Weh Island (, ) is a small active volcanic island to the northwest of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

in Indonesia, also known as Sabang after the city situated on the northeast end of the island, whose area of includes the whole island as well as several offshore islets. It had a population of 43,527 at the official mid-2023 estimate.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kota Sabang Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1172) It is 45 minutes by fast regular ship or 2 hours by ferry from the mainland port of

Banda Aceh Banda Aceh (; , Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra and has an elevation of 35 metres. The city covers an area of and had a population of 223,446 peopl ...

. It was originally connected to the Sumatran mainland and became separated by sea after the

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

's last eruption in the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

era. The island is situated in the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...

. The island is known for its ecosystem; the Indonesian government has declared of inland and sea around the island as a wildlife protection area. A rare megamouth shark species was found on shore and the island is the only habitat for the threatened toad, '' Duttaphrynus valhallae'' (formerly ''Bufo valhallae'').

Coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

areas around the island are known for their large variety of fish species.

Geography

Weh Island is located in the

, where two groups of islands, the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...

and

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

, are scattered in one line from Sumatra to the north up to the Burma Plate. The Andaman Sea lies on an active moving small

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

(microplate). A complex geological fault system and

volcanic arc islands A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fou ...

have been created along the length of the sea by the movement of the microplate. The island lies about off the northernmost tip of Sumatra. The island is small at only , but mountainous. The highest peak, Cot Kulam, is a fumarolic

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

, high. The last known eruption is estimated to have occurred in the

age, as a result which the mountain partially collapsed and was filled by the sea, forming a separate island. At a depth of , close to Sabang city, underwater fumaroles emerge from the seabed. At Gapang Beach (Gapang is name of a kind of a tree), one hour from Balohan Port to the west, there are also underwater fumaroles which are suitable for diving and are called Hydrothermal Point. A

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and s ...

is found in the jungle. There are three solfatara (

mudpot A mudpot, or mud pool, is a type of acidic hot spring, or fumarole, with limited water. It usually takes the form of a pool of bubbling mud, as a result of the acid and microorganisms decomposing surrounding rock into clay and mud. Description ...

) fields on the island: one is southeast of the summit and the others are and northwest of the summit, on the western shore of Lhok Perialakot bay. There are four

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s surrounding Weh Island: Klah, Rubiah, Seulako, and Rondo. Among those, Rubiah is well known for diving tourism, because of its coral reefs. When traveling to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

was only possible by sea, Rubiah was used as a place of

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

for Indonesian

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s during the Hajj pilgrimage season.

Inhabitants

Weh Island is a part of

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

province. A 1993 census reported 24,700 inhabitants. The large majority of the population are Acehnese and the remaining are Minangkabau, Javanese,

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

and Chinese. It is unknown when the island was first inhabited.

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

is the main religion, as Aceh is a special province where

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

law has been applied exclusively for the province. However, there are some

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

s on the island. They are mostly Javanese, Batak and Chinese. On 26 December 2004, a 9.1–9.3 undersea

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

struck in the Andaman Sea. The

triggered a series of

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s that killed at least 130,000 people in Indonesia alone. The effect on the island was relatively small, but it is unknown how many of its inhabitants were killed by the event.

Economy

The economy on Weh Island was dominated by

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. The main products were

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

s and

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

s. Small-scale fisheries operate in the area, and fishermen have used

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s and

cyanide fishing Cyanide fishing is a specific method of collecting live fish, mainly for use in aquariums, which involves spraying a sodium cyanide mixture into a habitat in order to incapacitate the fish there. This practice affects not only the target populati ...

