plan your trip

Updated: August 2026

Planning a trip to the Derawan Islands comes down to four decisions: which airport you fly into, how many days you have, how many people travel with you, and which months you can go. This category answers all four in one place — every Derawan trip operated by Indonesia Juara meets at Kalimarau Airport (BEJ) in Berau, East Kalimantan, runs inside the April to November season, carries a minimum of 2 travellers, and is priced from USD 281 per person depending on group size and accommodation tier.

Derawan is not a destination you improvise. There is no single road or ferry that drops you at the reef; you fly into East Kalimantan, transfer overland to a jetty, and continue by speedboat between islands. The three guides below break that chain into the exact decisions you have to make before you book anything.

The Plan Your Trip category covers routes, costs, seasons and logistics in three guides

Read these in order. The first tells you every way into the archipelago; the second and third go deep on the two realistic gateways.

• how to get to the Derawan Islands — the master routing page, covering the flight legs from Jakarta, Bali and Balikpapan into East Kalimantan and how the sea legs connect afterwards. Start here if you have not booked flights yet.
• Derawan via Berau — the Kalimarau (BEJ) gateway in detail, including the road transfer to the Tanjung Batu jetty and the speedboat crossing to Derawan. This is the meeting point used for every Indonesia Juara departure.
• Derawan via Tarakan — the northern alternative for travellers already in North Kalimantan or arriving across the Malaysian border, and how that route joins the same island circuit.

Every Indonesia Juara Derawan departure meets at Kalimarau Airport in Berau

The trip starts when you land at Kalimarau Airport, airport code BEJ, in Berau Regency, East Kalimantan. From there the journey continues overland to the Tanjung Batu jetty and onward by speedboat into the archipelago. Fixing the meeting point at one airport matters more than it sounds: it means your flights, your transfer and your boat schedule are planned around a single arrival time instead of three separate handoffs.

If you are still choosing flights, the how to get to the Derawan Islands guide compares both chains leg by leg before you commit to non-refundable domestic tickets.

A Derawan trip costs from USD 281 per person, and the price per head falls as the group grows

Indonesia Juara sells the Derawan Archipelago as a Derawan trip on a private basis: your group, your boat, your guide. Because the boat, the guide and the transfers are shared across your group rather than sold per seat, the cost per person drops sharply between two travellers and nine. The table below shows the published starting points per person for both accommodation tiers.

Every figure is a starting point, not a fixed rate: the final quote depends on your group size, the accommodation tier you pick, and the departure dates you request. Note the curve is not perfectly smooth — a group of six pays slightly more per head than a group of five, because boat and room configurations change at that threshold. If you are close to a break point, ask before you finalise numbers. Full package inclusions are set out on the Derawan Island tour and Derawan diving package pages.

The Derawan season runs from April to November

Indonesia Juara operates the Derawan private trip across an eight-month window, April through November. Outside that window the archipelago does not close, but scheduled private departures are not published, and sea conditions on the crossing legs become the deciding factor rather than your calendar.

Within the season, what you actually see underwater depends on where the itinerary goes rather than on the month alone. The wildlife-led pages — manta ray diving in Derawan, green turtle nesting in Derawan and Talisayan whale shark tour — explain what each encounter involves and how it is built into the route.

Nine destinations fit inside a 3D2N or 4D3N itinerary

The Private Trip Derawan is built as either a three-day, two-night or a four-day, three-night circuit. Nine locations feed that circuit, and how many you reach depends on which of the two lengths you choose and how the boat schedule falls on your dates.

• Talisayan whale shark tour — the mainland-side whale shark encounter, usually run as an early-morning leg.
• Maratua Island — the largest island in the group and the base for the outer reef and channel diving.
• Kakaban Island — the landlocked jellyfish lake, snorkelled rather than dived.
• Sangalaki Island — the manta ray island and a green turtle nesting site.
• Goa Halo Tabung — a freshwater cave pool on Maratua.
• Manta Point — the dedicated manta approach in the Sangalaki waters.
• Pasir Gusung Sanggalau — a tidal sandbar that appears and disappears with the water.
• Laguna Kehe Daing — the hidden lagoon reached through a rock cleft on Kakaban.
• Labuan Cermin — the mirror lake on the mainland side, where fresh water sits above salt water.

