see the liveaboard guide; it is not a trip we sell.
Trip costs
What a trip including Sangalaki costs
Sangalaki is on day two of both the open trip and the private trip. Published Indonesia Juara rates; larger private groups pay less each.
Flights to Berau (BEJ), fins, tips and personal expenses are not included. Rates as published on indonesiajuara.asia.
Answers
Sangalaki questions
In the Derawan Archipelago, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan. It is a small, low, sandy island with no airstrip and no town, reached by speedboat in around 45 minutes from Derawan Island, where most travellers sleep.
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