Marine life
Pulau Weh is a charming little tourist island located at the north of Sumatra, off Banda Aceh. To get a ferry from Banda Aceh connects the island twice a day. Pulau Weh A change of scenery is total thanks to the many small picturesque villages, with long winding roads to its preserved nature, with its beautiful beaches and of course its beautiful funds submarines. This island however still retains some scars of the tsunami in 2004 on the surface and underwater. Pulau Weh will delight demanding divers offering many technical sites such as the wreck of Sophie very deep or “Shark plateau” exposed to strong currents but also appeal to novices offering rich fish and seabed.
When to go diving in Pulau Weh?
The dry season is the best time to go diving in Indonesia. It lasts months from April to October and offers better visibility for divers.
Scuba diving conditions
Visibility: Around the island of Pulau Weh, visibility is usually excellent with over 20 meters of average. However this can vary slightly between the dry season and the rainy season.
Current: As well tell you right now, the current in Pulau Weh can be confusing for inexperienced divers. Some sites require to attach a hook to see the ballet of sharks or ensure the safety stops.
Difficulty: No worries for beginners, many dive sites protected exist to go perform a baptism or pass the first level. For divers with experience, Pulau Weh should prove an interesting challenge.
The water temperature is around 28 °, but may nevertheless vary from 26 ° to 31 °.
What to see while diving and snorkeling?
To see the large pelagic, Pulau Weh is a fantastic diving destination:
Many sharks can be seen around Pulau Weh, but their number is decreasing due to illegal fishing. You will still have very strong chance to see some of them in the dive site “Shark Plateau” and “Canyons”.
You can observe many types of rays as eagle rays, devil rays,manta rays,stingrays and even torpedo rays …
The giant Mola Mola follow the cold current and can be spotted during the winter season.
Sea turtles are common on the reefs, it is not rare to see specimens of very large sizes.
Finally, you will likely see tunas, barracudas, kingfishs, moray eels or groupers.
Macrophotographer will also find this diving destination interesting. They will take beautiful pictures of colored nudibranchs and amazing tiny species.
Reefs are covered with hard and soft corals but also with giant barrel sponges and large sea fans.
