The Gili Islands Adventure Guide
The Gili’s are 3 islands off the coast of Lombok that can be reached by a 2 hour boat ride from Bali. They are a trio of paradise islands close to one another, covered with palm trees, white sand beaches, and blue waters. The main thing to do on the islands are to relax on the beach, swim, and snorkel. The islands were affected by the August 2018 Lombok Earthquake, and are being rebuilt. They are safe to visit and need tourism to support the local communities of Lombok, where most of the island workers live.
How to Get to the gilis
We recommend using Blue Water Express to get to the islands. Blue Water Express has a door to door pick up service (for Seminyak, Kuta, Uluwatu and the surrounding areas) and will take you right to their harbour near Sanur. This means you won’t have to worry about getting there from your accommodation. Blue Water Express leaves everyday at 8 AM, and it takes around 2 hours to get to Gili T. You can also take Blue Water Express to Gili Air. On the way back to Bali, the boats leave Gili T around 11:15 AM and get back to mainland around 1:30 PM.
Blue Water Express not only has a stellar safety record (which is a rare gem to find in South East Asia), but they also offer water and candy on board. They are committed to keeping the islands clean and plastic-free, which is a major bonus for us and why we chose to use them for all our boat trips.
all about the islands
We frequently get asked “which island is the best?”. That is all relative to the experience you are looking for. Each island has beaches and blue waters, all have snorkeling and diving opportunities, and amazing sunset spots. Some islands, such as Gili Meno, are more rustic and lowkey than Gili T, which has a big nightlife. Gili Air is more laidback than Gili T, but has more food and accommodation options than Gili Meno. We stayed at all 3, and it was really interesting seeing the differences between these coastal islands.
Gili Trawangan
Gili Trawangan is the largest of the islands and the most built up . Here you will find a many food and accommodation options, as well as a vibrant nightlife with organized pub crawls. Click here for all you need to know about Gili T.
Gili Air
Gili Air is the medium size island, and is our personal favourite. It is definitely a lot more peaceful and less busy than Gili T, making it a dreamy honeymoon destination. There is still a wide range of options in terms of accommodation and food, and you can bike around the whole island in 40 minutes. Click here for our Gili Air Guide.
Gili Meno
Gili Meno is the smallest and least developed of these islands. It is super laidback and here you will catch a glimpse of villages and everyday life for locals. It has not yet been fully rebuilt from the 2018 Lombok Earthquake, and many of the restaurant and cafes that were open before are still shut down.
The main thing to see here are the underwater statues. You can find them on the west side of the island directly in front of the huge white sign that says Bask. Be sure to bring water shoes to go into the water, and you can easily rent snorkelling equipment from the stalls on the beach.
The food choices here are more on the limited side but we did enjoy Mahamaya Resturant for sunset, Little Bali Resturant, and Yaya Warung.
We stayed at Les Villas Ottalia, which is super cute and cheap! For about $20 USD, we got a room with AC, mosquito net, with a private bathroom that had hot water, and breakfast! They also have a restaurant on site and a really big pool to cool off in.
getting around on the islands
On the islands, there are no motorized vehicles permitted. Your only way is to get around by push bike or horse-drawn cart. The cost of a bike rental for the day is around $5 USD, while you should not pay more than 150,000 for a horse cart anywhere around the island. We tried avoiding taking the horse carriages as much as possible as the horses are kept in horrible living conditions and given salt water to drink. We actually chose to walk 30 minutes in the blazing heat with our bags to avoid taking the carriage, and are hoping that if more tourists boycott this unnecessary cruelty, they’ll start implementing electric scooters or bicycle carts instead.
Getting from one island to another
It is relatively easy to get between the islands and depending on your budget, there are 3 different ways:
The first one is to rent a private speedboat, which costs around $60 to get between the islands. This private transfer will leave whenever you want it to, and you can easily arrange this through your hotel or by the tourist agencies along the board walk.
Another, more budget friendly alternative is to pay for a semi private boat transfer, where you will be sharing the boat with a few others. These boats leave at set times during the day, and cost around $8 per person. It takes around 10 minutes to go from one island to the next. Tickets can be bought at the boat agencies along the board walk at the harbour.
The last, and cheapest alternative, is to take the public ferry. The ferry operates twice a day, typically leaving between 8-9 am and 3-4 pm. The ferry costs $4 per person and takes around 30 minutes to reach Gili Air from Gili T, with a stop in Gili Meno. Since we were on a budget, we opted for this method of transfer.