Sumatra is a huge Indonesian island southwest of Southeast Asia and east of Java. Located just a few kilometers across the vital Straits of Malacca from Singapore and Malaysia, it is covered by mountains and plateaus to the west and wide, flat, marshy lowlands and brown meandering rivers to the east. Sumatra is still a wild place with some amazing landscapes and beautiful places even though it has undergone rapid development in recent decades. Although large parts of the lowland forest have been cleared, large parts of forest remain in the highlands. Some of the highest concentrations of large animals in Asia are found in Sumatra’s mountain parks. Offshore are islands with some of the world’s best surf spots

Sumatra is the world’s fifth largest island and covers 473,605 square kilometers. Almost bisected by the equator, it is 1,100 miles long and accounts for 24.7 percent of Indonesia’s land area. A long chain of mountains – Bukit Barisan – runs northwest-southeast and parallel to the west coast of the island. There are about 100 volcanoes on the island, with about 15 of them active. Many are above 3000 meters. The highest mountain in Indonesia outside of Papua is the 3805 meter high Sumatran volcano Gunung Kerinci.
The rainy season and dry season are not very distinct in North Sumatra. The wet season extends from September to December. The hot, dry season is from May to August. In Medan, the rainiest months are October, November and December. The driest months are February, March and April but there is not much difference between the wet months and the dry months. In South Sumatra, the rains start in November and peak in January and February. Sumatra’s west coast is very wet, some places receive over 400 centimeters of rain a year. Sumatra is on the border with the equator and is very hot all year round. Fortunately, the places visited by tourists tend to be in the highlands, where the climate is noticeably cooler, or near the seas, which are dampened by the sea breeze.