Enjoying the Aquatic Experiences of Sabang in Aceh, Indonesia 

By Daniel Rashada Gunawan

GEMS Cambridge International School in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

The journey to Sabang didn’t start at the water’s edge; it began on the open road. Sitting in the car with my family, watching the landscape shift as we drove toward Ulee Lheue Port, there was an unmistakable hum of excitement in the air. 

When we finally pulled into the terminal, surrounded by the crisp smell of salt, we unloaded our bags and found a spot in the crowded waiting area. Sitting on the wooden chairs amidst the chatter of tourists and locals alike, every minute spent waiting made my heart evermore impatient for the signal that it was finally time to board.

While waiting for the announcement, we decided to take a family picture—including my three siblings and my parents. Looking back at it now, I didn’t really express much emotion in the photo, something I readily regretted later on. 

After a while of chatting and laughter, a call finally came through the speakers announcing our boat. My family and I lifted our bags and started walking along the pathway toward the ferry.

Along the way, a uniformed officer stopped us to verify our tickets. Once cleared, we turned and continued walking, the heavy bags already weighing down on my shoulders. After a short walk, we reached the boat. I watched my family members step onboard ahead of me, and when my turn came, I carefully crossed over onto the deck. 

It felt surreal to realize I was quite literally standing above the open water. After adjusting to my surroundings, I looked for my seat, which happened to be right next to my little brother.

As I sat there, I felt the gentle sway of the boat against the water—a rock ocean movement that was surprisingly dizzying. Soon, the engine roared and the boat began to move. Looking out the window, the deep blue ocean and distant scattered islands stretched out before us. Our destination? Sabang.

Arriving & Settling In

After about forty minutes, I was awoken by the sound of chatter around the cabin. It turned out I had fallen asleep during the ride, and we had already arrived at Balohan Port on Sabang—otherwise known as Pulau Weh. Gathering our bags, we headed out into a completely different world, greeted by the thick smell of salt water and the cries of sea birds overhead. I looked around in awe and wondered… what now?

As it turned out, my father had some local connections. He caught up with a friend who was waiting for him at the port, and after a brief chat, my father returned with a rented car. We packed our bags into the back and piled inside. I asked my father, “Where are we going now?” and he replied, “To a hotel—we’re staying there for a day.” With that, he stepped on the gas and hit the winding road.

After an hour of driving, a sudden stop woke me up from another sleep. We had arrived. The hotel was beautiful, surrounded by lush, vibrant nature. I slowly stepped out of the car, still feeling drowsy from the ride. As we unloaded our luggage, a hotel attendant came over, handed us two room keys, and kindly helped carry our bags. The rooms were lovely—spacious, quiet, and wonderfully cool from the air conditioning—but the room itself wasn’t the best part. It was the view.

The hotel was built right along the edge of the sea. The moment you looked outside the window or stepped out for a stroll, you were greeted by a breathtaking panorama of jagged, rocky shores crashing against the turquoise ocean, accompanied by the fresh, cool sea breeze, overall, it was a nice place.

To a Bungalow

After staying a day at that hotel, we packed up and prepared to head to one of our main destinations, where we would go see dolphins and head to Rubiah Island for snorkeling. Naturally, I was quite excited. After packing our luggage into the car and getting in, we drove to a bungalow where we would stay for the night.

After an hour of driving, I was awoken by the excited chatter of my siblings, which made me realize something: I’m quite a heavy sleeper. We had arrived at the resort, where there were many bungalows—some built right on and along the rocky seaside. 

The one we were staying at was right by the water. The interior was quite nice, and there was even a balcony that gave us a view of the beautiful blue sea. The fresh, salty ocean breeze smelled amazing.

After eating and resting for half an hour, we changed into our swimsuits. Why? 

Because we were going for a swim! Once everyone was ready, we walked down to the docks and jumped into the water. The salty water got into my ears, nose, and worst of all, my eyes—I guess there are definitely some cons to swimming in saltwater. I didn’t have full swimming gear, but I did manage to get my hands on a pair of goggles, which at least allowed me to see underwater clearly.

Under the surface were beautiful rock formations, and although there wasn’t a huge amount of marine life, it was still exhilarating. I saw colorful coral, a few crustaceans, and some small fish that I definitely didn’t try to catch and fail miserably at. 

While swimming, however, my foot scraped against a sharp rock. Pain stung through my foot, and I quickly got out of the water, noticing my foot was slashed and bleeding—I guess that’s another con of swimming along rocky shores.

Limping my way back to the bungalow, I quickly took a shower and changed my clothes. I sighed and looked down at my new injury, then asked my mom to put some medicine on it. She applied some kind of cream that stung on contact, but the pain eventually died down after a bit of held-back screaming. Only after everyone had showered and changed did we finally get to sleep.

Rubiah Island

I woke up cheerfully, knowing that we were finally going to see the dolphins and go snorkeling. I changed my clothes and waited for everyone else to get ready. We then went down to the docks and waited for our boat. After a few minutes, the boatman arrived, and we eagerly stepped onto the boat and took our seats. He handed us life vests for safety, and soon another man climbed aboard—our snorkeling guide. 

