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Gilli is amazing.. I also dived with Aquadiction :)
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Shore Day Trip Live Aboard
Country: Indonesia
Water Temp: 25 - 30°C (77 - 86°F)
Visibility: 15 - 30m (49 - 98 ft)
Turtle Breeding
Coming alive in the diving community, the Gili Islands are a huge highlight of any scuba addict’s trip through Indonesia. Boasting abundance of sea turtles and coral life, the crystal clear water and shallow white beaches offer the castaway experience many built up locations lack.
Book A Dive Center OnlineThese three islands, lines up in a row off the North West coast of Lombok all have different personalities and cater for all types of traveller.
Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air are mere minutes away from each other meaning whichever island you stay on you can still visit all the best dive sites in the area Gili Trawangan is the largest of the islands, known by backpackers as the ‘party island’, it is the one most visited by tourists. This island is suitable for all ages, with luxury hotels, childcare services and a huge range of activities to occupy any traveller.
Multicolored fish, Credit
Gili Meno is the smallest island which is also the most under developed and perfect for those who want a total escape from civilisation. Meno doesn’t have many activities aside from scuba diving and beach based sports. The location is more for those who want to spend time either diving or lazing in a hammock, reading a book on the many beautiful beaches.
The last island, Gili Air, is the closest to Lombok and where you will find the most divers. With the highest percentage of local people this island caters for scuba divers and budget travellers and those who like to experience more of the local culture.
Green fishes, Gili Islands, Credit
Gili Trawangan is the largest of the islands and the most visited by tourists. This island is suitable for all ages, with luxury hotels, childcare services and a huge range of activities to occupy any traveller. Gili Meno is the smallest island which is also the most under developed and perfect for those who want a total escape from civilisation. Meno doesn’t have many activities so is purely for those who want to spend time either diving or lazing in a hammock, reading a book on the many beautiful beaches. The last island, Gili Air, is the closest to Lombok and also the most overlooked island. With the highest percentage of local people this island caters for budget travellers and those who like to experience more of the local culture.
Dive with a turtle, Gili Islands, Credit
Like any other island in Indonesia, the Gili islands hold a tropical climate but seem to enjoy slightly better weather than larger land masses such as Bali. Still the seasons will effect it and you can expect some rain and bad weather in the monsoon season. The monsoon season runs from October to April with the worse months affected being December and January. During this time dive trips can be cancelled due to weather conditions and the visibility will also be at its lowest, but most days are sunny and clear and it’s still a great time to visit. Rather than the rainy periods the times to maybe consider avoiding are the peak months of December, January, July and August due to too many tourists and hiked up prices.
You may also want to take note of the charities working to help protect the horses that are used to pull carts transporting tourist and building materials around the islands. This is a long running problem as the locals have a history of abusing these animals, depriving them of water and overworking them. The average lifespan of a Gili Island transport horse is around three years, the only way to help is not to use them as transport at all (each island is less than an hour walk in circumference, so your hotel should be no distance away.
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Gili Island is Lombok’s most popular diving area, it used to be relatively unknown but is coming u in the world of scuba and definitely worth the detour from the easier to reach locations. It provides divers a great variety of sites, such as shallow reefs perfect for new and beginner divers and deeper walls and drop off for the more advanced, adventurous diver. Conditions are usually calm and easy to handle with most dive sites never more than a 30 minute boat trip from the shore.
Many of the gili dive sites can be reaches by liveaboard from Bali, staying overnight near the famous islands, but for the full Gili experience staying and diving from the islands is recommended.
Diving Gili, Credit
Below the surface around each Gili island is rich with marine life and due to the turtle conservation ran on the islands, turtles are plentiful and surprising to have a dive where you do not spot at least one! A great dive site is Shark Point, west of Gili Trawangan, this dive is so popular due to the huge amount and variety of marine life seen from Bumphead parrotfish, to cuttlefish, rays and also as the name suggests White and Black tip reef sharks lurking in the canyons. This dive has many levels so it is suitable for all levels of experience, where as the top shark site of “Volkers Golf Course” is a lot deeper at 30m and just for more experienced divers.
Some other great sites to visit are the muck diving site of Hann’s Reef. This dive is perfect for macro life and underwater photographers where you will find many colourful nudibranches and maybe even the strange frogfish. Meno Wall is also another macro hotspot.
Gili Trawangan underwater, Credit
In the past a lot of the shallower coral around the Gili’s was destroyed and damaged by extensive dynamite fishing, so a lot of the reefs above 15m are in a very rubbly and in bad condition, but below 20m in the deeper areas the corals are healthy, vibrant and home to a diverse set of marine life. This situation is starting to improve with the remaining coral healing and destroyed coral being replaced by artificial reefs.
