


Tourists from a wide range of countries can purchase a 30-day visa on arrival for 500,000 IDR, and longer-term visas can be obtained via agents. Like many countries, Indonesia closed its borders to tourists for most of 20 however, at the time of this update, things are beginning to return to normal.Īlthough the visa-free entry of pre-COVID times is not currently available, entry into Indonesia is relatively straightforward now. So, let’s talk about your biggest Sumatran safety concerns, go over some travel tips, and learn a little bit more about this amazing destination.

In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at some of the events you might have heard about that make you nervous about travelling to Sumatra - NOT to scare you, but to ease your mind by showing how rare each one was. While bad things can and do happen everywhere in the world, overall, we believe Sumatra is safe – for solo female travellers, families, and travellers of any age. The worst thing that ever happened to me was getting my bag (with phone and credit cards inside) stolen by an invisible ninja monkey on a remote beach in Pulau Weh - but I got it back two days later! In most areas of Sumatra, I feel safer than I did living in New Zealand. Bad news makes money! Natural disasters, the rare traveller horror story, and terrorism dominate the news about Indonesia.Īs a solo female traveller to Sumatra for seven years before moving here, I have an insiders insight. Unfortunately, the media LOVES making people scared. One of the most common questions we are asked is: is Sumatra safe? As one of the lesser-known parts of Indonesia, people aren’t sure what to expect.
