Premium dive resort access to Maratua and Kakaban by seaplane in 2027 is a planning scenario, not a booked service: no operator, aircraft, water-landing site or timetable is documented as of September 2026, so resort managers should treat air arrivals as a readiness project — jetty assessment, permit confirmation, guest-communication timing — layered on top of the proven boat route from Berau.
That distinction matters for two audiences. Resort guests weighing a 2027 trip want to know what is real today versus what might exist by next season. Resort managers want a checklist they can act on now, without promising a service nobody has confirmed.
What Would Change for Maratua and Kakaban Dive Resorts in 2027?
Today, every dive resort in the archipelago is a boat-access property. Guests fly into Kalimarau Airport (BEJ) in Teluk Bayur district, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan — the airport a 2019 Liputan6 report already named as the tourism gateway to Derawan, Maratua, Kakaban and Sangalaki — then transfer by road and speedboat.
A seaplane scenario for 2027 would not replace that route. It would sit alongside it, most plausibly for guests willing to pay a premium for a faster or more scenic arrival. Coordinating that kind of trip — arranging seaplane charter for dive resorts as a private add-on rather than a scheduled service — is the kind of planning conversation resorts and travel desks are already having, even though nothing is confirmed publicly.
Three things would need to align before that becomes real: a named operator willing to fly the route, authority permits for a water landing near a resort, and a jetty or landing point a resort has actually assessed for safety. As of September 2026, none of the three is documented.
Why Is Maratua Positioned as the Premium Gateway in This Planning Window?
Maratua already holds a structural advantage the other three islands do not: it is the only island in the group with an airstrip, served by Wings Air twice weekly. Derawan, Kakaban and Sangalaki have no airport at all and are reached only by boat.
That existing air link is one reason Maratua keeps surfacing in premium-positioning conversations. Authorities have cited a visitor target of about 30,000 for Maratua in 2026, and a 2026 famtrip specifically targeted dive centres in Malaysia and Singapore — both signals that the island is being marketed upmarket to a regional dive audience, not just domestic weekend travellers.
None of that confirms a seaplane program. It confirms that Maratua is the island where infrastructure conversations are furthest along, which is why any 2027 seaplane scenario would most plausibly start there before extending toward Kakaban’s lake or Sangalaki’s manta sites.
What Do the 2026 Waste-Management Upgrades Signal for Resorts?
Berau’s local administration has been upgrading waste systems on the islands with tourism goals attached, according to regional reporting through 2026. For a resort manager, that detail is worth more than it looks.
Waste and water infrastructure upgrades are usually a leading indicator of broader tourism-capacity planning — the kind of groundwork that tends to precede, not follow, bigger visitor-access announcements. It does not mean a seaplane program is coming. It means the regency is investing in the basics a higher-volume 2027 season would require regardless of how guests arrive.
Resorts already dealing with waste logistics on a remote island should read this as local government aligning with the same growth trajectory the Maratua visitor target implies — useful context when a resort is deciding whether to invest in its own 2027 readiness now or wait for confirmation.
How Might Resorts Prepare Jetties and Arrival Points for Air Arrivals?
Green Nirvana Resort has stated publicly that the archipelago is reachable “by boat or small airplane” once guests land at BEJ — language that confirms small-aircraft arrivals happen in practice, but names no seaplane operator, no water aerodrome and no government approval specific to a water landing. That is the honest ceiling of what is documented today.
A resort weighing 2027 readiness is really asking a jetty question, not a seaplane question: does the property have a landing or mooring point that could handle a different kind of arrival, and has anyone with authority actually looked at it. Below is the set of questions worth working through before a resort says anything to guests about air access next year.
| Readiness question | Why it matters | Status as of September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Does a licensed operator fly, or plan to fly, Berau to Derawan/Maratua/Kakaban by seaplane? | No named operator exists in public records | Not documented |
| Is there a designated water-landing site or water aerodrome near the resort? | Determines whether a landing is even physically permitted | Not documented |
| Has the resort’s jetty been assessed for a different arrival type? | Structural and depth requirements differ from boat docking | Resort-specific, not publicly reported |
| What authority (aviation, marine, regional) would need to approve a water landing? | Multiple permits likely apply; none are confirmed | Subject to operator approval, authority permits and conditions |
| Is pricing for any seaplane route fixed or quote-on-request? | No seaplane charter price for Berau routes is verified anywhere | Quote-on-request only |
Until those cells move from “not documented” to a named answer, the safest operational stance for a resort is to keep boat transfer as the guaranteed option and describe any seaplane arrival as arranged case by case.
What Should Resort Managers Watch Before Committing to 2027 Plans?
Guest-facing marketing is where resorts most often get ahead of the facts. A page or brochure that implies a scheduled seaplane service to Maratua or Kakaban in 2027 creates a promise nobody in the supply chain has made yet.
The more defensible approach is milestone-based: track what becomes public, and update guest communication only when something is actually confirmed rather than anticipated. The table below lays out the milestones worth watching, without assigning dates to events that have not happened.
| Milestone | What would confirm it | Current state |
|---|---|---|
| Named seaplane operator for Berau routes | Public announcement or licensing record | Not yet observed |
| Confirmed water-landing site or aerodrome | Government or aviation authority documentation | Not yet observed |
| Resort jetty assessed for air arrivals | Site survey by operator or authority | Resort-dependent, undocumented publicly |
| Published seaplane pricing for Berau–Derawan/Maratua | Rate sheet from a named operator | Not available; existing benchmarks are boat and phinisi charter only |
| 2027 visitor target or capacity plan beyond Maratua’s ~30,000 (2026) | Regional government statement | Not yet published |
A resort that tracks these five items has a factual basis for updating its 2027 marketing the moment something changes, instead of guessing ahead of the regency’s own announcements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a confirmed seaplane schedule to Maratua or Kakaban for 2027?
No. As of September 2026, no public 2027 seaplane timetable or water-landing scheme for the Derawan archipelago has been documented anywhere. Wings Air’s twice-weekly service to Maratua’s airstrip is the only scheduled air link on record. Any seaplane arrival should be treated as a planning scenario a resort discusses directly with its transfer coordinator, not a booked service.
Can a dive resort in Kakaban receive seaplane guests directly, since the island has no airport?
Not as documented today. Kakaban has no airport and is reached by boat, typically about one hour by speedboat from Derawan or roughly two hours from Tanjung Redeb harbour. Any water landing near Kakaban would depend on operator approval, authority permits and site conditions that are not published as of September 2026 — resorts should plan boat transfers as the reliable baseline.
What should a resort manager ask a transfer coordinator before promoting 2027 seaplane access to guests?
Ask whether a specific operator, aircraft type and permit status exist for the route, whether a jetty or water-landing point has been assessed near the property, and whether pricing is confirmed or quote-on-request. Until those answers are documented, resorts are better positioned describing 2027 seaplane access as being explored rather than promising it in guest communications.