I would arrange everything in advance with Adi or Claudine. Claudine speaks English natively, so she can help with that. And then during the trip with Adi, if you need anything else, you can use the Google Translate app to talk to him. I like to download the Indonesian language so it works even if I’m offline.

Some places where we saw mostly good coral were Belitung, Misool, Sombori, etc.

Hi, there’s a 9 hour ferry from Gunung Sitoli (Nias) to Singkil (Sumatra) that goes there and back twice a week. And then you can take one of the boats from Singkil to Pulau Banyak.

You probably wouldn’t save much (if any) time by doing that instead of driving from Medan, but it could be a good option if you’re wanting to visit Nias and the Banyaks in the same trip.

Here’s a timetable for the ferry, courtesy of Claudine from Palambak Island Resort: https://theworldtravelguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Nias-Singkil-Ferry-Timetable-08-2024.jpg

That sounds like a great trip! We haven’t done Pulau Weh yet, but maybe next time we’re in Sumatra. I’m sure you’d enjoy Belitung too if it’s not already on your list. Good luck!

Hi! That’s exactly when we were there. We went in late December and stayed until early January. It was a very different way to ring in the New Year. Very relaxing though. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of difference between dry and rainy seasons here. At least in our experience, the rain was usually at night. During the day it was sometimes cloudy, but plenty of sun overall. Good luck!