The beach has no official name, most residents call it Pertamina Pier Beach. The beach is rather clean in comparison to the others on the Lhokseumawe coastline. The only way to reach there by motoring from the main road is through an alley that only one car may pass, the alley is just approximately 30 meters long. A Mickey Mouse character mural painting at the end of the street says "Selamat Datang di Pondok Bahari," or in English, "Welcome to Pondok Bahari." The restaurant which is located by the beach greets the travelers.
Don't worry about parking, the restaurant's owner gives a separate parking place for guests.
I went there with @ichsannanda at midnight and arrived when the restaurant was closed, there was no activity in the restaurant; it was utterly calm and silent. Since the beachfront location is not a private place, you are not prohibited from being there all night.
Around 100 meters from the restaurant is a pier controlled by the state oil corporation PT Pertamina. When there are no loading and unloading activities on the pier, the local population frequently uses it as a fishing site at night and during the day. They parked their motorcycles under a leafy tree on the restaurant's side yard.
While there, I noticed several fishermen with fishing equipment walking directly to the end of the pier. I believe it is the most exclusive location for those who enjoy fishing. I'm not sure if that's an action that the pier's owner can justify. I don't notice any ban messages either.
When you relax on the restaurant's chairs, you may enjoy a wonderful view of the pier. The restaurant faces the Malacca Straits, so you face east where the sun rises. If you're at Lhokseumawe, Aceh, this is the spot to be at sunrise, in my opinion. You will enjoy the gorgeous reflection of the orange on the sea's surface, the orange reflection that graces the horizon, and the passing of fishing boats in the middle of the sea. Fishing boats of all sizes will cruise across the center of the sea in the morning.
I previously admired the beauty of the sunrise around that coastline, but not exactly around the restaurant's location. The plan is to photograph the sunrise that rises on the sea surface on the eastern horizon when the perihelion phenomenon occurs. I intended to photograph the pier in the foreground, the fishing boats in the middle, and the sunrise in the background.
The perihelion 2023 phenomenon occurred on January 4, according to apod.nasa.gov. I just missed those natural phenomena, so I'll have to wait till next year, hoping for a repeat performance this year.
The sea along the Lhokseumawe coastline is relatively calm on the north coast of the island of Sumatra. In the past, sea captains knew it as the peaceful bay, Telok Semawe (Dutch), Telok Samoy (English), and Teluk Samawi (Local), which has now changed the pronunciation and is set as the official name of Lhokseumawe.
Several European sea captains who sailed there have written about the calm of the sea around Lhokseumwe Bay, including J.H.P. von Schmidt auf Altenstadt in his work "Telok Semawé de beste haven op Atjeh's noordkust,1887" and John Anderson "Acheen, and the ports on the north and east coasts of Sumatra with incidental notices of the trade in the Eastern Seas and the aggressions of the Dutch, 1840". I am currently reading John Anderson's and will finish it in a few days.
Because the sea is peaceful, you will feel comfortable around the waterfront, and you will be forced to forget that time is ticking while relaxing at Pondok Bahri restaurant, which is located near the center of Lhokseumawe City, Aceh, Indonesia. See @pinmapple's comment.
Thank You
Irfan M Nur (@vannour)
Teken with: Sony A7 III Camera + Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens + E-Mount Metabones adapter.
All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Irfan M Nur.