Nothing in my Weh

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For the first time I am planning to go to Asia on a holiday. I have only ever been over there “travelling” before so I would normally not have as many plans but I have spent some time planning this trip to make sure it is maximised. It feels a bit strange doing it this way but I have a job and a flat and all that shizz now so there is no other option.



After an overnight stop in KL we got on a short flight to Banda Aceh with AirAsia. There is an early morning flight and an afternoon flight at present. If you do not want to spend a night in Banda Aceh then you will need to take the morning flight – not that there is anything wrong with BA!



We were lucky enough to meet a girl on the plane who was going to Lumba Lumba dive centre as well and so we followed her. For 30,000 Rp each we got a taxi to the port in Banda Aceh – Ulee lieu. There were 2 options, catch the 2 o clock slow ferry or wait until the 4 o clock fast ferry. If we had been there without our new friend we would have jumped on the slow ferry instead of waiting around. However, she assured us that the slow ferry can take over 2 hours to reach the island and the fast one is often less than 45mins. So we did the maths and waited at the port for the fast ferry – which turned out to be quite a nice ride.



Once arriving at the port we were swept up by one of the many taxi drivers and the three of us were taken to Gapang for 150,000 Rp. This is the standard price for this journey. From what I saw on of the island from the car – it is beautiful. The landscape is dramatic and the roads follow suit. The forest is untouched and covers each peak. The road weaves itself up quite high and the views across the bays and smaller islands are amazing.



It took about 40 minutes to get to Gapang and we were welcomed into a very quiet community along a small stretch of beach hidden within a bay. The backdrop to this bay was a dramatic peaked landscape full of lush forest (where the locals escaped the Tsunami in 2004). The beach was empty and the small sand based road that runs along the front of all the small buildings was also lacking any movement. Lumba Lumba was buzzing though. It looked like the only place that had customers and there was a lot of diving based happenings going on around us.



There was a large main building at the front of Lumba Lumba where all the various diving buildings were located along with some room for seating. Behind this building, disappearing into the forest were a number of different accommodating buildings of various sizes. These are mainly hidden by the gardens that fill the gaps of this resort and ours was tucked way back. We checked in easily, filled in some diving forms and were shown to our cottage. For 30 Euro’s a night we were not disappointed. I don’t think the pictures do it justice but we had a large room with modern appliances, a lovely big bathroom and an amazing veranda looking out over the sea.



Along the front of Gapang is a series of small local restaurants and some cheaper accommodation. It is only about 200 metres long but there are 4 or 5 different restaurants and 3 or 4 different places to stay. The view from here out over the water and into the bay is amazing. The water is so clear and you can pick out many different shades of blue from the transparent turquoise of the front to the deep blue at the back.



There isn’t much of a beach – and for all you beach hunters out there I think this is the case with most of the island (as I was told). The landscape rises sharply out of the water around the whole island so the small coves with little beaches offer a bit of sand but nothing on a large scale. This was fine for us as we love the water and are not into bathing.



We stayed here for 6 nights and this consisted of snorkelling, diving, sunbathing, eating, enjoying the local food and coffee, wondering down the small peer and watching the fisherman, and sitting on our veranda in the evenings with a cold drink listening to the waves crash against the shore and the sounds of the tropical wildlife. It is a very cool place and we could have stayed here for longer.



The owners of Lumba Lumba live on site and are very friendly. They do not have much time for the front house running of the shop but you will see them around. The dive shop itself is very well run and there was a large group of serious divers there during our stay. The shop was mainly full of long termers and we did feel a bit like we were intruding at the beginning, unlike most other dive centres I have spent time at. But after our first couple of dives we settled in well and everyone in the shop is very nice. You do need to be ready for some serious dive chat if you want to hang out at the centre. If dives of today were not being scrutanised then dives of tomorrow were being planned. Some heavy camera equipment was also being thrown around but if you are into all of that then you will love it.



Because I got a bit ill we only managed to do three dives here but they were all very good. The first 2 sites were lacking in natural coral but made up for it with the abundance of marine life, especially at macro level. The third site was one of their most well renowned one – Batee Tokong. This did not disappoint. It is a single pinnacle about 15 minutes from Gapang that rises from about 50 metres. The amount of coral that has developed here is ridic and I have rarely dropped into a dive with more marine life at my feet. The usual suspects – angel fish, butterfly fish, wrasse, travelly, triggerfish, groupers, damsel fish, bait fish etc – were all there but in vast numbers. I have only seen these numbers in Komodo and Borneo and this dive site is definitely in my top 10. We saw 6 black tip reef sharks and just missed out on a passing Eagle Ray, but we were assured that this site can attract some larger species regularly.



The food here is very good. The restaurant next door to Lumba Lumba is basically connected to the resort and the food is delicious. Most people have an Aceh coffee or some food here at some point during the day. The most popular haunt for dinner was Barracudas – at the end of the “strip.” This was a good place to get to know the people at the dive shop, and the lady that cooks the meals makes some amazing food! Because the guests at Lumba Lumba seem to support the whole economy in this small village, they often arrange mass BBQ’s or pizza nights at a variety of the restaurants. We had a BBQ one night at one of the other restaurants and the whole dive shop went for 40,000 Rp each.



We loved this little part of the island and all if the locals here are very nice. Everytime we entered the bay by boat and drifted up to the shore to dock I could not help but just stare at the scenery. What makes this place even nicer (some may disagree depending on what you like) is that it is very quiet. There are a number of big resort type places up the road from Lumba that have been closed down and are completely derelict. The owners at Lumba say that they are government owned and have been closed for a while. The infrastructure there is all in place to collect loads more customers but as they are out of order the only place that really take significant numbers is Lumba Lumba. This makes for a really quiet atmosphere and a good mix of locals and visitors. It wasn’t half as hard to get here as I thought and it was a successful first week of my “holiday.” Highly recommended.

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