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The three islands are not easy or quick to reach, which is why they are often overlooked by the mainstream tourists and mostly visited by more adventurous travellers.
There are no airports on the islands, so visitors have to fly into Bali and catch a boat or ferry over from Padang Bai, or a flight to Mataram in Lombok and then a connecting boat from Bangsal Harbour across to the islands. Travel times vary with conditions but on average a fast boast from Bali will take 1 1/2 hours to 3hrs and a slow boat 7hrs!
Salt Lake, Gili Meno, Indonesia, Credit
Numerous companies offer rides over and always have seats available. However, safety measures vary greatly and it is recommended to travel with one of the more reputable and long standing companies. These include: Gili Cat, Blue Water Express, and Scoot. Gili Bookings is a helpful website that manages all travel bookings.
You may find information about Senggigi or Lombok International airports online, please note these airports are closed now and will not be reopened, all flights out of Lombok will leave from Mataram.
On the same lines, there also aren’t any motorised vehicles on the islands, so all means of transport are by foot, bicycle or horse and carts, known locally as “Cidomos” (the use of horse and cart transportation is not recommended, due to long running animal abuse and the shockingly low life sans of these overworked animals).
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Each of the islands that make up the Gili Islands has its own unique character and vibe.
The southernmost island, Gili Air, is the most populated of the three islands and has a nice variety of restaurants and bars. Scallywags is a beautiful beach club that guests can easily spend an entire day at without noticing. Mirage is also an excellent spot for a cocktail as the sunsets.
Gili Meno, in the middle, is a beautiful and low-key retreat, and has the most limited options for restaurants and bars. Much of the cuisine here revolves around daily catches and the odd wood-fired pizza.
Experience Holiday in Gili, Credit
Gili Trawangan has earned itself the reputation of a party island with its large variety of beach bars. Italian restaurant Blu da Mare is a local favourite, serving fresh bread, grilled meat and spectacular Carpaccio. The Irish’ (formally the Tir na Nog) is a great beachside sports bar that is hugely popular on Wednesdays.
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Between the three islands, there are a fair amount of on-land activities. It is also possible to hike up Trawangan Hill for a spectacular sunset overlooking the islands. Otherwise, spend your days relaxing on the stunning white beaches and walking the perimeter of the islands.
Nature-enthusiasts might be interested in visiting the bird sanctuary on Gili Meno, with its large population of macaws, flamingos and cockatoos. There are turtle sanctuaries on both Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan where you can watch baby turtles swim (and hatch, if your timing is right).
Children Playing, Harbour Area, Gili Air, Indonesia, Credit
Serious hikers may wish to tack on a multi-day hike up Indonesia’s second highest volcano to their trip. Mount Rinjani towers over the ocean at 3726m and takes approximately three days to climb. Numerous companies offer tour packages that combine a trip to the islands with this hike.
Keeping in mind that the Gili Trawangan nightlife can be a bit wild, there are no spots on the Gili islands that are not suitable for children.
Activities include beach based sports and games, resorts offer entertainment and nurseries and boat trips or tours cater for all ages.
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The only ATM machines on the islands can be found on Gili Trawangan, an upgrade from recent years when there was only one ATM, now you can find several and most dive centres and big hotels will accept credit cards.
Dive Center in Gili, Credit
While the aquamarine waters look calm and spectacular, some caution should be exercised while swimming. The currents between the islands can be very strong, and have claimed the lives of some swimmers attempting to swim across. These waters are also home to large jellyfish populations that surface in high winds – so, watch out for them as well!
It is also worth noting that there is no official police on the islands, and that the local tribal councils handle all issues. Travellers report that councils on all three islands are very responsive in dealing with the minimal levels of theft that do occur.
Finally – be cautious with local alcohol. Some varieties do contain methanol and caused a death as recent as 2013. Drugs are widely available on the islands and visitors should again exercise caution here. Penalties in Indonesia are (very harsh) however the relaxed island vibe means that, in reality there is a semi-relaxed scene for those who seek it.
Each island does have a basic clinic, but major medical emergencies are treated in Lombok or Bali, depending on severity.
In the beginning of January, even it was rainy season, i had some beautiful dives around the Gilis. I stayed at Gili Air and i was diving Deep Turbo, Shark point, Sunset Reef, Kencinang, Hans Reef and the Bounty wreck.
Even the Gilis are not recommended for fun divers it didnt disapointed me. There so much marine life.
