DIVING

: Diving

Pulau Berhala

Pulau Berhala is a beautiful 5-hectare big rock island in the Malacca Straits. The only people here are the staff pf a navy post and a lighthouse. The sea is clear, but can be influenced by currents, tide and weather. Divers in Medan go here regularly and diving is good except for September to January when the waves are big. It could well be that this island has the best diving in all of North Sumatera. Pulau Berhala is well guarded and poison and bomb fishing do not occur here. The island is hilly and covereed with virgin forest, nice for small treks. There is no formal accommodation on Pulau Berhala, divers normally erect a camp on the beach. Pulau Poncan Gadang Pulau Poncan Gadang is a beautiful island near Sibolga with a nice star rated hotel. The hotel here offers many water sports activities, including diving trips, and a relaxing atmosphere, and a nice view towards the Sibolga waterfront. There is a hill behind the resort with nice views and a Japanese made cave, not yet explored. The drawback is its closeness to Sibolga making the water less inviting. They arrange tours to their island of Pulau Mursala, Pulau Putih, where there are five bungalows. In this resort, diving equipment is available. Pulau-Pulau Batu (Pulau Tello) The dream-like Pulau-Pulau Batu is a very huge area and there is much not yet known about its history and nature. It is extremely beautiful and probably the best place for beach lovers in North Sumatera. One could easily spend two months here just travelling around and enjoying a unique area, seldom visited or even heard about. This archipelago has 101 islands right on the equator. Except for a handful of secretive surfers not many people know the area, not even Indonesians on the mainland. It is very isolated and remote, despite a weekly air connection with Medan (over Gunung Sitoli) and Padang.