Derawan & Sangalaki · Indonesia · Channel & pass · Wall
Big Fish Country (Maratua)
Hook in on the channel edge and let the current run
Area photo: Fahrian44 · CC BY-SA 4.0
One of the most popular dive sites on the Maratua atoll: a channel that turns into a wall at 26 m, seven minutes by boat northeast of the Nabucco Islands. It is dived deliberately on moving water, since the best time to be in it is when the current is strong, and a reef hook is required rather than optional.
Where it is and how deep
2.2564° N, 118.6430° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site is a channel through the Maratua rim, and at 26 m it turns into a wall. It is one of the most popular dives on the atoll and the whole plan is built around the current: the best time to dive it is when the flow is strong, not at slack, because the water pushing through the channel is what makes the dive. A reef hook is required, so it is rigged and to hand before you go in rather than fished out of a pocket at depth.
Maratua is a C-shaped island with more than twenty named dive sites strung along its outer edge, all steep slopes and deep vertical drop-offs exposed to strong currents. The fish that school along that edge include barracuda, rainbow runners, snapper, trevally and surgeonfish, together with dogtooth tuna, Spanish mackerel and giant groupers, and whale sharks and thresher sharks turn up for lucky divers.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Derawan & Sangalaki: April–October dry season gives the clearest water and most reliable manta encounters at Sangalaki.
Know before you go
- The site is dived in strong current and a reef hook is required: anyone not hooked in on the channel edge is carried straight through and off the site.
Dive videos
The Channel. II. Big fish country. Maratua, Indonesia. Barracuda vortex and a whale shark · Gdiver on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Big Fish Country?+
The channel runs down to 26 m, which is where it turns into a wall and drops away below. That transition is the only depth published for the site; most of the dive is spent hooked in on the channel edge rather than deep.
Sources
- Big Fish Country dive site — Scubago
- Diving Sites Sangalaki Island, Indonesia — Dive The World
In The Logbook
- When is slack water? Tides for diversOcean science · 7 min read
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