I’ve recently returned from an great trip with friends to Borneo.
After a week diving around Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai and Siamil by liveaboard, we took the public ferry from Tawau in Sabah (Malaysia) to Tarakan in East Kalimantan (Indonesia) where we spent the night. Tarakan isn’t a tourist destination, and the people out there were just the friendliest people ever.
From Tarakan, we travelled 3 1/2 hours by speedboat to Maratua island and spent a week there, diving around Maratua, Sangalaki and Kakaban. Although it was the monsoon season, we had some great encounters.