Surfing

Lagundi and Sorake (Nias)

Tourism in Nias started because of surfing. Australian surfers discovered the famous Lagundi/Sorake wave in 1960s. Lagundi became World famous for its long and perfect wave. International competitions have been held regularly since 1993. For those who never have tried surfing there are surf instructors available. There is a nice surf observation tower in front of Dolin's. Boards for rent are available in several places. here are also board repair facilities in Sorake.

The best surfing season is normally June-July, sometimes until October. During this season the surfing is further out and surfers access through a passage in the reef called "the keyhole". Outside high season there are also times with the extra big waves, for example around days near full moon. In other months the surfing is normally done in front of the observation tower. These months are good for beginners and learners. The surf called "The Point" or "Sorake Wave" is in front of the observation tower. It is a right hand surf with long, perfect waves with very barrels. It is easy to paddle out through the natural channel, the Keyhole. In high season he waves are 6-14 feet high. "The Indicator", in front of Tolong Menolong is dangerous right hand surf breaking directly on the reef at low tide. It is suitable only for very experienced people and only at high tide. The waves are 4-6 feet high. "The Machine" fas iside the Bay has a left hand surf. If Sorake Wave is big, the Machine is also big. The waves are 4-6 feet high and only suitable at high tide. "Sobatu" (also called Deep Jungle Open) is a right hand surf with waves up to 15-16 feet breaking directly on the reef. It is only suitable at high tide and only for very experienced surfers. Pantai Walohiu has also surfing. Hilisataro and Hiliduha (one beach with two names) 10 km to the northeast of Teluk Dalam has both left hand and right hand surf. At most they become 4 feet high. The location is not hard to find, but using a surfing guide can be good idea.
Pulau Asu and Pulau Bawa

Pulau Asu and Pulau Bawa are popular among surfers and are unknown to have the biggest waves in Nias, even though the waves are not as perfect as in Lagundi. The surfing season is normally between half April and the end of October. Asu has a left hand surf and Bawa right hand surf. The surfing is good in Asu when the winds come from the south and the west. In Bawa it is the opposite, i.e good when the winds come from North. The waves are tall, up to 15 feet. The waters are rather shallow and dangerous. Out of season the waves are small and less dangerous. The waves are intense and many surfboards have been consumed here. There are no surfboards for rent, except a few odd ones.

Pantai Afulu

Afulu is yet another secret surfing spots. There are good left hand side reef breaks, near Pantai Afulu, app 1 km from Darius' accommodation in Afulu. The best season is probably March-April. The beach Pantai Afulu is very nice. It is only a 200m walk from the only accommodation in Afulu. The surfing is at one end of this beach.

Pantai Walohiu

Walohiu is a beach northwest of Sorake on the other side of the peninsula. It is a beach of the same type as Pantai Lagundi. The beach is protected in a bay and the water is calm. At the western end is a small river flowing out. The sand beach continuous beyond and around the point. Outside this point is left-hand surf with waves of at most 5 feet high, when the wind comes from the sea. The beach is very quiet and only few people come here.

Pulau-pulau Batu

When asking surfers who have been to Pulau-pulau Batu if the surfing there is good or not, they say it is bad, but they do come back and they say for a long time! Places normally visited by surfers are: Pulau Sibolo, its west coast, Pulau Sibaranun, its southern end and its west coast, Pulau Sipika, its southern point, Pulau Makele, its southern point, Ujung Duru, southern Tanah Bala, Tanjung Tanemukinu, southern end of Tanah Bala, Ujung Hati southern end of Tanah Bala. Best surfing is from May/June to Sepetember, during the western season. In January to May there are not many good waves for surfing. There are no surfboards for rent so you would have to bring your own.

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.

Kayaking

Sungai Asahan is according to professional rafters one of the best rivers for white water sports in the world and maybe the most beautiful of them all. Asahan is a tough rafting river. The dams of PT. Inalum make the water flow constant, app. 100-130 cubic meters per second. The part used for rafting have been graded to 3-4. the other parts are very dangerous. Rivers are normally graded on a scale from 1-6 where grade 1 is moving water and grade 6 is extremely high risk. Grade 4 is the highest acceptable for commercial rafting. The Asahan river was discovered as a rafting river in the beginning of the 1990ies, however not yet known by many. Asahan is a firsty class river for experienced kayakckers, but maybe too wild for commercial kayaking.

Sungai Asahan is very big and flows fast. The rafting area starts three kilometers above teh bridge in Parhitean. This bridge is called "The Zero Point". The rafting ends in Bandar Pulau over 30 kilometes downstream. The scenery in itself is well worth the money. The partly flows through narrow canyon where small streams fall into the main river. The jungles along the river are rich in wildlife and if you are lucky you will Siamang and other monkeys, Hornbills, Rusa deer, Barking deer and wild boar. Locals claim that there even are a few tigers in the forest. Some kilometers below Hula-huli the river goes through a very steep and narrow canyon., the so-called "Honeymoon Canyon". There is a powerful drop in this canyon. "he Honeymoon Canyon", making commercial runs through it impossible.

There are three alternative stretches for rafting. The first part, called "The Upper Run", starts below the dam of the Inalum plant and ends at the bridge in Parhitean, 3 km down-river. It is a 20 minutes continuous white water stretch graded 4-5. It is not recommended for others than advanced to expert paddlers. The second part, called "The Hula-huli Run", starts at the bridge and goes down to Hula-huli 2 km downstream. It takes 20 minutes. It is graded 3-4. The third stretch, called "The Lower Run" starts in the end of the "Honeymoon Canyon" near Batu Mamak and goes all eh through incredibly beautiful canyons. The stretch has 2 long rapids and some shorter ones, graded 3-4. The starting pint can only be reached by walking 30 minutes. This walk leads through the jungle and via a narrow suspension bridge over the river. An alternative is to raft only the first 7 km with 2 rapids, which takes 1.5 hours. The Lower Run offers time to see the abundence of birds and monkeys alongside the beautiful jungle. Between the end of the Hula-huli run and the entry to the Honeymoon Canyon is so-called "Nightmare", a drop of 3-4 meters with a water speed of 40-50 km/hr. It is graded 6.The "Shit Creek", grade 3, is where the small river Ais Kuais enters Sungai Asahan. There is small waterfall and a nice clear pool in this area.


B a h o r o k
The river Sungai Bahorok that flows through Bukit Lawang is not big enough for rafting, but good enough for kayaking. However there are other more suitable rivers for this, there are several organizers of rafting in Bukit Lawang. Most rafting is done on Sungai Wampu. The lower part from Bukit Lawang down to Bahorok (grade 2-3) is an easy rafting nice to beginners. The first 30 minutes of the stretch has several easy rapids, nice surroundings and also a hot spring. The upper part of Sungai Wampu is in Karo land and there the river is called Lau Liang. The river goes through a deep canyon leading up to a big waterfall. The river is called Lau Liang ("Dog River"), as only a dog can survive it. This part of the river is not used for rafting though. Rafting in Lau Liang is normally done on a 3-day trip, of which 2 days are spent on the river. The rafting starts in Bintang Meriah and ends in Lemang, before the fall.
A one-day river rafting can be arranged on the river Lau Biang. The run starts in Bintang Meriah and last for 8 hours to Desa Liman. The river flows through orchards and not virgin rain forest. A longer combined rafting-trekking-jeep safari tour lasts for three days and brings you to Bohorok National Park. A part of the distance is traversed with 4-wheel drive cars along very bad roads. You will sleep in tents in the forest.