Nabucco Island Resort

Updated: August 2026

Nabucco Island Resort is the property name most travellers search after finding Nabucco Island, a small islet on the rim of the Maratua atoll in the Derawan Archipelago, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan. It is not one of the seven properties Indonesia Juara books for its private Derawan trips, and this page exists to say that plainly rather than to sell you something under a name we cannot stand behind.

What follows is the honest version: where the property sits, why atoll-rim accommodation behaves differently from a Derawan Island base, which seven stays we actually book and confirm in writing, what a stay in that area costs inside a private trip that starts from USD 281 per person, and how to check real availability. Indonesia Juara has operated under Juara Holding Group since 2015. The full index of options across the archipelago sits in the where to stay in Derawan category.

Indonesia Juara does not operate, book or rate Nabucco Island Resort

Start with the boundary, because it decides how much of this page you should trust. We do not own the property, we do not hold contracted inventory in it, and we do not publish room counts, star ratings, facility lists, certification claims or guest reviews for accommodation we cannot verify in writing. Almost every English-language page ranking for nabucco island resort does publish those numbers. Very few of them can show you where the numbers came from.

If that feels like less information than you expected, it is. It is also the only version of this page that will still be accurate next year. Room categories on small island properties change, ownership changes, and a resort that closes for a refit does not update the travel blogs that quoted its bungalow count. Email sales@indonesiajuara.asia with your dates and we will tell you what is genuinely bookable on the atoll rim instead of what looked convincing on a web page.

Nabucco Island Resort sits on the Maratua atoll, roughly 1.5 hours beyond Derawan Island

The single fact that reshapes your whole trip is the island, not the building. Nabucco is a rim islet of the Maratua atoll — the long horseshoe of land wrapped around a deep inner lagoon — and it sits close to Nunukan Island in the same group. It is small enough to walk around in a few minutes, and it has no town, no market and no public transport. The reef wall and the channel water on its doorstep are the entire reason anyone stays there. The island itself is covered in full on the Nabucco Island destination page.

Getting there is a chain, not a journey. Every practical route runs through Kalimarau Airport (BEJ) in Berau — the meeting point for our private trips — then about 2 to 2.5 hours by road to the Tanjung Batu jetty, roughly 30 minutes by speedboat to Derawan Island, and about another 1.5 hours by boat into the Maratua atoll area. Tarakan works as a northern alternative. The flight logic behind that choice is set out on how to get to the Derawan Islands and in the detailed Derawan via Berau (Kalimarau) breakdown.

Read those sea legs as normal-condition estimates rather than guarantees. Crossings in this archipelago are weather-dependent, and a captain who holds a boat back for swell is doing the job correctly.

The seven properties Indonesia Juara actually books in the Derawan Islands

Our private Derawan trip uses a defined accommodation pool, and every guest is told the property name and room category before paying anything. We do not sell an unnamed “island resort” and reveal the building on arrival.

• Reza Derawan Resort — a Derawan Island base
• Alfit VIP Borneo Cottage
• Sienna Resort
• Maratua Paradise Resort — the atoll-side option most associated with over-water rooms
• Arasatu Villa
• Pratasaba Resort
• Seheku Paradise

Which of the seven you receive depends on your dates, your group size and whether you booked the standard or premium tier. If your priority is sleeping on the atoll rather than back on Derawan Island — the reason most people search for Nabucco in the first place — say so in your first email, because that one preference reshapes the boat schedule for the entire group. The side-by-side logic is laid out on where to stay in the Derawan Islands, and the village-stay end of the market is covered in the Derawan homestay guide.

An atoll-rim base suits divers and punishes short trips

Choosing between an atoll base and a Derawan Island base is a real trade, not a marketing preference. The atoll puts you on the doorstep of the wall and the channel, so water sessions start with a short boat ride instead of a long one. It also puts you 1.5 hours further from the mainland on both arrival and departure day.

Divers usually take the atoll trade without hesitating. Most recreational dives in the area run between about 5 and 30 metres, with the reef top shallow enough that snorkellers get genuine value from the same sites — the named sites and their conditions are on Derawan dive sites. First-time visitors on a short trip almost always do better based closer to Kakaban Island and Sangalaki Island, which are day-visit islands with no accommodation at all.

What a stay in the Nabucco and Maratua area costs per person

Accommodation on our trips is priced inside the package rather than sold as a nightly room rate, because the boat, guide and vehicle are shared costs. The figures below are the starting points for the private 3D2N / 4D3N Derawan trip departing from Kalimarau Airport, with a minimum of 2 participants.

Treat every figure as a starting point that moves with group size and tier, not as a fixed retail price. The tier difference is accommodation and service level; the group-size difference is shared cost. The curve is deliberately not smooth — nine travellers can land lower per person than ten — because boat and vehicle capacity steps up in blocks rather than one seat at a time.

