" WARNING "
"
During peak season between June-July-August till Early
September, December till January, Gili Islands is always
fully booked, all the
rooms has been booked 04 months in advance by travel agents
in Bali and overseas. Make sure you have your accommodation
book before you visit the Gili Islands otherwise
you will sleep on the beaches"
The Gili Islands
Near Pemenang a road leads to Bangsal, the embarkation point for the
three Gili Islands, which are just off the coast. The public bemo
don't go all the way to the small town, but stop on a side road.
There is a money changer and a cidomo is also available.
All three islands have white sand beaches, clear water for snorking
and cheap accomodation in bungalows. Most hotels can be found on
Gili Meno. You can rent a boat for a trip along all islands.
Especially in the main season - June until the beginning of
September - this is a good thing, because the available accomodation
fills up rather quick. The beach is the only place to sleep then.
The three Gili
Islands are a small-scale backpacker mecca and Lombok's most
popular tourist destination. The islands are very relaxed
and laid-back, with countless little beachside cafes playing
reggae and serving up banana pancakes, and no cars or
motorbikes to disturb the peace. The flip side of the coin
is that as they exist solely to cater for travellers,
they're also rather anonymous (you might as well be at
anywhere) and, aside from snorkeling and diving, there's
little if anything to do. Note that there are no ATMs on the
islands, so bring plenty of cash with you. From west to
east, the islands are:
-
Gili
Trawangan, by far the most developed with plenty of
backpacker options and one swanky resort
-
Gili Meno,
the smallest and quietest, low-key with some simple
places to stay
-
Gili Air,
closest to the mainland and with the largest local
population
Strictly
speaking, the name "Gili Islands" is rather redundant as
gili simply means "small island" in Sasak, but the name
has stuck and is universally used and understood in Lombok.
Gili
Air: Most Crowded
Gili Air is closest bo Bangsal and is the most densely populated
island of the three. Most people live in the south, were the most
bungalows are as well. The beach runs around the entire island. The
best places for sunbathing and snorking are along both sides of thee
shop with diving gear with the name Boronang. The shop rents gears
and organises excursions to Pak Nasutions favorite diving spot, 45
minutes to the north by boat. There is a hot source about 10 meters
under the sea level which produces fresh water.
The water around Gili Air is crystal
clear, but there is not much to see for snorklers. The coral has
been blown away with dynamite and there is not much fish as well;
sometimes there are dangerous jelly-fish which force visitors out of
the sea. The best place for snorkling is the edge of the cliff which
surrounds the island; the coral descends to about 14 to 20 meters.
Gili Meno:
Blue Coral
Gili Meno, the central island, is home to only a few hundred
residents. The most quiet and least exploited island of the three,
makes Gili Meno also the most attractive. Drinking water is brought
in from Lombok. The sources of the island only bring in salt water
which is hardly good enough to bath in. Just inland is a big salt
lake, which is separated by small dykes for salt mining, which takes
place in the dry season (May until October). The dry times are
sometimes marked by cholera on the island. The rest of the year
there are malaria musquitos; don't forget tablets and a musquito
net.
The hotels and bungalows are located along the southeastern coast.
They offer a nice view over Gili Air and Gunung Rinjani in the east.
The best place for snorkling is the northeastern coast, near the
Blue Coral Bungalow, which has it's name from the blue-colored
corals just offshore. The reef offers a big variety of coral
spiecies and small, colorfull fish.
Gili
Trawangan: Snorkling Paradise
Gili Trawangan, most offshore, is with 3,5 sq.km. the biggest of the
three Gili's. Many of the residents are, like the other people of
the Gili's, descendants of Buginese migrants from South-Sulawesi.
They have interchanged with the local Sasak-population and speak the
Sasak language as well.
On the climax of the tourist season, the months July and August,
many of the daily flood of tourists which leave from Bangsal find a
place to sleap on the beach. All losmen are located along the
eastern coast. The young, mainly European tourists which come to the
Gili's, spend their days on the beack, sunbathing. Snorkling and
playing frisbee are the favorite sports. On many places you can rent
goggles and other diving gear. The reefs off the eastern coast of
Trawangan are reasonable, but beware of the strong currents futher
off the beach, they can be dangerous. A walk around the island takes
about four hours.
