Pulau Weh and Pulau Weh Dive resort

[superdiver18]

Enterily agree with Angel61, I've done 10 dives with Iboih dive center, it cost me 18€/dive with equipment renting and the divemasters where amazing. I personnaly recomend Mur, that guy knows the current over there. I had a lot of funs diving whith him. The current is challenging for sure but isn't it what we're looking for ;-)

 

[Maverick17]

I'm still fairly new to diving, and thought I read that currents at P. Weh were not too bad. Is it too tough for a novice with around 25 - 30 dives? (I do realize that's a bit vague. I guess I'm looking for some intermediate diving, and wondering if that is possible at P. Weh.)

 

[TwoBitTxn]

TwoBit of all the destinations in Indo that you could have chosen, why P Weh??

We had booked the trip as a Thailand Aggressor trip originally. The owners were getting less than stellar trip reports about the itinerary they run in July (when we booked our trip) so they decided to move the boat for that month to P. Weh. We tend to book our Aggressor trips a couple years in advance, so we got to see all the challenges this boat had with the Indonesian government.

We had never heard of P. Weh before Aggressor said that was where the boat was going to be the week we had booked it. We are both pretty flexible, so we just rolled with it. Glad we did.

Current and new divers: There are dive sites where the currents are very manageable and totally suitable for a new diver. There are some sites that the currents are pretty challenging. Let your DM know what you want to do and he will plan accordingly. There are between 20 and 30 dive sites around the whole island. Some sites are definitely worth doing more than once.
There is a dive site called Canyons. Really cool site. Very current dependent. The currents developed a pattern that it was pretty slack in the morning and as the morning wore on, the current picked up. All the dive shops figured this out. They all ran out there EARLY. We were closest so we got there first and had the site to ourselves.

A day or so later we planned on doing it again and called it when we got there. We went back and did another site that most of the time has some kicking currents. This time it didn't. It was a really nice dive.

Just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Angel61]

I totally agree with Superdiver18, Mur is really a good guide and very safety conscious. If the current is too strong at the spot then he will go to another where there is less current.
He told us, in terms of currents the best with the least current is 5 days either side of a new or full moon.

Maverick17, when we went to Pulau Weh in March, like you, I only had about 20 dives under my belt. If you dive with Mur, he will make sure you are always safe. I am speaking from experience But then it's not just Mur, it's also Ampon, the other Dive Master who is very good.
All in all, we had a fabulous time, hence while we are going back in 3 weeks.

 

[Maverick17]

Thanks for the advice. I'm hoping to take advantage of the good diving nearby, but feeling I was not ready for something like Komodo yet, so was hoping this would be somewhat challenging but not irresponsible for me. I appreciate the thoughts, and always let my shop/guide know my level.

 

[kassj0peja]

I stayed on Pulau Weh for a few months. Some of the dive sites are definately very good but can be quite challenging (down currents, washing machine). Even though corals are healthy it is not very colorful because of the lack of soft corals. Seafans are extraordinary though. Visibility can be really bad but also extremely good. It offers a great combination of everything. Wrecks, macro, big fish (including Mola Mola, Hammerheads, rays, reef sharks), schools of fish, rare stuff like electric rays but also beautiful uw topography. Shore diving is not good. Unfortunately I never made it to Rondo Island (Rubia Tirta Divers go there if fully booked) but if you happen to dive in Pulau Weh dont miss The Canyon, Pantee Peunateung and Batee Tokong. Accomodation and dive shops can be found on Gapang Beach (Lumba Lumba, Monster Divers), Iboih & Long Beach (local diveshops and Pulau Weh Resort) and on the west coast The Pade Dive Resort. The island itself is beautiful. There is a new direct flight from JKT to Pulau Weh or the more common way to get there is to Banda Aceh from KUL or SGP. Diving is as good as the best dive sites in Thailand with the advantage that the dive sites in Pulau Weh are reachable within a few minutes by boat.

 

[Bubble Junky]

I'd recommend staying at Lumba Lumba as the house reef, directly in front of the shop, is great. I have seen mimics, rhinopias, mantas, eagle rays, seahorses, frogfish etc, etc, here... The house reef is an easy, current-free dive too, and the perfect place fior your first dive on Weh...