Anyway, we were off to see the dolphins, and as the boat engine revved up, we blasted off at high speed.

The ocean view was breathtaking—it was a stunning shade of blue, though a bit eerie knowing I couldn’t see through the water. It must be insanely deep, I thought to myself. The boatman asked who wanted to sit on the edge of the boat, so my sister and I took the spot, feeling the ocean waves splash against our feet. 

It was a truly thrilling experience. After I climbed back down, he asked if I wanted to try driving the boat. Wait, drive the boat? What!? was all I could think. I accepted, but I was terrified to my very core.

Already imagining the scenarios that me being the driver could result in, he said it was fine, so I sat in the driver’s seat, shaking a bit, and put my hands on the wheel. He instructed me to go left. I moved the wheel to the left, but it wasn’t moving that way. I turned the wheel even more, and that’s when it finally turned. I learned that I needed to turn it a lot to change directions. 

At first, it was just me being scared, but after getting the hang of it, it turned into an exhilarating experience!

He then took back the wheel and started heading towards our destination, Rubiah Island. After arriving there, I released a sigh of relief, but then I felt like we were forgetting something. 

Oh right, the dolphins! As I was remembering that, my mom had already asked the man riding the boat about them, but he said the dolphins unfortunately didn’t come out today. I was honestly pretty disappointed, but the experiences I had today were fun, so I didn’t really have much to complain about other than the fact that we didn’t get to see what we paid for. But that’s fine, since now we were going snorkeling.

Snorkeling

The guide told us to follow him, and we did. He led us to a seating area and told us to sit down and wait there. After waiting for a few minutes, he came back with swimming gear. He told us not to wear it yet and also handed us some fish bait that we were going to use to attract the fish to us.

He then told us to follow him. As we were walking with him, the scene came to light and we saw it: a lot of people swimming around and laughing. Although I was wondering where the fish were, I assumed there weren’t many. After we were near the shore, he told us to put on the gear he gave us, and we went in. The blue, clear water, and under it? Beautiful, absolutely breathtaking. I was also proven wrong, as there were hundreds of fish in the water. It was wonderful.

In the water, I released some of the bait in my hand, and in an instant, a bunch of fish came. It was honestly quite overwhelming and a bit scary, but in fact, it was the fish that were scared of me. I tried reaching out for them, but they ran away before I could even try catching them. Then someone called out for me—it was the guide.

The guide was also swimming with us. He wanted to take pictures of us underwater, and we agreed. He wanted to take individual pictures of everyone. As I was underwater, I saw him swim further down to take a picture, and he released some bait in front of me to have a picture with the fish included.

After taking my pictures, I was waiting for everyone else’s. While waiting, I decided to actually try to catch a fish. I released some bait and the fish gathered. I tried to catch them, but all of them ran away the moment my hand got close—first failure. I tried again. This time, I put the bait in my hand, a fish got closer, and right at that moment, I quickly tried to catch it—second failure. I was fuming; this time, I was going to be aggressive. I released the bait very close to my hand in order to catch it. A big fish got closer, and I instantly reached my hand out.

Ouch! Instead of catching it, I accidentally poked my finger on its spine. In that moment, I readily gave up.

After everyone took their pictures, we stayed in the water playing around with the fish and swimming. I was in the middle of feeding them when suddenly, a fish bit the hand holding the bait! I let go immediately, and the whole swarm descended on the food, destroying every last bit. 

Hah… these fish were really testing my patience. What’s that saying again? “Bite the hand that feeds you?” Well, there went all my fish bait.

Once our time was up, we swam back to the shore where our guide was waiting. He asked if everyone had fun, and everyone except me shouted “yes!” Honestly, I was still pretty annoyed about what happened earlier—but if I’m being truthful, it really was a blast.

Back Home

It was finally time to head back. The guide told us to follow him to the same boat that brought us here. As we walked, a wave of sadness hit me because the trip was over, but I was also just happy that it happened. We climbed back onto the boat, and he set off toward the bungalow where we were staying.

After taking some more pictures and doing a bit more sightseeing, we arrived. We got off and immediately started packing up, since our boat back was departing in an hour. Once we were done packing, we quickly went back to our car, loaded our luggage into the trunk, got inside, and started driving to Balohan Port.

We arrived at Balohan Port, where the familiar hustle of the ocean and people alike surrounded us. After going through the standard check-in and verification process, we finally boarded the boat and found our seats. As the engine roared to life and the boat began pulling away from the pier, I leaned back and stared out at the receding coastline.

Looking at the open sea, I couldn’t help but reflect on the entire journey. From the thrill of taking the wheel and the disappointment of missing the dolphins, to the sting of the rocky shore and the breathtaking moment of swimming alongside hundreds of fish underwater—it had been a wild, unforgettable ride. 

Every bump along the way only made the trip feel more real, and as the shore faded into the distance, I came into a realization, these beautiful scenes, and clear oceans could disappear in the near future if we don’t properly take care of our oceans, not only that, even the fishes that makes snorkeling fun could disappear in the near future due to recent pollution. 

This trip not only serve as fun, but also shows us the beauty of the very nature that is currently being destroyed right now, this is our responsibility to preserve these things, this is my reflection, and I don’t plan on ever forgetting this trip.