extensively. Therefore, since 1982, a wildlife protection area (''suaka alam'') has been declared by the Indonesian government that includes inland and of surrounding sea. As of 2021, Sabang city's economy and consequently the island itself has since diversified with much of it being dominated by construction, trading, and service sectors. Each year, 50,000 vessels pass through Malacca Strait. In 2000, the Indonesian government declared Sabang a Free Trade Zone and Free Port, to gain economic benefit by establishing the port as a logistic hub for international vessels passing through the strait. Infrastructures for a deep water harbour, port,

warehousing A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

and refuelling facilities, were developed. Weh Island is served by the Maimun Saleh Airport located in Sabang. Currently there is no airlines serving that airport. Thus, the nearest airport to get into Sabang is the Sultan Iskandarmuda Airport which is located at Banda Aceh. From the airport of Banda Aceh, it's about a half-hour drive to Ulee Lheu, close to the center of Banda Aceh, from where the ferries to Balohan (Pulau Weh's ferry harbour) are leaving. Weh Island is also known for

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

Underwater diving Underwater diving, as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment. It is also often referred to as diving (disambiguation), diving, an ambiguous term with several possible meani ...

, hiking through the volcanic mountain and beach resorts are the main attractions. A small village, Iboih, is known as a location for

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

. A few meters from Iboih is the Rubiah islet that is known for its coral reefs. There are also several dive operators in Gapang.

Ecosystem

During 1997–1999,

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Virginia, in Arlington County, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and co ...

conducted a survey of the coral reef in the area. According to the survey, the coral diversity is relatively low, but fish species variation is rich. Some species found during the survey include '' Pogonoperca ocellata'', '' Chaetodon gardneri'', '' Chaetodon xanthocephalus'', '' Centropyge flavipectoralis'', '' Genicanthus caudovittatus'', '' Halichoeres cosmetus'', '' Stethojulis albovittatus'', '' Scarus enneacanthus'', '' Scarus scaber'' and '' Zebrasoma desjardinii''. 2004 indian ocean earthquake details

On 13 March 2004, a specimen of a rare and unusual species of shark, megamouth shark, was washed ashore on Gapang beach. The megamouth shark has a distinctive large mouth, very short

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...

and is broadly rounded in dorsal view. The specimen is said to be the 21st (some say it is the 23rd) sighting of the species since its discovery in 1976. The male shark, measuring in length and weighing 13.82 kg (30.5 pounds), was frozen and sent to the

Indonesian Institute of Sciences The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (, or LIPI) was the governmental authority for science and research in Indonesia. It consisted of 47 research centers in the fields ranging from social to natural sciences. With the enactment of Presidential D ...

(LIPI) for further scientific study. , there have only been 36 findings of megamouth sharks in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, Indian and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

oceans. The

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...

affected the island's ecosystem. At Iboih village, a large swath of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

was destroyed. Debris from the land was deposited on the nearby reefs as a result of the tsunami. In 2005, about 14,400 mangrove

seedling A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...

s were replanted to save the mangrove forest. Apart from underwater ecosystem, Weh island is the only habitat of one threatened species of

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

, '' Duttaphrynus valhallae'' (formerly ''Bufo valhallae''). The species is only known from the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

from the island. Due to heavy deforestation on the island, the survival of the species is uncertain.

Sabang International Regatta

Sabang International Regatta was held on September 13 to 25, 2011. The participants were expected from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Tourism

Weh Island is a small island and some beaches can be visited in one day only by rental vehicles, because there is no public transport. * Anoi Itam Beach, with its black sandy beach, is a half-hour drive from Balohan Port. For a small fee, a visitor can enter Anoi Itam Resort. * Gapang Beach is from Sabang or a 45-minute drive and is convenient for backpackers with white sandy beach, modest culinary stalls and accommodations. There are several diving resorts. * Iboih Beach, from Gapang Beach is the busiest beach in Weh Island. The white sandy beach itself is only long, with Rubiah Island directly offshore from it.

References

External links

Official site
{{Recreational dive sites, reereg Stratovolcanoes of Indonesia Subduction volcanoes Volcanoes of Sumatra Mountains of Sumatra Underwater diving sites in Indonesia Islands of Aceh Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Islands of the Indian Ocean Populated places in Indonesia