Introducing Indonesia’s tourism: BIPA Unmul holiday in Derawan Island

UNIVERSITY: (Universitas Mulawarman / Mulawarman University)

(The BIPA Unmul Program conducted a holiday in Derawan Island, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, Thursday – Sunday, 21-24/12/2023. This activity is a part of the BIPA Unmul Program’s outing class. Four students of the BIPA Unmul Program, including the Darmasiswa Scholarship awardee, together with the Program Management visited Derawan Island and beyond such as Sanggalau Island, Maratua Island, Sangalaki Island, and Kakaban Island).

Apart from honing students’ Indonesian language skills by interacting directly with the community, this activity is aimed to introduce Indonesian tourism which is hoped to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia, especially Derawan Island and its surroundings. Not only that, in this place students learn about local cultural diversity such as fish preservation and various types of local culinary delights. Students also learned history by visiting the grave of the Hero of the 3 countries namely “Saba’ani”, grave with the horse tombstone, and the sacred grave of the Berau Sultanate family, all three of which are located on Derawan Island. On this island, students enjoyed the beautiful white sand and rows of coconut trees, pine beaches, a sand island namely “Sanggalau,” and enjoyed the clear seawater of Derawan Island by going around the island using a banana boat. In this place, students saw free-living marine biota such as fish, turtles, and others.

On Maratua Island, students had the opportunity to visit Maratua Paradise, enjoyed the clear seawater on Maratua Island, and played and swam with fish. Not only that, students also visited the “Halo Tabung” cave, a cave which is its bottom is filled with brackish water sourced from seawater that seeps through the rocks. Of course, students interacted with residents by visiting one of the villages on Maratua Island called “Bohe Bukut.”

On their way from Maratua Island to Kakaban Island, students saw a convoy of dolphins enthusiastically following their speed boat. Once on Kakaban Island, students enjoyed the fresh coconut water of Kakaban Island, KeheDaing Lake, and Jellyfish Lake. At the Jellyfish Lake, students saw the endemic stingless jellyfish. Not only that, students had the opportunity to feed fish at the Kakaban Island Pier.

The excitement continues on Sangalaki Island, turtle conservation area. Students learned the importance of protecting the environment and saving turtles from extinction. In this place, students had the opportunity to release hundreds of baby turtles from a pile of sand where turtle eggs had previously been buried inside, and then they are quarantined before being released into the wild.

Besides enjoying the beauty of Derawan Island and beyond, this holiday was packed with a fun journey. Throughout the round-trip, students enjoyed the jungle, ravines, and hills. Students also visited “Tugu Equator,” a monument as a mark of the imaginary equator, agro tourism namely “Lassung Babaris”, and a museum namely “Keraton Kesultanan Sambaliung.”

For further information about the BIPA Unmul Program feel free to visit our official instagram at @bipaunmul / https://www.instagram.com/bipaunmul/ and/or our website at https://bipa.oia.unmul.ac.id/. SIB)

INSTAGRAM : https://www.instagram.com/bipaunmul/
WEBSITE : https://bipa.oia.unmul.ac.id/