Lake Toba

Lake Toba is an expansive body of volcanic water in northern Sumatra covering more than 1,100 square kilometers and measuring over 500 meters at its deepest point. The inhabited island of Samosir rises in the center, nearly the size of Singapore and surrounded by dense forests and rice paddies.

The water formed around 74,000 years ago from a massive eruption that threw enormous amounts of ash into the atmosphere and lowered temperatures worldwide. Over millennia, Batak peoples settled along the shores and built their villages on the hills surrounding the water.

Batak communities perform their dances, songs and weaving of Ulos cloths daily for weddings and funerals around the water. Traditional wooden houses with curved roofs shaped like buffalo horns still stand in villages along the shore and remain actively inhabited.

Travelers reach the shores through Silangit airport or by ferries that run from Parapat to the island in the middle several times a day. Lodging options exist both along the coast and on the central island, with smaller villages offering quieter stays.

The central landmass itself contains a small lake called Lake Sidihoni, meaning visitors can experience an island in a lake on an island in a larger lake. Local fishermen frequently use traditional wooden canoes to cast their nets daily and catch freshwater fish.