Gili Islands: Tiny Paradises Beyond The Magical Bali

Gili Islands are considered among the best destinations in the world for the Scuba Diving. When I planned my trip to Gili Trawangan, the biggest among the three Gili Islands in Indonesia, my only motivation was the Scuba Diving. But when I arrived there on the shore of Gili Trawangan by a speed boat from Bali, I was stunned by the immense beauty of the tiny Islands, geographically blended in a corner of the Bali Sea, very close to the much larger Lombok Island. White sand beaches, beautiful small boats, widespread coconut and palm trees, crystal clear water and blue sky with scattered clouds, the first appearance of Gili Islands were just like a paradise. I lived there for 7 days, enjoyed each and every corner of Gili Trawangan, did many rounds of Scuba diving and danced madly in the night long parties at the street bars, it was just like losing my wondering soul deep in the destination. Gili was an ultimate experience of my Indonesia Trip. The islands are a vast amalgamation of different cultures from all around the world, where people immerse themselves with the slow pace of life to go back to the hippie era of carefree backpacking.

Where are Gili Islands?

Gili Islands are situated in a corner of Bali Sea between Bali Island and Lombok Island in Indonesia. The group of islands is actually very closed to Lombok Island, just 20-30 minutes away by a simple engine powered boat from the coast of Lombok Jetty. However, from Bali, it is approximately 2 hours journey in a high speed boat. When we talk about Gili Islands, we refer to a group of three islands namely Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno, in which Gili Trawangan is the biggest one. Gili Meno is the smallest one, and also the most peaceful one, having the untouched charm of a hidden paradise.

Why Should We Go To Gili Islands?

Depends on your choice to visit a beach destination. I selected Gili Trawangan (Popularly known as Gili T) because it is one of the best Scuba Diving destination in the world. But apart from the diving, the islands have many more authentic charms to draw the visitors form the every corner of the world. Some beautiful aspects of travelling at Gili Islands are:

1. Underwater Marine Life (Turtles, Manta Rays, Reef Sharks, Baraccuda and Many More)

The most amazing thing about Gili Islands is the Scuba Diving. You can have mind blowing diving experiences just in the vicinity of the islands at pretty reasonable cost. There is no need to travel for one hour in the live-boards to the middle of nowhere. This also makes Scuba Divings cheaper in Gili Islands as compared to many other destinations in South East Asia.

2. White Sand Beaches

Although not idle for swimming during low tides, the sea beaches in Gili provide perfect sun bathing experience with few quite moments to yourselves.

3. Picture Perfect Sunset

Do you want to click a perfect sunset where the setting sun slowly immerses in the water? Just head to the Sunset Beach of Gili Trawangan. The sacred volcanic mountains of Bali, Mount Agung and Mount Batur, stay in the background of a beautiful capture of the sunset.

4. Peaceful Environment And Beautiful Surroundings

Gili Islands are no car or no motorcycle zone. You can not find any kind of engine noise or honking on the streets. Most people rely on the bicycles and horse carts to move from one place to another. The biggest one Gili T is approximately 4 sq km in area, so it is also good to walk around to enjoy the local culture and tradition of Gili Trawangan.

5. All Night Parties

The only noise you can heard in Gili is the noise of DJs coming out loud from many bars on the Main Street in Gili Trawangan after 10 PM in the night. The parties usually start around 11 PM and continue up to 3 AM with lot of drinking and dancing going on side by side.

6. Availability of Marijuana

While strolling through the streets of Gill Trawangan, specially after the sunset, watch out for the word ‘Mushroom’ in the alleys. Mushroom is the local name for Marijuana and frequently available in the streets of Gili Trawangan at dirt cheap prices. One main reason for this is the almost negligible presence of Police personnel on these islands. However, people are very nice and tourist friendly, so crime rate is negligible,. Despite of the easy availability of Marijuana, Gili Islands are perfectly safe for the tourists day and night.

How to Reach Gili Islands?

There are two ways to reach Gili Islands: First is from Bali and second one is from Lombok Island.

Gili Islands from Bali Island: Bali is a world famous destination and millions of tourist visit this island throughout the year. There are few places on the east coast of Bali (Serangan, Padang Bai and Amed) , from where you can get a speed boat to Gili Islands, but the most used harbour by the speed boats is Padang Bai in Eastern Bali. Normally, these speed boats are operated by professional operators. Whether at Serangan or Padang Bai, It is possible to reach the harbour on your own where you can turn up at the boat counter and buy a speedboat ticket. But, I would advise purchasing the ticket through your hotel or through a tour operator, at least one day before your departure. Most of the time, the ticket prices include the pickup from your hotel in Bali, thus avoiding the concern for arranging your own transport to the harbour.

On the day of departure, at the pre determined pick time, a mini van arrives at the hotel. From Kuta or Senaru beach area, the mini van carries you on a beautiful scenic highway dotted by coconut trees and paddy fields along the eastern coast of Bali island. The van journey on that highway is itself a beautiful experience.

After 40 minutes of pleasant journey, the van drops you near the jetty at Padang Bai. A local restaurant serves the purpose of waiting area, where you can wait for the speed boat and eat in the meantime. At harbour (jetty), all luggage are tagged by the stickers having the name of the destinations like Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno. The operation staff of speed boat operator also give you a sticker to put on your cloth near the chest, so that they can know about the destination by just glancing on the sticker. It does look like a kind of check in and boarding process at the airport except the separate check-in baggage and security hold area.