You can find good equipped diving centers on the Gili's. Most
centers also take care of the beginners, but also can provide you
with the heavy things, like diving in the strong currents off the
west coast of Trawangan, where divers can see huge shells (tridacna),
as well as sharks, mantha's, and blue tailed rays.
How to Get There:
In the Gili Islands, there is no
shortage of small local boats willing to transport you, from island
to island and back to the mainland. None of boats has any kind of
safety equipment and the waters around the Gili’s can be choppy.
Regardless, they are a handy form of transport and make exploring
the islands easy.
There
are regular shuttle services from
Bangsal
on the main island of Lombok, stopping at all islands. The
trip takes about 15 minutes to Air, 30 min to Meno and 45
min to Trawangan. Around Rp30-40,000 one-way, or Rp70,000 if
including land transfer from Senggigi. Avoid traveling to
Bangsal as captains will wait until the boat is full of
passengers before setting off. Book a trip with Parama
instead, which will travel to and from the islands no matter
how many people they have.
Alternatively,
the Gilis can be visited on a day trip from Senggigi, in
which case you'll get your own little boat and crew to take
you around. The trip across take 1-2 hours each way and is
quite scenic, if a little bumpy when the waves are high.
Available from any travel agent, figure on Rp400,000 for a
tour for two.
Note that the
sea is calmest in the morning and all transport stops
running in the afternoon, well before dark.
Get Around
In a rare
display of foresight, all forms of motorized transport are
banned from the islands: your only choice is horse-drawn
carts, known as cidomo, which are used even to
shuttle around diving gear. However, as the islands are only
a few km in diameter, it's entirely possible to just walk
instead.
Sea and Do
There are no
sights as such on the islands themselves, but the excellent
snorkeling and diving all around is a major draw. Sea
turtles are also common, especially around Turtle Point
just north of Gili Meno. You can rent masks and fins off the
beach, or contact any of the numerous dive shops to arrange
snorkeling or diving at choice spots nearby.
Gili
Trawangan
is the largest of Lombok's Gili Islands and is the only one
to rise significantly above sea level. It is 3km long and
2km wide with a population of about 1000. Of the Gilis,
Trawangan has the most tourist facilities; the pub Tîr na
Nôg claims that Trawangan is the smallest island in the
world with an Irish pub. The most crowded part of Trawangan
lies on the eastern side.
Generally, Gili Trawangan can be reached by public boat from
Bangsal Harbor (located in the northwest coast of Lombok)
for a cost of less than IDR 10,000, taking about 40 to 50
minutes. If you wish to arrive in more comfort the dive
centre Blue Marlin Dive www.bluemarlindive.com offers
speedboat transfers and pick ups from the airport. They will
pick you up at the airport in air-conditioned comfort and
drive you to Teluk Nara Bay where the speedboat will be
waiting for you. The price varies on the number of people.
This speedboat journey is 10 minutes to Trawangan.
A typical room (two-bed room with air-conditioner) costs
from as little as IDR 80,000 to as much as IDR 700,000 per
night, the majority being around IDR 200,000. For those who
want to travel cheaply, there are lots of bungalows rented
for around IDR 50,000 only, and there are as many cheap
eateries and bars around the island as are posh and
expensive ones. Top accommodation includes Kelapa Luxury
Villas, Villa Ombak and Villa Almarik.
Trawangan
has
more of a "party" atmosphere, than Gili Meno and Gili Air,
with all-night parties that rotate amongst a group of venues
each night. The largest of the parties takes place on a
monday night at Blue Marlin and a wednesday night at Tir Na Nog. While during the day, the popular activities for
visitors are scuba diving (PADI certified), snorkeling
(mainly along the northeastern coastline), kayaking and
surfing. There are also stalls that offer horseback riding
as a pastime activity. As small as the island, you can
circle the island with a bicycle within only 45 minutes.
Path along the way is very sandy which makes it more
difficult to pedal your bicycle.
On Gili Trawangan (as well as the other two Gilis), there
are no motorized vehicles. The main means of transportation
are bicycles (rented by locals to tourists) and cidomo (a
small horsedrawn carriage). For traveling to and from each
of the Gilis, locals usually use motorized boats and
speedboats.
Some of the first inhabitants of Gili Trawangan were from
Sulawesi who are fishermen and farmers. Previously Gili
Trawangan was covered in forest and deer lived on the
island.
