Hi Bombarie,
U're right, nothing much on their website, but got a forwarded email from a friend below which I think should be useful...
From: Lumba Lumba Diving Centre [mailto:lumba2@aceh.wasantara.net.id]
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 2:17 PM
To:
lumbalumba@scubadiving.com
Subject: Smooth elections, and first foreign diver back in Pulau Weh waters!
Hi to all of you!
And make that a big HI with a very big
for all the excellent news we got
this week:
To start with, on Monday, Indonesia had the first round of the first ever
direct presidential elections in its history. And it has taken place in such
a general smooth and fair way, that we think the country deserves really big
compliments for all the political progress we've witnessed ourselves since
we've opened Lumba Lumba here in '98. (We were in JKT trying to buy our
compressor when the riots broke out that led to Soeharto's fall a week
later!) Of course, for the criticasters amongst us, there's always still
plenty of room to improve, but just take a step back for a moment, and have
a look at the big picture...
Then immediately the day after, we finally got the good news for our small
part of the country, for which we had been waiting for so long; and we got
the last specifics about this confirmed and clarified first hand yesterday
evening from the tourist who arrived and brought us the news himself:
PULAU WEH IS FULLY REOPENED AGAIN FOR FOREIGN TOURISTS!
A simple statement, all true!
And for many of you, probably all the news you need to know as the general
update on Pulau Weh's status.
Plus the best news of it all ;-) ...
WE'RE DIVING TOGETHER TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!!
However, for those of you that plan to come very soon, while "the ink is
still wet", or for those of you that have specific social/work/other visa
situations, please take note of the following, to make sure you know what I
mean with the simple slogan as stated above:
ONLY PULAU WEH...
- "Pulau Weh" (Sabang) has received an exceptional status within Aceh for
foreign tourists to be allowed to visit. The rest of Aceh stays strictly
off-limits, just like before while Aceh was still under Martial Law.
- Because the rest of Aceh remains under explicit restrictions to visit or
even pass through, only one single way to enter and leave is allowed:
by flying from Medan to Banda Aceh, and continuing directly onwards to the
harbour of Ulee Lheue and taking the fast ferry from there to Balohan on
Pulau Weh. So entry over land remains strictly forbidden.
YES! "FULLY" REOPENED
- With this I mean to say that for tourists, NO special permit from Jakarta
is needed anymore. ZIP, ZERO, NOTHING, NADA! For those of you who have been
following the most recent news on
www.lumbalumba.de as well, this "bit" was
the last crucial information we were still waiting for since the 14th of
June. But this Tuesday, the first tourist (British, by the way) was
officially accepted by immigration Banda Aceh, to pass on to Pulau Weh
WITHOUT the more restrictive "blue book" permit from Jakarta!
- So "fully" implies that as the blue book is not need anymore, tourists can
just simply enter through Medan.
- And the news is even better, as it turns out that even in Medan there's
nothing special required to do: just buy an airline ticket and get on a
plane to Banda Aceh (Jatayu 1x or Garuda 2x daily).
- And as there is no special permit needed any more, there's also NO
restricting time limits of such a permit any more!!! That is, apart from the
time restrictions that apply for Indonesia tourists visa in general of
course. So 30 days with Visa On Arrival / 60 days with Visa Indonesian
Overseas Embassies.
- Upon arrival in Banda Aceh, foreign tourists for Pulau Weh are registered
separately from foreigners coming to Aceh for other purposes.
Immigration BA makes a note in the passport, permitting entry to Pulau Weh,
and a copy of the passport is needed for registering at the "Sekretariat
PDSD" (secretary of the Civil Emergency Adm). We advise for everyone coming
in, to have at least one copy of the passport ready for this purpose (the
photo-ID and Indonesian visa page). Plus maybe a spare passport photo, just
in case.
- Upon arrival on Pulau Weh, foreign tourists MUST have their data reported
to the police and Immigration office in Sabang. For divers with limited
time, coming specifically to dive with us at Lumba Lumba, we expect we can
take care of this for you, instead of having to go there personally.
FOR FOREIGN TOURISTS
- Just a remark: Indonesian tourists were never restricted to come to Aceh
or Pulau Weh anyway.
- Please take note that all the above specifically applies for foreigners
visiting Indonesia on a TOURIST VISA, and was clearly accepted for ONLY THIS
VISA SO FAR! But this will do for most of you.
- However, for those of you considering coming on other another visa, I've
added more considerations further below.
HOPE TO SEE MANY OF YOU SOON!!!
Ton & Marjan
___________________________________
LUMBA LUMBA DIVING CENTRE
Gapang Beach, Pulau Weh
PO box 65, Sabang, NAD, Indonesia
Tel/SMS (shop): + 62 811 682787
Tel/SMS (private): + 62 811 682187
Tel/Fax: + 62 652 331133
Website:
www.lumbalumba.com
Mailto:lumba2@aceh.wasantara.net.id
___________________________________
EXTRA CONSIDERATIONS FOR NON-TOURIST VISA HOLDERS
- For other foreign visa holders planning a holiday on Pulau Weh, we still
need to find out more details. So eventhough to our opinion the first
paragraph of the Announcement under Civil Emergency in Aceh (Maklumat no.
04/PDSD-NAD/2004) would apply to anyone with the sole purpose of tourism to
come to Pulau Weh, so also for foreigners staying elsewhere in Indonesia
with a different than a tourist visa, like expats coming here for a dive,
this has not been explicitly accepted by immigration BA so far. It hasn't
been rejected either, or not to our knowledge, it's only that we still need
to make sure before saying it will be OK. As the clear policy repeated now
again and again in Banda Aceh offices is that tourism to Pulau Weh is
allowed, we guess it should be OK as long as it's clear that the foreign
visa holder is coming to Pulau Weh for "just a holiday".
- So for expats/Sosbud visa holders residing elsewhere in Indonesia, and
coming here for a holiday: I expect it will do if we know your name,
passport data and planned day to arrive at Banda Aceh, to get clearance from
Imm. BA for diving in Pulau Weh. But we still have to double check on this!
- For professional visits of any kind, it's clear that still the blue book
from JKT is required.
- For those of you married here locally, and maybe considering to come on a
SosBud visa, unfortunately the Maklumat did NOT mention this status
explicitly at all! And even though you're only planning a holiday visit with
your partner/family to Sabang or Iboih, which we ourselves could all too
easily categorize under purposes of tourism as well, it got also really
clear this week that for immigration BA, social reasons are in a category of
their own (and on grounds of which foreigners can generally get a longer
total time limit than as a tourist, or, more specifically, are even allowed
to visit and stay with family elsewhere in Aceh for example, which can't be
done as a tourist yet), and thus do not fall under the tourism clause. It
also doesn't fall under the clauses for other reasons to visit Aceh, as
covered by the Maklumat, so unfortunately immigration "just" kept its formal
stance as previously under martial law, and still requires the blue book
permit from Jakarta for this type of visa. So in short: for a holiday
visiting your family on Pulau Weh, better stick to the tourist visa.