I was diving with Oceans 5 Gili Air
Diving the Gili Islands reveals so much marine diversity. My favourite site is Halik. Scuba Diving with Aquaddiction on Gili Trawangan will ensure you have a safe and fun dive. Aquaddiction has a maximum group size of 4 students per divemaster or instructor so you know you'll get a lot of attention.
On my last dive with Aquaddiction I saw 3 Octopus, 2 leafy scorpion fish, 2 moray eels, 1 lion fish and 3 turtles. To have seen any one of those things where I used to dive on Koh Tao would have been amazing, so to see so much on one dive here blew me away. When you dive with Aquaddiction ask for Hudari, he has been diving the Gili Islands for 10 years and is a master at finding all the good stuff.
There is quite a bit of current in the strait of lombok so expect some of your dives to be drift dives. This wasn't a problem for us though as our divemaster kept everything safe and the Aquaddiction boat, Charlie, came to pick us up as soon as we surfaced.
I'd definitely recommend diving the Gili Islands and if you are staying on Gili Trawangan definitely choose to dive with Aquaddiction.
Having visited my brother who emigrated to Oz, we couldn't fly over Indonesia without a look see!!! (Still not dived Oz as Asthmatic so need to do more than a diving medical - another time!)
We stayed in Bali overnight and then transferred by boat - about 2 hours.
We stayed in Bali Sampan hotel on Gili - a small and clean place with good breakfast and helpful friendly staff.
The shower was open top - awesome sensation!
TV reception was intermittent -then, we weren't there for tv!
We prepaid with Manta Dive which was about a 10 minute walk, as discount offered. Fresh water to clean kit and a place to store securely (we always take our kit). Staff great and saw a myriad of things - sharks (white n black tip), rays, ribbon eels, manits shrimp and lots of turtles! There is a conservation programme on the Island where you can see them being raised.
There is no transport on the island other than horse drawn. Ask price b4 u get in! Or hire a bike from your hotel as we did.
It rained quite heavily for odd spells whilst there, soon went though.
The dive guide lived on Lombok (about an hour by boat) and he hired us a car which took us round the island - up through the monkey forests to the waterfalls. The climb is hard work and much water consumed-rest had! We were a bit of an attraction as the only pale skins the locals had prob ever seen. We paid about 2.50GBP for a driven scooter ride back down.
Indonesia is very humid and water is a must. We drank only branded spirits on our off evenings poss not legit otherwise.
GT is a great lively place to stay with plenty of low cost and upmarket eateries, including live bands.
There are many cats on the island introduced some time ago by a landowner. Many have bent tails or partial tails - all are well, just quirky now due to ancestry!!
A lovely little island that we called home for 2 weeks. A place where you could island hop to other places very easily.
I think I remember your last report - another beautifully written and useful report with great photos :)
Beautiful turtle photo. I have forwarded to a friend heading that way! Good timing.
3000+ dives
During my trip on Bali, I wanted to relax on a quiet Island. Gili Meno is an hour away from Amed by speed boat.
I opted for a small Dive center on the sun set side of Meno, Divine Divers.
We went to Halik reef, 15 mn away from the dive center. Begining of the dive was a shallow reef full of life. After 5mn we went a bit deeper on the edge of the reef and found a 1 m Bumphead parotfish. Then the current picked up a bit, schools of trevalys and jacks. Blacktips smoothly going against the current on the sandy bottom.
We went back shalower for end of the dive and turtles were feeding 6m deep.
Time for safety stop , and good suprise, an eagle ray passing next to us!
1500+ dives
In 2005 a big storm sunk the Bounty Jetty. Nowadays it is one of the most popular divesites around the Gili’s. The wreck is covered with different hard & soft corals and surrounded by groups of different fish like Oriental & Harlequin Sweetlips, Black Snappers & Batfish.
On the plateau you can find Prickly Leatherjackets, Trumpetfishes & Scorpionfishes. Close to the Jetty there's a pinnacle full of Glass fish where you can also find octupuses, cleaner shrimps and different Angelfishes.
The divesite is suitable for all levels and the last couple of weeks there is a baby white tip shark around as wel l!!!
1000+ dives
Takat Malang is a really cool dive site on the Gilis. It is around 15 minutes from Gili Air.
It is a deep site, at 30+ metres (though you can stay 30 and above).
There are huge coral mountains, lots of fish and when we dove it a massive bumphead parrot fish that was happy to pose for the camera.
The best part is really the topography - coral mountains surrounded by white sand. Very cool.
It's a great site to do your deep speciality on too (which certifies you to 40m 120ft) or do a dive on Nitrox.
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