When the speed boat arrives at the departure jetty, you have to pick your bag and drop at a designated place on the boat. You can keep small bags, camera bags etc with you. The boat people then arrange the bag as per their destination, so that you can easily get your bag while leaving the boat. Same boat goes to all three islands one by one. Few boats go to Lombok also.

Gili Islands from Lombok Island: However, Lombok Island is served by an international airport, very few tourists arrive directly in Lombok. The airport is approximately one hour away from the Bangsal Pier (Harbour), from where you can get the motorboats to Gili Islands. Few speedboats coming from Bali Island also go to Lombok island , before going to Gili Islands. But there is no need to wait for them. Gili Islands are just 10-20 minutes away from the coast of Lombok, so you can just reach to the pier and get a boat going to Gili Air (10 minutes away) or Gili Trawangan (20 minutes away). Most of the boats are driven by a motor engine.

What to Do at Gili Islands?

Gill Islands are chill out places, where you can go and do nothing, basically relaxing at your own pace. But, in reality, the life is not so slow on these islands, specially on Gili Trawangan. There are lot of adventures as well as fun activities to do there. The main activities for the tourists are:

1. Scuba Diving

Remember in the beginning, I mentioned that Gili Islands are one of the best place for Scuba Diving in the whole world. And the beauty is that the diving trips don’t required one or two hours long journey on the live boards. Most of the diving sites are so closed to the islands that it only required 10-15 minutes journey by the boats to reach there. The underwater world of Gili Islands has plenty of exciting marine species ranging from Turtles, Manta Rays, Reef Sharks, Napoleon Fishes, Groupers, Barracuda Schools and many types of beautiful corals. Most beautiful diving sites around Gili Trawangan are Halik ( For Sea Turtles), Manta Point ( For Manta Rays) , Shark Point (For Reef Sharks), Simon’s Reef and Deep Turbo’s.

Also Read: Scuba Diving At Gili Islands

2. Snorkeling

Since Diving Sites at Gili Island are very closed to the island, it is easy to reach there for snorkeling also. These sites offer amazing snorkeling experiences. For example, Halik is very popular snorkeling spot, where you can enjoy swimming with giant sea turtles while diving or snorkeling.

3. Sun-Bathing

Laying down on the beach and sun-bathing is the best thing that you can do at Gili Trawangan, when you don’t have any particular activity in your mind. Palm-fringed beaches and crystal clear blue water around Gili Islands are perfect for couple, families as well as divers. North East and South West side of Gili Trawangan is very nice for laying down on the sand. North West side offers the best sunset experience, worth memorable for the lifetime. Apart from that, you can also reach to the stunning beaches of Gili Meno by a boat ride from Gili Trawangan, just in case you need a beach all to yourself. 🙂

4. Walking around

Gili Trawangan is a small island and other two Gili Air and Gili Meno are even smaller than Gili Trawangan. So, you can easily circumnavigate the entire island on the foot, for example, Gili Trawangan in 2-3 hours. Walk around to see the local life, beautiful palm trees, hidden alleys, stunning beaches while moving through the length and breath of the islands. Watch out for the word ‘Mushroom’ in the alleys after the sunset. Mushroom is the local name for Marijuana and frequently available in the streets of Gili Trawangan.

Where to Stay at Gili Islands?

If you want to have party-like atmosphere day and night, then stay at Gili Trawangan. If you want to stay in the lap of nature, away from the maddening crowd, then you best bet is Gili Meno. Gill Air comes in between.

Read Also:  Beautiful Beaches at Havelock Islands in India

Hotels: From sea-facing exotic villas, to the beautiful beach houses with swimming pools to the budget friendly accommodations, Gili Islands have plenty of options, particularly at Gili Tranwagan. Choose any as per your taste and budget.

Hostels: For backpacker style of living, you can get cheap dormitories at Gili Trawangan. These hostels are the best places to mingle with the fellow backpackers.

Where to Eat at Gili Islands?

While staying at Gili Trawangan, try to eat at the night market, that starts daily at 6 PM along the street near the main harbour. It actually looks like a backpacker’s dream to eat delicious sea food at cheap prices in this market. You can get anything from fresh lobsters, trevally, crabs, prawns, clams, snapper, squid and barracudas on your platter along-with rice, vegetables, noodles etc.

Gili Islands, Prone to the Earthquakes?

Like any other part of Indonesia, Gili Islands are highly prone to the earthquakes. In the neighbourhood, Bali and Lombok, both islands are prone to the frequent volcanic eruptions. But, despite of all these, tourism is doing well in Bali, Lombok or Gili Islands. In August 2018, a strong earthquake of 6.9 magnitude hit Lombok and Gili Islands. It destroyed significant tourism infrastructures at both the places resulting in a massive disruption in tourism activites. However, slowly, the life is coming on the track and hope that tourists will get the facilities like the old good days.

Life at Gili Islands is exactly opposite to the tourist chaos of Bali. Prior to visiting the Gili Islands, I went to Bali also and loved it very much like any other beautiful destination, but it was so stereotype that I couldn’t find any value during my stay. I was more eager to visit the eastern part of Indonesia beyond the magical Bali. And, this is how Gili Islands come in the picture. It was so balanced with the adventures and holistic lifestyle, that I enjoyed every bit of this. Next time, if you go to Bali, try to visit Gili Islands. Hopefully, you will never find any kind of disappointment in this piece of paradise.