Kakaban Island

Kakaban island is part of the Derawan Islands in East Kalimantan Province. Kakaban island is an extraordinary island: it's a coral island with a lake at the middle. This island shape is like the number 9, or as some people have put it, it is like the island is hugging the lake. The name "˜Kakaban' is derived from Bajo language and it actually means to hug. The island is 774.2 hectare wide with a 5 square km lake surrounded by 50 m high coral rocks.

Upon arrival at the island you would need to hike a bit to get to the lake as the most interesting thing on this island is the lake. The lake is formed by a combination of rain water, sea water and ground water and is filled with jellyfishes. There are two jellyfish filled lakes in the world and Kakaban Lake is the biggest. There are four different species of jellyfish here. They are Aurelia aurita, Tripedia cystophora, Martigias papua and Cassiopea ornata. The most interesting one is Cassiopea ornata for they swim upside down.

Although there are many thousands of jellyfish the lake is actually safe to swim in as those jellyfishes don't sting. You can dive to meet them all. An amazing experience offered only at Kakaban Island. Besides the jelly fishes there are many other diving spots with beautiful corals, underwater tunnels and caves to explore.

This island is not inhabited so if you're planning staying you can rent an room on the Derawan Island. The average price is only IDR 100,000 per night.