Indonesia Liveaboard Diving
Price upon request
Dive Indonesia with Panunee
Overview | Derawan, Sangalaki, Maratua, Kakaban | Komodo
The diving sites around Sangalaki, Maratua and Derawan, off the east coast of Indonesian Borneo, have been a guarded secret for some time, but only recently have liveaboard dive boats started to come here - and there are still not many.
One such boat is the high class, luxury motor yacht, Panunee, which takes a summer break from the Andaman Sea routine to sail here during the South West monsoon season, July to September.
Panunee offers one week dive safaris from the port of Tarakan, East Kalimantan, which is accessible by flight from either Balikpapan (reached from Singapore or Jakarta) or Tawau in the Malaysian state of Sabah.
Notes
This dive cruise can be incorporated into a Symbiosis tailor made holiday to Indonesia that can be adapted and tailored to meet your dates, preferences and passions. Please contact one of our bespoke holiday planners to create the ideal itinerary for you.
Departure Schedule | |||||
| Departs | Nights | Itinerary | Price | Note | |
| 5 | Derawan, Sangalaki, Maratua, Kakaban | tba | Limited Cabin | Enquire | |
| 5 | Derawan, Sangalaki, Maratua, Kakaban | tba | Join waiting list | Enquire | |
| 5 | Derawan, Sangalaki, Maratua, Kakaban | tba | Enquire | ||
| 5 | Derawan, Sangalaki, Maratua, Kakaban | tba | Join waiting list | Enquire | |
Sample Itinerary
There are several diving terrains ranging from walls to caverns and fringing reefs. The island is also popular with green turtles that use it as a breeding ground laying their eggs in the night time. With 9 dive sites around Derawan, there are diversity of marine life, such as white tip, leopard and nurse sharks, cuttlefish, Spanish mackerel, jacks, batfish and ornamental reef fish in varied terrain, 
huge lavender seafans, cuttlefish, nudibranchs galore, unusal tube anemones, blue ribbon eels and multi colored crinoids. A completely new species of coral is also found here named appropriately Acropora Derawanensis. Derawan's 656ft jetty is home to dumpling squids, crocodile fish, finger-sized purple crayfish, squat lobsters, decorator crabs, sea horses and various species of worms, tunicates and Dwarf scorpionfish. Shallow (10 metres) reef at Sea Garden is very healthy coral and abundance of flatworms and nudibranchs, ribbon eels, large blennies and anemones.
Maratua has several impressive drop offs and a great drift dive can be done through the channel into the lagoon. The channel entrance is at 27 meters and strong currents sweep by attracting large pelagics such as eagle rays, mantas, barracuda, tuna, mackerel, mantas, hammerheads, and variety of sharks. It is the home of the barracudas. Best time to dive the channel is on an incoming or slack tide where marine life reaches a crescendo of activity. Coral growth is not as spectacular here due to the strong currents, diving should also be carefully planned. The island is inhabited hence unfortunately some of the reefs have been fished.
Full diving day in Kakaban area & Jelly Fish Lake
Sangalaki is known all over the world as the center of Manta Rays. Some of them are giant and gorgeous ray that have wing span up to 3 meters wide. To the east of the island are Manta Avenue, Manta Parade and Manta Run - where the manta rays can be found feeding, gills wide open, on a rich supply of plankton minutes from the beach. The mantas can sometimes be seen cruising down these manta highways, whilst other rays forage around for food under the sand together with the goatfish. Their wing tips break the surface at regular intervals as they circle around you. They prefer to swim close to the surface, so snorkeling or free diving is also a good way to interact with them. The best time to see them seems to be full moon when there might be as much 20 mantas hovering over the cleaning stations. Gently sloping patch reef frequented by manta rays. These giants, some with wing spans as great as 3.5 metres, fly in graceful circles while feeding in the current line, so they can be seen up close by snorkellers as well as divers.
Panunee Yacht is a 32-metre long, steel-hulled, vessel furnished to the highest standards, accommodating up to 20 divers in great comfort. She is managed by a professional crew and dive team with over 10 years operational experience.
Panunee's eight cabins and two suite rooms are located on the main and lower decks. Each has private bathroom, individually controlled air conditioning and plenty of storage space.
Panunee's extensive dive deck allows offers plenty of space comfortable gearing up with individual storage and dressing areas. There are stations for 30 tanks and 5 rinse tanks for dive and photographic equipment. Dive entry is from a dive platform at the stern.
The “Andaman room” is a multimedia room & library, equipped with multi-system video, DVD player and slide projector, offering additional resources for the keen underwater photographer.
Suites: 
Deluxe Cabins
2 Studio staterooms are specially designed for underwater photographers/ videographers. Twin beds can be lifted up to equip housings conveniently. Electric sockets are provided for battery charging, plus a blow gun is supplied to clean and dry housings.
Panunee Yacht
Main: Twin Man D2842 LE 760 Hp 2300 RPM MARINE
Communications * NOTE. Prices indicated on this website are shown as a guideline only and may be subject to currency fluctuations, banking fees and other changes outside our control. Pricing information is available in other currencies.