For the underwater side of the plan, the Derawan dive sites page maps the named sites, and Derawan snorkelling spots covers what is reachable without a tank. If you would rather sleep on the water and skip the daily island shuttling, compare the Derawan liveaboard format against the land-based Derawan island hopping tour.

Where you sleep changes how much water time you get

Seven properties are used across the two accommodation tiers: Reza Derawan Resort, Alfit VIP Borneo Cottage, Sienna Resort, Maratua Paradise Resort, Arasatu Villa, Pratasaba Resort and Seheku Paradise. The practical difference between them is not just comfort — a base on Maratua puts you closer to the outer dive sites, while a base on Derawan itself shortens the transfer from Tanjung Batu.

Compare all of them on the Derawan Islands resort overview, or go straight to Maratua Paradise Resort if you want to be on the outer atoll. Budget travellers should read the Derawan homestay guide, and divers who want to wake up next to the tanks should start with the Derawan dive resort page.

How to lock in a Derawan departure

Send your preferred dates, group size and accommodation tier to sales@indonesiajuara.asia. Indonesia Juara, part of Juara Holding Group since 2015, will confirm availability, the exact meeting time at Kalimarau Airport, and a per-person quote against the group size you give. Booking the domestic flight into BEJ before the departure is confirmed is the single most common planning mistake — confirm the trip first, then ticket it.

Travellers combining Borneo with the south of the country should look at the Bali to Derawan routing before booking anything, since the connection dictates which day your Derawan circuit can start. And if the archipelago interests you commercially rather than as a holiday, the Derawan investment guide covers the property and eco-lodge side.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get to the Derawan Islands?

Every Indonesia Juara Derawan trip begins at Kalimarau Airport, code BEJ, in Berau, East Kalimantan. You fly into Berau on a domestic connection, transfer overland to the Tanjung Batu jetty, then continue by speedboat into the archipelago. A second gateway exists through Tarakan in North Kalimantan for travellers already in the north of Borneo. Both chains are compared leg by leg on the how to get to the Derawan Islands guide.

What is the best time to visit the Derawan Islands?

The published operating season for the Private Trip Derawan is April to November, an eight-month window. Departures inside that window are confirmed on request against your dates and group size. From December to March the trip is outside the published season, so you should contact Indonesia Juara at sales@indonesiajuara.asia to check whether a departure can run before you buy domestic flights into Berau.

How much does a Derawan trip cost per person?

Prices start from USD 281 per person, which applies to a group of nine on the standard accommodation tier. Two travellers start from USD 580 per person on standard and USD 672 on premium, because the boat, guide and transfers are shared across fewer people. Every figure is a starting point that depends on final group size, accommodation tier and departure dates, not a fixed rate.

How many days do you need in the Derawan Islands?

The Private Trip Derawan is built as either a 3D2N or a 4D3N itinerary. Nine locations feed those circuits, including Talisayan, Maratua, Kakaban, Sangalaki and Labuan Cermin, so the four-day version gives the boat schedule more room to reach the outer islands. Choose the shorter circuit only if your inbound and outbound flights into Berau are tightly fixed.

What is the minimum group size for a Derawan private trip?

The minimum is 2 travellers. Because the trip runs privately rather than as a shared seat-by-seat departure, the fixed costs of boat, guide and transfers are divided across your group, which is why the per-person rate falls as numbers rise — from USD 580 per person at two travellers to USD 281 at nine on the standard tier. Groups above ten should request a custom quote.

Should you fly into Berau or Tarakan for Derawan?

Berau’s Kalimarau Airport (BEJ) is the confirmed meeting point for every Indonesia Juara Derawan departure, so it is the default answer for anyone booking a package. Tarakan in North Kalimantan works as an alternative for travellers already in the north of Borneo or arriving across the Malaysian border. Read the Derawan via Berau and Derawan via Tarakan guides before ticketing either option.