The main gateways to Sumba Island are Waingapu,a sprawling port on the northeast coast and Tambolaka, a fast growing transport hub on the mid northwest coast. Note that Tambolaka actually refers to the airport, but the name is increasingly being applied to the nearby town of Waitabula. The island’s only other main centre is the market town of Waikabubak located in the western interior about 50km’s southeast of Tambolaka.
Copyright Dan Quinn/Gunung Bagging
Sumba has a decent sealed road connecting all the major centres which runs through the spine of the island from Pero on the far west coast to Waingapu then traces the east coast right around to Biang on the southeast coast. The rest of the island is networked with secondary paved and unpaved roads of varying standards. Most of the island can be circumnavigated but in many places it involves using sections of unmapped rough dirt tracks.
At the time of writing the only ATM’s on the island were at Waingapu, Waikabubak and Tombolaka. Be sure to take ample cash including small denomination notes when travelling away from these centres . Most of the island still relies heavily on generators or solar power which means power can be fairly intermittent so be sure to bring a torch.