Time to Chill on Gili Air and Lombok

We love Gili Air

Our plans were never set in stone.  Apparently that is the best way to travel and man, were they were right.  It was a great idea to spend some ‘chill out’ time on Gili Air.

The closest island to Lombok, Gili Air is one of three islands that form the Gili’s.  Gili Trawangan is know as the ‘party island’ and apparently even the most liberal of travellers can get quite an education….um, didn’t really sound like us (we would have been known as the grandparents of the party).  Gili Meno is the smallest of the three and is well known as the island for honeymooners, um – nope, don’t fit that bill either.  Gili Air was just right. 

The island is the only one to have it’s own water supply, therefore it is quite lush compared to the other two which are more arid.

Is it expensive?

The only food source that we have seen growing on the island is coconuts.  We ran (well kinda ran/walked) the coastal loop track every morning and it is 5.5km round trip so that gives you an idea of the size.

Everything has to be brought in by boat so yes, things are more expensive than on the main islands of Lombok and Bali.  It’s still a cheap destination though as most of our meals range from $3-$4 and beer is only a little more expensive than at Bali.

If you come here June, July, August, expect to pay higher prices and rooms are hard to come by as this is when the tourist season peaks and the population swells quite considerably.

We managed to barter our accommodation at Balengku Homestay down to $23nz per night but you can expect to pay $30 or more.  There is only one large resort on the island so far therefore the majority of accommodation are home stays, bungalows and guest houses.

Wifi is a problem and comes and goes and slow.  This has proved challenging when we are trying to plan for the next stage of our trip but that can wait until we are back in Bali.

Island activities

The island is ringed by a very pretty beach with some good snorkelling offshore.  There are a number of boat trips out to other diving and snorkelling spots and there are a heap of diving schools.  If you are lucky enough, you can maybe spot a turtle.  We didn’t do the snorkelling as we felt we have snorkelled the best of the best when in Pemuteran.

Pushbikes are easily hired and there is quite good (albeit confusing)network of sealed paths (and bumpy ones) around and throughout the island making it easy to explore.  There are no petrol driven transport at all so expect to dodge the horses and carts, push bikes and the odd electric scooters.

As with the other islands, the majority of the population here is Muslim and there is a large mosque towards the south-central part of the island.  My advise is do not stay in any guesthouses within close proximity.  The speakers boom out the call to prayer at all times during the day – starting around 4am!  Our first night’s stay was straight in front of the speaker I swear.  Even earplugs did nothing to block out the hypnotic chanting.  Our second guesthouse was at a more respectable distance which muffled it enough to sleep through.

Day Trip to Lomok

We jumped on a shuttle boat to Lombok, about a 20 minute ride costing $3.50 each one way.  There is also a public boat costing $1.20 but you sit and wait until they get 40 people before they go.  As we had a driver waiting for us at the other end, we needed to get there by a certain time.

Lombok was a surprise to me as I had no idea that it was as big as it is. They have a new International Airport which opened in 2011 which has boosted visitor numbers to both Lombok and the Gili’s.

They predominantly grow tobacco and rice and there are plenty of picturesque rice fields which reminded us so much of Vietnam.

Towering over the northern half of the island is the impressive Mt Rinjani.  It is Indonesia’s second highest volcano at 3726m.  We gave the trek to the top a miss this time and headed for the waterfalls – Tiu Kelep and Sendang Gile.  It was a good 1.5 hour drive from the boat landing so that filled in most of the day.

We paid extra for a guide which was a good idea as they knew where the best stream crossing were and told us where it was safe to swim.  The entrance and guide was $15 per person which was bartered down but initially we thought was quite pricey.  By the end of the hike though we were stoked and agreed that it was worth it.

As we weren’t time pressed to get back to Gili A we paid the cheaper price and waited for the public boat to get full enough to head off.

Well it certainly was full to capacity along with bags of rice, trays of eggs, produce of all sorts of shapes and sizes.  What made it worse was that we had to encounter an monsoon type downpour and the waves came up.

I clearly missed the safety briefing and could not spot a life jacket in site.  Visions of ‘Boat People’ came to mind and made Scotty take a GoPro photo as evidence in case they found it on the bottom of the sea.

Needless to say, we made it back safely, soaked to the skin but still laughing and smiling.  It was an experience!!

Is Gili Air worth a visit?

I’m always careful in recommending places for people to visit as it is like telling everyone what is the best dish to order at a restaurant. Everyone’s tastes, likes and dislikes are different.

If you want to see the real deal, not the flashy resort type and keen on getting some really quality ‘island time’ then I would have to say a big ‘YES’ do come to stay for a while.  There is building going on around the island and we hope that this island vibe will be able to continue to keep it’s charm and authenticity.

If you want to put this place on your ‘Bucked List’ then try to make it sooner rather than later.

Enjoy our video showing you a quick snippet of our time on Gili A and Lombok