Gili Islands

The Gili Islands

The Gili Islands are Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan. From Senggigi it’s easy to arrange a day trip by motorized skiff to any of the three Gili Islands.  Gili, in the language of the Sasaks, means “Island’, and these are clustered together. The Gili Islands, as they are known collectively, are located 20 km north from Senggigi and within 30 – 60 minutes of the North west coast of Lombok. Coral gardens grown in the clear waters around the islands on the Lombok Strait. These are Gili Air, the nearest island, could be reached in 10 to 15 minutes by outrigger boat from Bangsal harbor, near Pamenang. Gili Trawangan and Gili Meno where blue coral swarming with tropical fish beckon divers. Each island boasts excellent beaches and diving thanks to extensive coral reefs that encircle each island. It is these coral reefs that are home to the blue coral a coral said to grow in only two places in the world the Caribbean and here, off the coast of Lombok.

Alternatively we could drive north from Senggigi along a beautiful windy road that hugs the hilly coasline to Bangsal where skiffs will ferry, we out to any of the islands. Traditional boats departing from Bangsal (north of Malibu) ferry passengers out to any of the islands. Gili Trawangan which takes sixty minutes by boat mainly offers relatively cheap accomodation while Gili Air, offers the best range of accomodation. Gili Meno is the least developed or crowded of the islands and therefore is perfect for relaxing. The Gili Islands offers excellent beaches and diving thanks to extensive coral reefs that surround each island. All three Gilis offers excellent beaches and diving thanks to extensive coral reefs that surround each island. If we don’t dive, we could still snorkel and enjoy the coral that is just a few metres off shore.

Among Gili Lampu, Gili Sulat and Gili Lawang, three islets lie off the coast of North East of Lombok. The sea around these white sandy jewels are home to an amazing array of colorful marine life, making it and ideal place to swim and snorkel. These beautiful islets could be reached by boat from Labuhan Lombok.