Kuraman Island

Kuraman Island (Malay: Pulau Kuraman), is a small tropical island belonging to Malaysia in the South China Sea located off the coast of Federal Territory of Labuan. It is sparsely populated and is popular with expatriates, divers and those who travel between Labuan and Brunei. Its land area measures 147 hectares. Together with the much smaller islands Pulau Rusukan Besar and Pulau Rusukan Kecil it forms the Labuan Marine Park. The old name of Pulau Kuraman is Mompraçem, the island that plays a role in the Sandokan book series.

Kuraman island has two main beaches and is noted for its fishing, large sand spit and pleasant tropical island atmosphere. The interior is forested with a range of timbers and contains cleared paths for jungle walks. In recent years, large storms have contributed to increased erosion resulting in several areas of vegetation and numerous buildings being washed into the sea.

In the surrounding waters off Kuraman there are several known shipwrecks including the Dutch Steamer SS De Klerk and a minesweeper, the USS Salute, both sunk during the Second World War. Kuraman, like the rest of North Borneo, was captured by the Japanese during this period and was liberated by the Australian Army in 1945, although no fighting ever occurred on the island. Two other major shipwrecks can be found in the area: the MV Tung Hwuang, a freighter that sank in the 1980s while transporting cement to Brunei for the Sultan's new palace, and the MV Mabini Padre, a trawler from the Philippines which caught fire and sank in 1981.