Dive Pulau Weh, Aceh, Indonesia

Author: Ben Stokes

After many decades of internal conflict and a devastating tsunami in 2004 the province of Aceh, northern Sumatra, Indonesia finally opens its doors to tourism. With a new airport underway, improved tourist facilities and the very first edition of the Lonely Planet ‘Aceh’ already published the region prepares itself for a new stage in its development of an adventure travel industry.

Aceh is certainly well resourced to sustain an adventure travel industry. Just 1 hr boat ride from the town of Banda Aceh lays the island to dive Pulau Weh, offering world class diving with an abundance of rare indo – pacific marine life. This is the most westerly point of Indonesia. On the island a monument so called ‘kilometer 0’ marks this point and signifies the start of an archipelago that spans through over 17,000 different islands.

Here the reefs have been preserved through fishing laws which are closely adhered to by the local community. The coral life is genuinely pristine and well preserved. Deep oceanic trenches that surround the island bring nutrient rich waters which in turn attract ocean giants such as mantas, whale sharks, mola mola and even the illusive mega mouth shark has been spotted here on more than one occasion. On the fringing reefs that surround the island there’s also an incredible range of macro life, ghost pipefish, leaf fish, star gazers, frog fish and many types of moray. To dive Pulau Weh is certainly a unique experience.

There are also two wrecks. The Sophie Rickmer is 134m long cargo vessel that lies in deep waters just off the township of Sabang. With the straight bow lying at over 50m it does require some decompression procedures but once down you get the chance to meet up with some oversize residents including groupers, morays and sharks. A little shallower at 15m lies the Tug Boat, this is a dive to look for macro life with pipefish, sea horses and scorpion fish not uncommon finds.

The island offers many attractions for those who prefer to stay above the surface, still actively volcanic there’s hot springs to relax in, jungle trails to the high peaks and lots of wild life to see along the way including long tail macaques, monitor lizard and sea eagles.

Pulau Weh is likely to appeal to the adventurous diver, one that likes to step off the path and experience not only pristine diving where few have finned before but also the cultures and traditions of the country they are there to visit.About the Author:

After ten years of worldwide dive travel and professional employment we created a travel company that seeks to enter Asia's most remote and exciting locations for experiences above and below the surface: Dive Safari Asia. For photos, video footage, destination guides and details of our tours visit Diving Asia.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Dive Pulau Weh, Aceh, Indonesia