Private trip
Standard tier
A local guide, plus GoPro documentation of your trip.
Plan Your Trip · Safety
Is Derawan safe to visit?
What to check on boats, guides and dive operators, how medical care works in a remote archipelago, and what our trips include.
- Travel insurance, on our trips
- Included
- In every snorkel kit
- Life jacket
- Nearest hyperbaric chamber
- Balikpapan
- In Kakaban Jellyfish Lake
- No fins
What to check
What a safe operator can show you
Safety starts before you arrive: licences, inspected boats and trained staff, backed by Indonesian regulation.
Paperwork
- Business licence from the Ministry of Tourism
- Ministry of Transportation permits for every vessel
- Surat Kelaikan Kapal: annual seaworthiness certificate
- PADI or SSI credentials for instructors and divemasters
- First-aid training (e.g. EFR) for guest-facing staff
On the boat
- Life jackets for everyone on board
- Marine VHF radio and GPS tracking
- Satellite phone
- Emergency contact information on board
Guides and briefings
Who looks after you on the water
Certified guides with local knowledge of weather, currents and marine life, and a safety briefing before each activity.
Medical care
Clinics, evacuation and insurance
Derawan Island has basic medical clinics. For serious conditions, patients are moved by fast boat and air ambulance to Balikpapan, or on to Jakarta or Singapore depending on the case.
The nearest hyperbaric chamber for treating decompression sickness is in Balikpapan, about 300 km to the south-west, which is why medical evacuation cover matters here.
Travel insurance and entrance fees are included in our Private Trip and Open Trip. Scuba diving is not included in our trips; if you dive independently, check that your own cover includes diving and medical evacuation, which standard policies often leave out.
- Medical evacuation cover: check your own policy
- Diving cover, if you dive independently
Safe for the reef too
Responsible practice in the water
Trust also means protecting the marine environment that brings you here.
Green Fins practice
Minimal coral contact
Proper buoyancy control keeps fins and hands off the coral.
No feeding marine life
Ethical wildlife viewing, explained before you get in.
Less single-use plastic
Waste management and fewer disposables on boats and at stays.
Trip rule
No fins in Jellyfish Lake
Fins are not allowed in Kakaban's Jellyfish Lake. The snorkel kit on our trips is mask, snorkel and life jacket.
Keep exploring
More in Plan Your Trip
Ask us
Questions about safety on your trip?
Ask about the boat, the guide, insurance or medical needs before you book.