Kakaban Island

Kakaban Island is an uninhabited island in the Derawan Archipelago, Pulau Derawan District, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is renowned for Kakaban Lake, a large brackish inland lake containing four species of stingless jellyfish isolated from the sea. Formed as an uplifted coral atoll, the island features dense forest, mangroves and limestone cliffs. It is part of a marine conservation area and is accessible only by boat from Derawan or Maratua.

Visitors arrive by speedboat at a wooden jetty and walk via boardwalk and forest trail to Kakaban Lake, the main attraction. The lake allows snorkeling and swimming among thousands of stingless jellyfish in calm, tea-colored brackish water. The island itself is undeveloped with dense tropical forest, mangroves, limestone formations and quiet beaches. There are no hotels or restaurants on the island; visits are typically day trips with guided snorkeling, sightseeing and photography.

Geologically formed as an uplifted coral atoll approximately 2 million years ago, which enclosed seawater and created Kakaban Lake. The isolated lake evolved into a unique brackish ecosystem with endemic stingless jellyfish, making it one of only two jellyfish lakes in Indonesia and among few in the world.