The Island Paradise of Gili Air
With beautiful sand beaches and island lifestyle, the Gilis are just a heaven of idyllic paradise.
What is Gili?
“Gili” simply means “small island” in Sasak language, which is the native language of the locals in Lombok. There are many Gilis scattered around the coast of Lombok, but the 3 Gilis found to the north-west of Lombok are the most popular:
Gili Trawangan
is the most crowded of them all. A party island, infamously known for its magic mushrooms.
Gili Meno
The polar opposite of Gili T, this honeymoon island is the place you go to for peace and quiet. The island is adorned with plenty of resorts perfect for couples but only two restaurants at the time of my visit in 2018 (yes, just before the Earthquake).
Gili Air
With relaxed paced but some nightlife to keep the sociables happy, Gili Air is the perfect place for our group. Lots of food options, which is crucially important for us.
How to Reach the Gilis?
From Bali’s Serangan port in Sanur, Gili Air is accessible by a 2.5-hour fast boat ride. We paid 711k IDR for a one-way fast boat ticket, which included a car pick-up from Kuta area. We visited Gili during the peak season of Eid holiday hence the ticket cost slightly more than the usual 550–600k IDR.
These fast boats are enclosed and clean; they only operate in the morning as the sea is calmest early in the day. In saying that, I still highly recommend taking the anti-motion sickness pill handed out by the staffs. If you’re planning to take the boat in the afternoon, you will have to organise a private boat charter.
To Lombok’s Bangsal port, it is only a 5 to 10-minute fast boat ride for 80k IDR. Note: Lombok’s other port, Senggigi is closer to the capital city Mataram, but the boat trip is also slightly longer.
How to Get Around the Island?
As there is a prohibition of motor vehicle of any kind, all transportation is done either on foot, by bicycle or traditional horse cart called cidomo. The streets are not paved but most parts are suitable for biking. Gili Air isn’t too busy so it is perfect for anyone getting used to bicycle riding.
We decided to stay at a villa in close proximity to the port. If you are staying further from the port, you’ll have to drag your suitcase on the sandy path or ride on the cidomo, of which the minimum fare is 100k IDR.
Horses of Gili
Indonesian horses are far smaller than the Arabian or European counterparts, so most are actually ponies by definition since they are under 14.2 hands (the equivalent of 147cm) in height. Kudos to the horse owners of Gili — even though there are plenty of horses scattered around the entire island, not once did I see a horse poop left on the road.
Every single item on each island, be it a refrigerator or groceries, comes over by boat first and then loaded onto a horse cart to its final destination. Hence there is a large number of horses working by pulling carts carrying goods like your Bintang Beer, or the traditional passenger cart cidomo, to various parts of the island. If you would like to support the welfare of these horses, go to Horses of Gili.
Sit Back and Enjoy Paradise
I’m sure you come to Gili to slow down. There isn’t much to do here except to soak in the island lifestyle. You can do so by:
Riding a bike around the island
Exploring the island will only take half a day.
Lazying at the beach
You can lie and sleep on the sand, snorkel around the beach, or chill on the very ‘grammable swing.
Meandering around the ocean
When the tide goes out, you can walk around on the exposed ocean plot. Do watch out for sea urchins, which the locals would harvest.
Practising yoga
The island is blessed with some certified yoga studios. One of them even has a beautiful open-air studio, completely built out of bamboo.
Eat Your Heart Out
There are plenty of quality dining options in Gili Air. As mentioned, one of the factors that lead us to choose this island as a base was its abundant food options. For your reference, I have compiled my favourite eateries here on Google Map.
Note that cows and pigs are virtually non-existent, so if you see them on the menu, they are probably shipped to the island already chopped up. On the other hand, there is plenty of hormone-free chicken bred free-range on the island — so free-range you risk overrunning them with your bike. Vegan and vegetarian-friendly options are abundant on the island.
Since we are on an island though, the culinary gem is the seafood. My snorkelling guide claims to never have purchased any seafood in his life. Apparently, he just catches ’em tuna fresh off the sea. Now that’s the kind of man that can provide for his family (grin).
Home of the Turtles
The water in this area is the year-round habitat of the turtles, making snorkelling tour a must-do activity in the Gilis. Turtles are guaranteed to be sighted. So much so that any snorkelling tour provider has a money-back guarantee if you don’t see any turtle on your snorkelling trips. For snorkelling tours, there are two options:
Public Boat
You could embark on a snorkelling tour on the public boat for about 150k IDR per person. However, based on Jess’ experience, there is too much time wasted as the boat are loaded with 20–30 people who end up waiting on each other.
Private Boat, highly recommended
So we opted for the private option, which cost 800k IDR for the entire boat. This amount seemed really reasonable after we divided it amongst our group.
The advantage of chartering a private boat is the ability to decide on a time and destination. Since we departed Gili Air earlier than the public boats’ schedule, we had most of the sites to ourselves. We got to explore the underwater at our own pace. The highlight was being the front-row audience to nature’s ineffable performance of the dance of three turtles, less than 10metres away from us. The close second was waking a turtle up from its sleep.
Reclaimed Coral
Indonesia has the world’s highest coral reef biodiversity, but only 6% is still in a pristine state. Likewise, the corals around the Gilis are extensively damaged from dynamite fishing in the past. Fortunately, rejuvenation efforts have begun all around the islands. Wireframe steel sculptures are sunk into the ocean to form an artificial reef garden, expected to be covered in coral in the next few years.
The most beautiful sculpture though is the haunting 48 life-sized people figures at the bottom of the Gili Meno water. This work by the underwater sculptor, Jason DeCaires Taylor was made with pH neutral environmental-grade concrete, using the cast of real people. I can’t wait to return in a few years and see how much the corals will have reclaimed by then.
This post is part of the See Indonesia series.1. The Little Lombok
Get the most out of this much-less-traveled cousin of Bali.
2. Baduy, the Last Children of the Earth
The Indonesian tribe who lives devoid of technology with no contact to the outside world
3. How to Legalise Document in Indonesia
Step-by-step guide on legalising document in IndonesiaI hope they will help you see this country's ineffable beauty and culture beyond imagination.
