The most impressive of the Nias hill villages, perched above the coast about fourteen kilometres from Teluk Dalam. A long stone stairway climbs to a stone-paved central courtyard lined with rows of traditional houses, called omo hada, raised on massive wooden pillars with steeply sloped roofs. At the head of the courtyard stands the omo sebua, the chief's house, the largest traditional dwelling on the island.
Bawömataluo is best known for stone jumping, hombo batu, in which young men leap over a stone column more than two metres high. It was once part of warrior training and a rite of passage; today it is performed for visitors, but the village itself remains a living settlement rather than a museum. The site is on Indonesia's UNESCO tentative list.