Danau Toba

Lake Toba is a cratered lake covering 1,145 square kilometers. In the middle there is an island with an area that is almost comparable to the size of Singapore. Lake Toba is actually more like an ocean than a lake given its size. Therefore, Lake Toba is placed as the largest lake in Southeast Asia and the second largest in the world after Lake Victoria in Africa. Lake Toba also includes the deepest lake in the world with a depth of more than 500 meters.

The lake which is located in the middle of the Sumatra island, emerges from the caldera of a large volcano that has a length of up to 100 kilometers. Imagine the tourism potential of the lake with a width of up to 30 kilometers in the province of North Sumatra. Visitors are not only presented by the views of the lake water and cultural tourism of the Toba people.

Since January 2018, the Information Center of Lake Toba National Caldera GeoPark has just been inaugurated. The visitors are able to witness varieties of historical information about the super volcano occurence that form volcanic caldera, as well as the uniqueness of other geological occurences. The other uniqueness of Lake Toba, among others, is that visitors can go around seeing hundreds of orchid species, tourist villages, hot springs, Batak museums. Moreover, tourists are also able to feel the white beach of Parbaba like a beach.

How to get to Samosir Island

By airway

The closest air transportation facilities to the Lake Toba Region, travelers are definetely through the air route of Kuala Namu Airport in Deli Serdang Regency.

By Land Route

Upon arrival at the Kuala Namu airport, we can use a bus or chartering a vehicle to Siantar Regency or directly to Parapat.

By Sea

From Parapat we can choose two seaports. Tiga Raja and Aji Bata seaport are able to provide ferry boats that can carry the vehicles. While the Three Kings seaport is mostly just for carrying people.

TIPS

* There are two choices for the right time to visit Lake Toba. First, on May to September during the dry season and Lake Toba is not too crowded with tourists. Secondly, on September-November if you want to simultaneously watch various festivals held in the Lake Toba area.

* Prepare enough time to visit Lake Toba, at least 3 days and 2 nights can be spent. The reason is that you will able to visit a number of interesting places in the Lake Toba area during those time.

* There are several ways to cross to Samosir Island but the most favorite crossing is Aji Bata Port in Parapat City.