Surfing and Stone Jumping in Teluk Dalam
Vincencia Dian
April 04, 2016
7 Comments
It’s been 6 months since I moved back to Nias Island and I
haven’t set foot in Teluk Dalam, yet. It’s a little weird since Teluk Dalam is
just 2 hours drive from Gunungsitoli and my big family are all there. And after
months of wishing to visit Teluk Dalam again, finally my officemates and I
decided to spend Saturday there. How exciting!
How to Get There
Teluk Dalam is the capital city of South Nias Regency. It’s
well known for some tourism spots that are so interesting, both the culture and
the nature. It takes only 2-3 hours drive from Binaka Airport or Gunungsitoli
to Teluk Dalam. For first timer, it’s not difficult to find rented cars or
public transportation to get there, you can easily find it either at the
airport, seaport or bus station. Rented cars are usually around Rp 400.000,- to
Rp 600.000,- per day including driver and if you’re traveling alone, you can
use public transportation and it’s only Rp 50.000,- each person.
Getting to Teluk Dalam was not a hard work at all. The road
was smooth and it bends along the sea shore on the left side and forest on the
right side . The best time to start the trip to Teluk Dalam is just exactly
before dawn so that you can still witness sunrise at Laowomaru Beach. The beach
is located in a foothill which is covered with so many vegetations such as
coconut and pine trees. There’s a cave inside of the hill namely Laowomaru Cave
(Gua Laowomaru), this cave is famous for its myth. There’s not much to see as
we passed the outskirt of Gunungsitoli, there were only houses on both side of
the road. Beautiful scenery came to view again as we got closer to Teluk Dalam.
Then the real tour began.
Genasi
Genasi is usually a pitstop for those who are in the middle
of the trip from Gunungsitoli to Teluk Dalam. It’s located in a foothill where
you can see a picturesque scenery of the sea. There’s no sandy beach, people
can only admire the beauty of Genasi from the huts on the street side up above
the sea level. The water is so crystal clear on a sunny day, people can see
right to the bottom of the sea. It’s also so calm, not wavy at all so, the view
from above is more like a lake than a sea. After spending a moment, letting
ourselves mesmerized by the great scenery of Genasi, we continued driving to
Teluk Dalam. The road was a bit bumpy from there to downtown.
Lagundri and Sorake Beach
Lagundri and Sorake Beach is two tourism sites located next
to each other. Lagundri Beach is a great place to play and lay around with
friends or family since the beach is vast and the sand is white and soft. The
wave is also not too big, so it’s relatively safe to play in the water. Coconut
trees and other vegetations make the area so shady and windy. Since this place
is located in a bay, the land bends along the sea shore, thus people can see
the other side of the land especially the highlands.
Sorake Beach is a paradise for surfers. As we entered the
area of this beach, we found many motels or bed and breakfast on the left and
right side of the street. It’s like entering a tourist village. Each motel
usually provides surfer boards for rent, so for those who want to try surfing
but don’t have the surfer board, worry not :)
The beach is a little rocky and the wave is big so people need to go a little
further from the sea shore to really enjoy the water without getting hurt by
the coral. So, I don’t recommend new beginners and people who can’t swim to
play around in here, surfers only. I got an information from locals that every
June-July, they hold an international surfing event and there are cruises from
Bahama that bring tourists from America, so there will be traditional ceremony
in order to welcome them. About the cruises, I don’t know if the information
was valid but for those who want to see the big event and the culture of South
Nias exhibited, June-July should be the perfect time.
Stone Jumping (Lompat Batu) at Bawomataluo
Have you ever seen this picture?
Yup it’s a picture of stone jumping on a copy of Rp 1000,- money which is not in the currency anymore. This picture was taken at Bawomataluo, the biggest village in Teluk Dalam. In ancient time, every man in Teluk Dalam had to be able to jump over a 2 meter height and 90 cm width stone. They wouldn’t be admitted as an adult and strong man before jumping over that stone. Nowadays, they don’t use it as an indicator anymore, it is merely a traditional attraction shown only on special occasion such as traditional ceremony, wedding and to welcome guests. On the day we visited Bawomataluo was not a busy day. There were only eight of us as guests. This gave us more time and space to wander around the village (we didn’t though :P) and went inside the biggest tradiotional house in Bawomataluo.
Yup it’s a picture of stone jumping on a copy of Rp 1000,- money which is not in the currency anymore. This picture was taken at Bawomataluo, the biggest village in Teluk Dalam. In ancient time, every man in Teluk Dalam had to be able to jump over a 2 meter height and 90 cm width stone. They wouldn’t be admitted as an adult and strong man before jumping over that stone. Nowadays, they don’t use it as an indicator anymore, it is merely a traditional attraction shown only on special occasion such as traditional ceremony, wedding and to welcome guests. On the day we visited Bawomataluo was not a busy day. There were only eight of us as guests. This gave us more time and space to wander around the village (we didn’t though :P) and went inside the biggest tradiotional house in Bawomataluo.
 |
| Nias traditional houses are built on stilts and this is underneath the big house of Bawomataluo. Can you imagine how big is the house? |
Baloho Resort
Baloho is a resort located in a beach around 1 km from
downtown. This tourism site consists of hotel, restaurant, swimming pool, play
ground for kids and karaoke. This resort is great for family or office
gathering since this place provides all the facilities for that and the view is
also so beautiful. Altough the location is in a beach, visitors are not allowed
to swim in the sea, that’s what the swimming pool is for. If you want to swim
in the sea, you might need to go a little further away from this resort. Feel
free to wander and have picnic at the beach but the negative side is, there’s
no place to buy some food or drink in the area other than the restaurant so you
might need to prepare some food supplies beforehand.
Final Thought
Teluk Dalam is a very nice place to spend weekend or
holiday. The scenery is wonderfull, both the beaches and the highlands. The
transportation mode is not difficult to find and many motels and homestay to
stay the night. The people are also so nice especially the ones we met in Bawomataluo,
they really knew what to do to make us feel welcome. Besides speaking their mother
tongue, they speak Bahasa Indonesia and English as well. There was one thing
that really impressed us while visiting Bawomataluo, the kids were so great at
taking photos. We hesitated at first giving our gadgets to them and ask them to
take photos of us, but the results really surprised us. They did know the
perfect angles to make us look good. Lol.
The internet connection is also way better that the
connection we have in Gunungsitoli, this is totally a must for those who work
during holiday, love to share their holiday on social media and do anything
through the internet.
But I had a little concern, once we entered the tourism
sites, other than the motels or the resort, it was quite hard to find shops that sell food and
drinks. This is a little unfortunate for visitors who don’t stay at the motel. Gifts
and souvenirs shops could be added as well. Not only shops selling sculptures
and other souvenirs that really represent Teluk Dalam, but visitors can also
use shops selling travel essentials such as hats, sandals, bags, sunglasses,
etc. Besides giving livelihood to the locals, this also will attract more
tourists and make the trip much more fun, enjoyable and comfortable.
The last but not least, I really enjoy every visit to Teluk
Dalam either to see my family or for a trip and the view I mentioned above is
always and will always be my own opinion. Thanks for reading and Yaahowu :)
