[4] It is 45 minutes by fast regular ship or 2 hours by ferry from the mainland port of Banda Aceh.

[5] It was originally connected to the Sumatran mainland and became separated by sea after the stratovolcano's last eruption in the Pleistocene era.

The Andaman Sea lies on an active moving small tectonic plate (microplate).

A complex geological fault system and volcanic arc islands have been created along the length of the sea by the movement of the microplate.

[1] The last known eruption is estimated to have occurred in the Pleistocene age, as a result which the mountain partially collapsed and was filled by the sea, forming a separate island.

At a depth of 9 metres (30 ft), close to Sabang city, underwater fumaroles emerge from the seabed.

When traveling to Saudi Arabia was only possible by sea, Rubiah was used as a place of quarantine for Indonesian Muslims during the Hajj pilgrimage season.

[11] Small-scale fisheries operate in the area, and fishermen have used explosives and cyanide fishing extensively.

[10] As of 2021, Sabang city's economy and consequently the island itself has since diversified with much of it being dominated by construction, trading, and service sectors.

Some species found during the survey include Pogonoperca ocellata, Chaetodon gardneri, Chaetodon xanthocephalus, Centropyge flavipectoralis, Genicanthus caudovittatus, Halichoeres cosmetus, Stethojulis albovittatus, Scarus enneacanthus, Scarus scaber and Zebrasoma desjardinii.

[18] The megamouth shark has a distinctive large mouth, very short snout and is broadly rounded in dorsal view.

The male shark, measuring 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) in length and weighing 13.82 kg (30.5 pounds), was frozen and sent to the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) for further scientific study.

The participants were expected from Australia, United States, England, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.