A paradiese at the end of the world

Pulau Banyak is for sure one of the most beautiful destinations on Sumatra. The area is surrounded by pristine, white beaches and uninhabited coral islands. You can go for small jungle trips on Pulau Tuangku and Bangkaru, Ujung Lolok on Pulau Tuangku is a great spot for surfing and you can snorkle everywhere around the islands.

With an area of 123 square miles (319 square km), the group lies north of Nias and 18 miles (29 km) west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. 

The islands Pulau Banyak lie within the Aceh Singkil Regency in Aceh Province, and are divided into two districts: Pulau Banyak District and Pulau Banyak Barat District (Western Pulau Banyak). Pulau Balai is the seat of the Pulau Banyak District, and Haloban is the seat of the Pulau Banyak Barat District.

The islands vary in their land cover; most are sandy with limited vegetation, while the larger islands have deep rainforests and are fringed by intertidal mangroves. The fringing coral reefs are habitat to diverse species, including green and leatherback sea turtles, pelagic and coral fish, and varieties of octopus, lobster, and other sealife. The weather is tropical; August to January are the rainy season, followed by a dry season from approximately February to July.

Once if you have arrived to Sumatra, Medan you can take a shared or privat car to Singkil (Contact: Darmawan’s Phone: 0062 (0) 812 8431 4851, 0062 (0) 813 77219667 or Satiman’s Phone: 0062 (0) 822 9410 7162), from where you can reach the islands by boat. There are two villages with accommodation possibilities: Balai and Haloban (see Haloban – Daswan&Reka Homestay) and you will find bungalows on the uninhabited islands around. Sikandang, Tailana and Bangkaru have operated bungalows, on the other islands you can find camping possibilities but for that reason you have to have a contact.

Contact possibilities:

• Daswan’s Phone: 0062 (0) 812 6431 2706
• Reka’s Phone: 0062 (0) 821 6569 9220, Whats App: 0043 676 6490 319
• Email: smile.theworldsmiles@gmail.com
• Satiman’s Phone: 0062 (0) 822 9410 7162
• Satiman’s Email: sberutu@gmail.com

For further information according traveling around Sumatra on general visit Satiman’s homepage: http://www.sumatra-tour.com

Interest of visiting – a list of the best known islands:

• Pulau Tuangku (see Haloban – Daswan&Reka Homestay)

This island is the biggest of Pulau Banyak with three villages called Haloban, the seat of the Pulau Banyak Barat District (Northern End), Ujung Sialit, the Christian village and Suka Makmur. You can search for jungle experiences around Haloban, staying in the South called Ujung Lolok you will find yourself at one if the best surfing spots of Sumatra.

If you prefer to stay in a village in the calm Haloban you will find accommodations. You can use the village as a base for your daily trips around Pulau Banyak.

• Pulau Sikandang (see http://thecoralsikandang.com/tour-island/ and http://banyak-island-bungalow.com)

On Pulau Sikandang you will find a dozen of bungalows. The atmosphere there is great and the surrounding see is just wonderful.

• Pulau Tailana

• Pulau Lamun

This beautiful uninhabited island is very close to Haloban and is the seat of the Telekomsel Tower, which deliver the phone and internet signal for this area.

• Pulau Bangkaru (see Visit Bangkaru)

• Pulau Asok

One of the most beautify spots but indeed it is very difficult to compare the islands and make a ranking. You can do a daily trip from Haloban and enjoy this scenic island like Robinson Crusoe without disturbing by anyone. There is also camping possibility on this incredible beautiful place (for that contact Daswan: 0062 (0) 813 70821060).

Pulau Tailana is one of the stunningly beautiful islands of the remote Pulau Banyak situated about 30km west of Aceh Singkil at the east cost of Sumatra in the Indien Ocean. Pulau Banyak (lot of islands) is a cluster of many mostly uninhabited islands with ginclear waters, white beaches and vast quantities of palm trees.

Tailana’s crystal clear, calm water is home for corals, lobsters and small fishes -the big ones are already on the market. The small tropical island is indeed a great spot for snorkling and relaxing. It belongs for sure to the last Beauties of the world.

 

Tailana means slop oil in the traditional language of this area. Mr. Mali’s ancestors bought the island 1905. He starts to built up  the first three bungalows on his palm tree island after the Tsunami in 2004, in 2013 two new cottages followed, today we have eight.  

 

Daswan, now 33 years old, became the manager of Tailana four years before. Afternoon by afternoon he caught the fishes for his handful guests and prepared the food by himself alà traditional cuisine, so that Tailana became a culinary place. If you don’t like fish, don’t worry, the vegetable dishes are excellent as well but you will (almost) never meet meat on the island.

 

 

Herman started working on the island half a year after Daswan. By daytime he used to cruise around the islands with his guests. It should not happen but anyway if something hurts or we get sick, he knows a medicine.

Not only the Tailana cuisine, which makes the island special, but the music. If we are lucky after dinner Daswan and Herman take their old shabby  guitar and sing heartbreaking songs of the fishermen.

 

Rizki is Daswan’s cousin. He is the youngest in our Tailana-family, he is 19. He arrived this year in June to Tailana and became very fast our right hand.

That is the story, how became Tailana a spot of touristic interest and how our Tailana-family grown.

Time goes by… Tailana is still a spot of touristic interest, but we moved on, our life got changed. (See more above in chapter Haloban – Daswan&Reka Homestay)

• Just relax…

  

• Play volleyball

  

• Kayaking

  

• Snorkling directly around the island or nearby

  

• Fishing

  

• Surfing à la Tailana

  

• Cocking and eating

  

  

• Enjoy the sunset…