On inclusions, the document that counts is your written quotation for your specific dates, which itemises exactly what is and is not covered. Items normally arranged outside the trip price include international and domestic flights to Kalimarau, personal dive equipment and certification courses, travel insurance and personal spending. We would rather you read a specific quotation than a generic inclusion list written for a web page. Package framing sits on Derawan trip, and dive-led versions on Derawan diving package.

The operating season for an atoll stay is April to November

Indonesia Juara runs Derawan trips across an eight-month window from April to November, chosen for sea conditions rather than rainfall alone. Outside it, crossings between Derawan Island and the Maratua atoll become unreliable, and an unreliable crossing on a three-day trip costs an entire island day rather than an hour. That matters more for an atoll-rim stay than for any other base, because every movement to and from your bed is a sea movement.

Inside the season, the month-to-month difference shows up as visibility and swell rather than as the presence or absence of marine life. Green turtles are resident year-round across the archipelago. Manta activity around Sangalaki manta ray snorkelling is best treated as likely rather than promised on any single day, which is why we schedule more than one water session per island wherever the itinerary allows.

How to check what is genuinely bookable near Nabucco Island

Send one email with four things and you will get a real answer rather than a brochure: your travel dates, your group size, whether the group dives or snorkels, and whether sleeping on the atoll rim matters more to you than shorter transfer days. Write to sales@indonesiajuara.asia.

What comes back is a named property, a named room category and an itemised price for your dates. If the atoll-side stay you want is unavailable, we say so and offer the alternative by name — we do not substitute quietly. Our standard nine-stop itinerary covers Talisayan, Maratua, Kakaban, Sangalaki, Goa Halo Tabung, Manta Point, Pasir Gusung Sanggalau, Laguna Kehe Daing and Labuan Cermin mirror lake, and Nabucco Island is not one of those nine. Adding it is handled case by case, in writing, before you book.

If the point of the trip is the water rather than the address, two formats solve the transfer problem better than any single property does. A Derawan island hopping tour puts you inside the atoll with a boat already scheduled, and a Derawan liveaboard removes shore transfers altogether by sleeping you near the dive sites.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Indonesia Juara book Nabucco Island Resort?

No — Nabucco Island Resort is not one of the seven properties Indonesia Juara books for its private Derawan trips. Our accommodation pool is Reza Derawan Resort, Alfit VIP Borneo Cottage, Sienna Resort, Maratua Paradise Resort, Arasatu Villa, Pratasaba Resort and Seheku Paradise. If you want a base on the Maratua atoll rim near Nabucco, email sales@indonesiajuara.asia with your dates and we will confirm in writing what is genuinely available rather than assuming it.

Where is Nabucco Island Resort located?

Nabucco Island lies on the rim of the Maratua atoll in the Derawan Archipelago, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan, close to Nunukan Island. It sits roughly 1.5 hours by speedboat beyond Derawan Island, which is itself about 30 minutes from the Tanjung Batu jetty on the Borneo mainland. The islet is small enough to walk around in minutes and has no town, market or public transport — its entire relevance is the reef wall and channel water beside it.

Why does this page not list room numbers, ratings or reviews?

We do not publish room counts, star ratings, facility lists or guest reviews for accommodation we do not operate and cannot verify in writing. Small island properties change room categories, ownership and opening status without updating the travel pages that quoted them, so those numbers age badly and mislead the person who has to sleep there. Everything we state about a property on your booking is confirmed in your written quotation before you pay anything.

How much does a Derawan trip covering the Maratua atoll cost?

Private Derawan trip prices start from USD 580 per person for two travellers and from USD 281 per person for a group of nine on the standard tier. The premium tier runs from USD 304 to USD 672 per person across the same group sizes. Every figure depends on group size and tier because boat, guide and vehicle costs are shared, so the only accurate number is a written quotation for your exact dates and headcount.

Is it better to stay on the Maratua atoll or on Derawan Island?

Divers generally do better on the atoll and first-time visitors generally do better on Derawan Island. An atoll base cuts the boat ride to the wall and channel sites but adds roughly 1.5 hours of sea transfer on arrival and departure day. Derawan Island gives you green turtles grazing in the shallows below the walkways, village warungs and easier travel days, which matters most on a 3D2N trip or with young children.

When can I visit the Nabucco and Maratua area?

Indonesia Juara operates Derawan trips from April to November, an eight-month season set by sea conditions rather than rainfall. That window matters more for an atoll-rim stay than for any other base, because every trip to and from your accommodation is a boat crossing. Within the season, months differ mainly in visibility and swell; turtles are resident year-round, and manta encounters are treated as likely rather than guaranteed on any single day.