The Banyak Islands in Indonesia (collectively also known as Pulau Banyak) are a group of paradise islands in northwestern Sumatra.
If you’ve ever dreamed of living the Robinson Crusoe lifestyle and having a remote tropical island all to yourself, with a primitive bungalow and crystal clear water as far as the eye can see, this is your chance!
Banyaks are very affordable and have some of the best white sandy beaches in Sumatra. We spent a week at the Palambak Island Resort and it was a bit like heaven on earth.
This travel blog will tell you how to get to the Banyak Islands, where to stay and what you need to know before you go!
Where Is The Banyak Archipelago Located?
The Banyak Islands are located off the west coast of Aceh Province in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
The population as of 2024 is about 8,000 people, but most of them live in the capital, Balai Island.
The rest of the 99 outer islands of Pulau Banyak are mostly uninhabited, and some simple bungalows are scattered everywhere.
How To Get To The Banyak Islands
Step 1: The Journey To Singkil
Getting to the banyak Islands in Indonesia takes a little time and effort. Here is a complete two-part explanation.
Firstly, the nearest international airport is far away in the city of Medan, on the opposite coast of Sumatra. Medan Airport (KNO) offers daily flights from places like Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta from for a one-way trip. You can buy flights to Medan on Skyscanner.
The city of Medan is conservative and not very touristy, but it is safe and there are quite a few hotel options. We stayed at the MB Apartments, which offer a breakfast option, and also used the Grab and GoJek apps for convenient food delivery (Pizza Hut and Indonesian cuisine).
Arriving in Medan, it takes 8 to 10 hours by car to reach the port city of Singkil. The price for it is about 900,000 rupiah per car, and the private driver can be arranged from your hotel in Banyak, or you can use the recommended driver, which I will mention after in this article.
(Tip 1: If you want to see something good on the long drive from Medan to Singkil, visit the Lae mbilulu waterfall almost half of the drive. It is a big twin waterfall just 30 minutes from the main road.)
(Tip 2: If you need an overnight stay in Singkil, visit MB Camp Singkil. It is a hotel run by the same people as the Palambak Island Resort, and at the moment it is the only decent accommodation in Singkil. They ALSO own MB Apartments in Medan.)
Step 2: The Boat Trip To The Banyak Islands
Below is a map showing the location of the Banyak archipelago in the sea west of Sumatra.
Once you arrive at the port of Singkil, you will have three main options for getting to the Banyak Islands: wooden boat, ferry or speedboat. We took the ferry.
There is a public boat called Kapal Kayu Besar (big wooden boat) that runs to Pulau Banyak every day, or a public ferry that runs three times a week (on Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays).
These are both inexpensive and slow options and they last for 4 hours.
If you go to the Banyak Islands by wooden boat or public ferry, they will drop you off at Balai Island, a shabby and noisy gateway town that really offers nothing but supplies.
From Balai, you will then have to take a second boat (a small wooden motorboat) to the island of your choice, where you will spend the night, such as Tailana or Palambak. This trip takes about 1 hour and costs an additional. The schedule is very flexible, as long as you give a little notice.
The third main option of Singkil is to rent a speedboat directly from Pulau Balai or Palambak Island, which takes only about 1.5 hours in total. It costs million rupees per boat for brooms, or 1.7 million for palambak.
Basically, a speedboat is the fastest and most flexible way to get to the Banyaks, but it is also the most expensive. If you share a speedboat with other travelers, you can split the costs.
