Sumatra diving

[Timontour]

We are diving our way around south east asia at the moment, and are thinking about going down to Sumatra, but have very little information at the moment. Does anyone have any useful info about where to go, how to get there etc.? All help appreciated. Thanks.

 

[buksida]

I'd say the best place to go on Sumatra is Pulau Weh at the very northern tip of the island near Bandar Aceh, theres more info here:

http://www.asiadivesite.com/indonesia-dive-sites/sumatra/

 

[bondasik]

huaahh, flying to pulau Weh this friday, wanna joint me ???????
Yooo Timontour, need to trade some info regarding diving in visaya,,, will travel there in next 4 weeks. Indonesia is just amazeee, already stayed here for 3 weeks..and lots of place to go but just a little timee i've got..lol....

Cheersss

 

[jcclink]

Banda Aceh = tsunami.......... Can't imagine there is much left in that area . Might be best to consider another area. East side of Sumatra away from storm damage.

 

[davidlkh]

East side of Sumatra makes it Straits of Malacca! Not sure what you will see with all that polution and murky water.

Having said that, you have Langkawi and Pangkor, Malaysia side.

In terms of Weh the shallow house reef I guess would be ruined. I also read a few papers on the underwater landscape in Weh after the tsunami confirming this.

However, there are also very deep water reefs, I imagine those to be OK. Have not been there after the tsunami, was there way before it and way before the travel restriction to Aceh. I believe Lumba Lumba are still in operation on Weh in Gapang Beach.

http://www.lumbalumba.de/

There is also Sibolga and Nias on West side of Sumatra. Not sure if they are still operational after two major quakes, have not heard anything from those guys. The reefs in those areas are shallow so might not have survived the tsunami. Then again, they have reef all round the island, so the exposed ones would be ruined and the protected side would be OK.

Sibolga Marine Resort
http://www.leonardygunawan.com/Showcase/SibolgaMarina-PONCAN/

 

[Timontour]

huaahh, flying to pulau Weh this friday, wanna joint me ???????
Yooo Timontour, need to trade some info regarding diving in visaya,,, will travel there in next 4 weeks. Indonesia is just amazeee, already stayed here for 3 weeks..and lots of place to go but just a little timee i've got..lol....

Cheersss

Hey Bondasik, Have just come back from a fantastic week on Pulau Weh. It is totally awesome there, so hope you have/are having a great time. Diving is totally unaffected by tsunami and ranks up there with the best I've done. Dived with Lumba-lumba out of Gapang Beach - excellent, friendly operation run by dutch couple Ton and Marjan. If you like strong currents this is the place to be! For anyone else thinking about going there - do it! Hardly anyone (apart from NGO's at the weekend) is diving there, and we need to be supporting these people as they've had some pretty rough times recently. No special passes are need for Aceh anymore so no excuses!

Bondasik, where are you thinking of going in the Philippines? I spent 3 months on Malapascua which I loved (Thresher sharks, great Macro, nice wreck) and also dived in Moalboal, Coron, Apo Island. Let me know if you want details, dive shops etc.

Cheers to everyone for other info on sumatra,

Tim