The Gili Islands, a group of three small islands located off the north-western shore of Lombok. Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air are technically part of Lombok, but have emerged as a popular destination for peace loving travellers. Gili T known for its late evening island parties is truly a blessing for couples. As nature loving the people travelling here are so are the authorities. Yesss, it’s a motor free zone. The only mode of transport is horse cart, on foot of course and the most nostalgic like old school days – Bicycle.
HOW TO GET HERE ?
Gili islands can be reached from Bali or Lombok. It takes around 3 hours by fast boat from Bali and around 15 mins from Lombok Bangsal Harbour. Proximity to Lombok made me visit Gili Islands from Lombok rather than Bali.
We offer a special LOMBOK + GILI ISLAND package perfect for couples.
GILI TRAWANGAN
Of the three Gili’s , Gili Trawangan or Gili T as it is called, is most famous and crowded mainly because its island parties. Gili Meno and Air are more peace loving and preferred by families. As you can see in my Lombok blog, my local friends dropped me till the public ferry which goes to Gili T and it took about 15-20 mins to reach Gili T. Gili T is the biggest of the three Gili’s yet it measures just 3-4 km from one end to the other. On arriving at Gili T, I could spot ample of tourists on the Island, totally the opposite of Lombok.
Walk to my hotel
My hotel was around 2 kms away from the harbor, on the other side of the island. Since I did not want to take the horse cart option, I decided to walk just like majority of the people on this island do. It was really sunny and the road was full of sand and uneven making it difficult to walk with bags, however the road was in parallel with the sea and water was so blue <3
THINGS TO DO IN GILI T:
ISLAND HOPPING
Glass bottom boat ride with snorkeling is the most popular thing to do on Gili islands. They take you to the famous snorkeling spots around the three Gili islands. Price is the same on the whole island, however you will find many shops promoting different schemes. Like morning trips for snorkeling were cheaper and had more people in the boat, and afternoon trips had lesser people. Obviously i chose the second option, it was for 150k IDR ( aroud 750 Rs)
The first spot is near Gili Meno island and the underwater statues are the best thing you will ever see.
Beautiful under water statues.
I dint have a gopro camera so here is the pic from the internet. It looks stunning. The next spot was turtle point. You just have to swim and follow the tour guide and he will show you exactly where turtles are. Gili T is famous for turtle watching. The third spot was kind of fish sanctuary but after snorkeling in Secret Gili’s in Lombok , this felt very common.
SUBWING
This is the most exciting thing to do in Gili T. The SUBWING board is built from two separate wings which are connected with a rotatable swivel. By holding on to the front edge of each wing with one hand, it can easily be controlled in all directions. Steering is done by pulling or pushing the wings up or down. Push both wings downwards to dive, and pull both upwards to resurface.
How to use Subwing
If you want to spin, simply pull one wing up and push the other one down. A single hand grip is mounted between the wings at the rear and is designed to be used when equalizing ear pressure and when one hand is needed. The SUBWING board is pulled by a boat to give a thrilling experience.
Subwing board through which you can control your movements
The cost for doing subwing is around 2500 INR and each person is pulled for 25 mins for 2 times. Because of my tight schedule i couldnt do this activity.
HORSE RIDING
STUD stables provides nice healthy horses for horse riding near the famous water swings providing a perfect picture. These horses can take a dip in the water too while riding.
These horses are well kept and taken good care off 
The cost for horse riding is pretty expensive for Indian standards, it is around 1500-2000 INR for 30-40 min ride. But you can hire the horse just for pictures and ride on it till the spot for 500 INR.
Stud Stable
Stud stable is around 15-20 mins walk from the habour. I went in the morning to avoid the crowd and the horse was really calm and stable all the time and allowed to click loads of pictures.
Moody horse!
Just kidding 😛 the horse was not stable at all, i wonder how the guide took so many stable pictures. Maybe because he worked in a stable xD
TAKE PICTURES ON THE FAMOUS WATER SWINGS AND HAMMOCKS IN GILI T
Off lately there have been many places following this concept of having swings in water. You will find atleast 5-6 places having water swings. The Exile has the famous swing and hammock combo.
Famous water swings in Gili 
The place where i stayed
TRY THE NIGHT MARKET IN GILI T
To be honest i had read really good reviews about the night market saying that it has fresh sea food and chicken items at cheap price. The variety was really good but i dint find it cheap at all or maybe i was overcharged.
You get what you pick! 
Chicken satay with rice and coke
We have the choice to pick any of these items along with rice and they will charge accordingly. I chose to have Chicken Satay sticks along with rice and the price was 55k IDR (around 300 INR). Which was expensive for indonesian standards because the place i was staying had it for the same price with much better atmosphere and hygiene. However this place has amazing desserts for cheap price.
Lovely desserts.
ROAM AROUND GILI ISLAND ON A BIKE
Since cars are banned in Gili’s, renting a bicycle is the best option.
Pink colored bikes in Pink Coco resort 
You can spot the locals riding these cute electric bikes as well.
Cutest mode of transport in Gili
You can also walk around the beautiful white sand beaches and watch sunset.
Do check out our special LOMBOK + GILI ISLAND PACKAGE.
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