Author archive
25 July 2016
Above: Scenery of Mount Kinabaulu on the drive from Kudat to Kota Kinabalu. Driving to Kota Kinabalu I woke early again and set off around 0730 after breakfast. I have big day in front of me getting from Kudat to Kuching by road and flight. First up was the drive from the Tip to Kota […]
24 July 2016
I woke around 0600 to an overcast morning. The sun does rise early here being in the far east of the time zone but it wasn’t so apparent. I had breakfast after 0700 which was way before the official start time of 0800. The tide seemed quite right for swimming but I didn’t want to […]
23 July 2016
Above: The 30 min flight is a good alternative to the 2h speedboat to Nunukan, then a 2h speed boat from Nunukan to Tawau. Flying to Tawau 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 […]
22 July 2016
A sampling of the local fare in Indonesian Borneo on trips through the years. Posted by Alex Chan on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
22 July 2016
Above: Today, I fly from Berau to my last stop in Kalimantan, the island and town of Tarakan. The 25 minute flight replaces 2h30 by bus to Tanjung Selor followed by 1h30 by speed boat to Tarakan. I woke relatively late today at 0600 and had breakfast at 0630. It was a good spread […]
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. But here is a video and some photos:
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 […]