Banyak Islands

The Banyak Islands are an archipelago of 63 islands in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra, administratively part of Pulau Banyak District in Aceh Singkil Regency, Aceh Province. Known for white-sand beaches, clear turquoise waters, coral reefs and palm-fringed islets, the group is noted for snorkeling, diving, surfing and sea turtle nesting sites. The main inhabited islands include Pulau Balai, the administrative center, and Pulau Tuangku, the largest island.

Visitors can expect a remote tropical archipelago with scattered low-lying islands, white-sand beaches, clear shallow lagoons and coral reefs. The main hub is Pulau Balai with fishing villages, homestays and boat jetties. Visitors explore by chartered boat, island-hopping between uninhabited islets for swimming, snorkeling and diving on reefs, surfing on outer islands, observing sea turtle nesting areas, and experiencing small coastal communities and palm-lined shorelines.

The islands are part of Aceh Singkil Regency and were significantly affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and the 2005 Nias-Simeulue earthquake, which caused coastal uplift and altered reef and shoreline geography in the archipelago.

Inhabited islands support Acehnese fishing communities with traditional wooden boat building, small fishing villages centered on Pulau Balai, and livelihoods based on fishing and coconut cultivation.