Pulau Weh (Sabang) Indonesia

My wife and I are planning a SE Asia sojourn this August/September.

We'll be in Malaysia and are keen to drop in on Pulau Weh.

Has anybody visited? Any recommendations on operators, accommodation, sites?

Options I've found so far include

Rubiah Tirta Divers - (http://rubiahdivers.com)

Lamba Lamba - Dutch-run (http://www.lumbalumba.com)

Steffen Sea Sports - newer Malaysian-run venture, some reports of dodgy gear, others of nice new hire kit (http://www.steffen-sea-sports.com)

I'd be really keen to hear member's personal experiences, particularly on camera friendliness, professionalism and hire gear.

I've emailed all operators to hear their perspective.

I understand it is now possible to get a visa on arrival at Bandah Aceh airport, so that makes it a little easier.

Thanks in anticipation.

I stayed at Lumba Lumba several years ago. The rooms were nice and spacious. It wasn't the most camera friendly place, but not problematic either. Basically, they just had a couple of rinse tanks, and I took my camera gear back to my room for cleaning/maintenance.

I didn't rent any gear, but they seemed to have plenty of it. The management was friendly and competent. Sorry, I don't remember a thing about the DM's.

At the time of my visit, there wasn't a restaurant at the resort. There were 3 or 4 decent places to eat along the beach, but don't expect too much.

According to management, the best month for BIG stuff is July, so you should probably leave asap. My trip was in November, so I probably missed out on a lot of the mantas/sharks/etc. Anyway, there were a few nice sites for wide angle, but the rest of the dives were dominated by rocky terrain. If you like eels, you'll be in heaven. The best macro site was the house reef. It was worth repeating.

Cheers,

David

Hey Thanks David for your insights.

It sounds like you enjoyed yourself. Good to have a personal endorsement of Lumba too. We were leaning in that direction.

Are you saying the rocky terrain is unsuitable for wide angle?

Thanks for the house reef tip.

Cheers,

Anthony.

i have been working on Pulau weh previously and agree with david: Don't miss out the housereef on Lumba Lumba. lot's of macro stuff.

other places to see are batee tokong, the canoyn and pante peunateung. lots of seafans and coral + schooling fish.

Lumba Lumba and Rubiah Tirta are the two Shops one could recommend. But Lumba Lumba has the better house reef and the owner couple did a fantastic job to make the dive shop a nice place ... it is a little bit like an athmospheric Guest House

have fun there,

serge

Here's a trip report I put together (with some photos) from when I visited in 2008, staying at Iboih beach, diving with Rubia Tirta Divers - I had a great time with them!

Pulau Weh trip report

Thanks for your fascinating trip report Bora. Sounds like you had a great time. I appreciate your insights.

Serge - you've left the Maldives! Hope Lembeh is treating you well. Seems like half of WP have converged there Thanks for the info on the house reef - that might be a clincher for us.

I've been at Lumba Lumba twice last year (July 1 week, December 2 weeks).

As people have pointed out, they have an awesome house reef, where you can potter around for 2h per dive if you want to (thats usually when my air runs out). Ask for the instructor Sunny, he'a P&S photographer and knows the reefs and all it fish (thumbsizeed frog fishs for instance) inside out. They have a few "more luxurious" bungalows, and a new built complex with cheaper rooms. If you get the bigger rooms, they all have big mandis to rinse and test your cameras in if you want to. Lots of electricity plugs (220v european style).

The indonesians DMs on the boat are great too, and have been diving there for I don't know how many years.

/Björn

Thanks so much for the tips Björn - really appreciate it.