Tambora's island — world-class surf, wild horses, and the eruption that changed the planet
Sumbawa is a large, rugged island in the Lesser Sunda chain east of Lombok, split culturally between the Islamic Sumbawa people in the west and the Bima in the east. It is most famous in geological history as the site of the 1815 Tambora eruption — the largest volcanic eruption in recorded human history, releasing four times more energy than Krakatoa and causing the 'Year Without a Summer' of 1816. For surfers, Sumbawa is a pilgrimage: Supersucks and HTs on the south coast consistently produce some of the best left-hand barrels in Indonesia. The island is barely developed for tourism and rewa…
Mount Tambora's eruption on 10 April 1815 was the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history (VEI 7) — the explosion was heard 2,000km away, the eruption column reached 43km into the atmosphere, and the resulting climate disruption caused crop failures worldwide. In Indonesia, an estimated 71,000 people died directly from the eruption and its immediate consequences; the three kingdoms on the slopes of Tambora (Tambora, Pekat, and Sanggar) were entirely obliterated and their languages are now extinct. The resulting ash plume caused the 'Year Without a Summer' of 1816 in Europe and Nor…