Gili Air

The three small Gili islands lie just off the coast of the island of Lombok. A bit of research suggested there was a party island (Gili Trawangan), a quiet island (Gili Meno), and then a mix of the two (Gili Air).

The three Gili islands, viewed from Lombok

Not that we’ve grown out of partying or anything, but the stuff we’d heard and read about the party island painted a picture of Brits Abroad 18-30s so, given that only one of us still qualifies for that age bracket, we went for the halfway house of Gili Air.

The island’s perimeter is a mere 5 km, and there are no motorised vehicles on the island; horse and cart is the only option to get around if you don’t fancy walking with all of your bags in the heat.

Of course, the lack of engine noises and scooter horns provide a tranquil backdrop. Combine that with the warm waters and the circumferential palm lined beach and you have one very chilled out place. It was rainy season too so didn’t feel crowded at all (and didn’t actually rain once!).

Step off the beach and head inland to navigate the network of narrow sand paths which serve all manner of tidy little plots; bungalow plots, farm plots, plots with little restaurants and bars, the odd construction plot – even a 160 kWp solar panel array plot. Cows and chickens roam free, and the roosters are guaranteed to wake you up for sunrise.

There was a good choice of snorkel and dive shops. Snorkeling just off the beach was OK, but the diving was much better. The currents were gentle and we saw a black tip reef shark, cuttlefish and plenty of turtles.

A turtle on its ‘throne’

The cuttlefish was a very fascinating creature to watch. It moved with precision and the patterns under its translucent skin were surreal, as if an electrical storm were raging inside its body.

Food on the island had both Indonesian and Western influences; we tried Lebanese, Italian, and even a delicious Fish and Chips. It was all great quality and excellent value for money.

As with many places in South East Asia, you are never too far from a feral cat. Gili Air was no exception, but the cat population was very tame, nourished, and free of mange – great for cat lovers like us!

It’s the first place we’ve been to on our travels where we thought we would like to return for a future relaxing holiday. My only fear is that the small island will soon become too built up and lose its appeal. I passed quite a few development plots with recently logged trees and piles of building materials waiting to be crafted into prime real estate. I also met a British guy in his late thirties who had just ploughed his life savings into buying a plot and planned to build a youth hostel on it. The time to visit is now!

The only drawback with this place is the process of getting here. You have to come by boat, which means going through a port, which means dealing with the low life pond scum that invariably loiter at ports. Bangsal Harbour on the island of Lombok was teeming with middle aged men out to trick people into overpaying for the boat. We had tried to minimise our contact with these types by buying a combined minibus pickup and boat ticket through our homestay, but even this supposedly reputable company was out to con people out of more money. First they forced us all off the bus 150m from the harbour and into a restaurant where we were hassled by waiters and ticket touts for onward journeys. Then a load of guys started loading our bags onto their horses and carts to complete the journey the bus should have done, and just before moving off informed us that we would need to pay 50,000 rupiahs for the privilege (enough for a meal). I took our bags off the cart and we walked instead. The driver got quite offensive and seemed to be well versed in English insults!

Leaving the island was fairly straightforward for us since we had bought tickets online, but while waiting for our boat it was painful to watch other tourists’ nautical nightmares unfold: “I came here yesterday to arrange a boat and gave my money to an older guy and he wrote my name down on a list…   …Ticket? No, he didn’t give me one, he said I wouldn’t need it since my name was on the list…    …Where is the older guy now? He was right here yesterday”.

Our ‘fast boat’ to Bali finally turned up an hour late, and instead of taking the advertised 45 minutes, it took 2 hours.

We spent three nights here and can say that Gili Air is a lovely quiet and relaxing place with plenty of marine activities. If that takes your fancy then it’s probably worth visiting sooner rather than later judging by the amount of developments underway. Just be on your guard at the ports!