Articles from this Category
4 February 2017
My destination today is Ranai on the island of Natuna Besar in the Natuna Archipelago, which is part of the Riau Islands of Indonesia. It is not well known so I guess I’d better give it an intro. Background & History of Natuna Natuna consists of 272 islands in the South China Sea that is […]
3 February 2017
Flying to Singapore Today I fly to the tiny Republic of Singapore to transit to Batam in the other Republic … the big one, Republic of Indonesia. The head of the big republic once jokingly called the smaller one “Little Red Dot”. A good friend Boo happened to book on the same flight to just […]
23 July 2016
This was my latest wake-up since leaving Auckland over three weeks ago. I woke at 0700 after retiring after midnight. Quite a change from the 2030 bedtime and 0330 wakeups I have been having in order to catch early flights etc and then it just continued. Today I leave Kalimantan after two weeks, flying to […]
22 July 2016
I woke relatively late today at 0600 and had breakfast at 0630. It was a good spread at Palmy Hotel for brekkie. They offered a free shuttle to Berau’s flash new airport. The airport was decorated with Dayak motifs and nice sape music was streaming through. I like how so much of Kalimanatan (except Banjarmasin) […]
21 July 2016
Derawan advice & summary The diving is awesome but come with a friend to share the cost of the boat to the best dive sites. One friend is adequate ‘cos with more people, you need a bigger boat and the price so it doesn’t really get cheaper. It is more of a local getaway and […]
20 July 2016
Getting going I arrived at the diveshop before 0830 and Doris was along shortly after. There was a short wait for the catering from next door before we set off on a small boat “Ferari” (sic) captained by a half-Chinese half-Bajau man (who didn’t look Chinese at all). It was very overcast, which is supposedly […]
20 July 2016
I did two dives with Osland again, this time with a Chinese dive-buddy Doris. We were so lucky and were treated with two mantas on our second dive. You can read about our day here, along with plenty of pictures and a video.
19 July 2016
After breakfast at 0730, the tide was right for a swim. I quickly changed and went for a cool dip, lingering as much as possible to fill in the free day. I eventually came out of the water for fear of having had too much sun. After a quick shower, I checked the time. It […]
18 July 2016
Making arrangements If you’re wanting to dive in Derawan, it is best to come with friends. Diving around the different islands in the Derawan Archipelago can be expensive and difficult to organise for the solo traveller. It helps to split the cost of long distance boat hire with a friend, unless you’re happy to dive […]
18 July 2016
I did two dives today with Derawan Ocean Dive, whose boss is Osland. Dive mates today were Simon and Karen, both from Netherlands (whom I met earlier in Pontianak). We were headed to dive sites off the island of Kakaban today which is famous for its jelly-fish lake, so it would save us a pricey trip […]