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Over the years, the 3 Gili Islands in the north-west of Lombok have been famous with backpacker tourists.
White sand, crystal-clear cyan-blue waters, no police on the islands and a carefree attitude and tolerance of the locals drew budget tourists in droves.
Recently, the islands also attract a different crowd, disco or party seekers who didn’t find their place at the Full-moon parties of Thailand and even upscale developments change the face of those gems in the Lombok straight.
Is it already too late to let your hair down here?
Lombok as Bali’s sister island, did already many things different. After all, it’s an island mainly dominated by Muslims and the Gili’s (Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air) are no exception.
How to get to the Gili’s
There are generally less people on Lombok then Bali and even fewer find their way to the Gili’s, although travel to the islands has improved a lot lately. There are now at least 5 different speedboat operators (Gilicat, GiliGiliFastBoat, Black Pearl, Mahi Mahi and others), who service Gili Trawangan a few times daily directly from Benoa Harbor on Bali or from Padang Bai in Bali’s East coast.
The prices came down a bit, some can be had as low as 750.000 Rupiah for a return ticket. This improves already a lot the cheap, but long ferry journey from Padang Bai, which goes 24 hours a day, but can take from 4-6 hours, just to get from Bali to Lombok alone. Add to that the trip from Senggigi or Mataram up the coast and another short boat ride and you can almost loose a whole day, just traveling to and from the Gili’s from Bali.
And of course there is always the option to fly in, for those who don’t like boats at all, have even less time to spend or just have more money and prefer to travel in style compared to us mere mortals.
What’s different here
You won’t find any dogs here (dogs are considered unclean animals in Islam and Muslims are not allowed to touch them), but plenty of cats and the 5-times-a-day call of the Muezzin to the several prayers dictated by the Koran.
There is no natural water on the islands, even a shower has usually salty water, although some upscale resorts use sweet water from a water boat, that comes up to 5 times daily and pumps fresh water into tanks on the island.
Accommodation prices vary from 80.000 Rupiah per night in a small shack up to 150 USD per night in Villa Ombok, Gili Trawangan’s undisputed luxury king with professionally trained staff and almost olympic-sized pool.
Food is generally more expensive than in cheap Senggigi or Bali, with Nasi Campur or Nasi Goreng starting at 25.000 Rupiah everywhere, a bottle of small Bintang starting from 25.000 Rupiah and with 5-20% Tax and Service Charges generally added to prices.
What’s good
The good things about the Gili’s still remain: the white, powdery sand and the clear, blue water which is so inviting for snorkeling and all other water activities. The marine life is still somewhat intact and you can see muranes, turtles, fire fish and plenty of other creatures just by snorkeling in the shallow waters.
Okay, there are now 2 police men at least on Trawangan – but still you can do what the Gili’s became famous for, relatively unhassled. Smoke is offered to you everywhere and goes for as low as 20.000 per pop or even rolled to finish. Mushroom drinks are widely accepted as an alternative (almost like in Bali) and are offered from 20.000 to 75.000 per cocktail. I would definitely recommend against it, as you don’t know, what quality and how much is used – those drinks can lead you on a very bad trip if taken too much and there are (almost) no available ways of stopping them, once started.
The party life is vary varied, from discos near Villa Ombak or famous Horizontal at the other end (which has sometimes international DJ’s) to Reggaes Bars and cheaper dinking wholes in Trawangan Central, where you can sing along or meet other fellow travelers.
Food options range from Javanese fare, Padang and Seafood to home-made Italian cuisine, Indian to Mexican food options in Central.
What’s annoying
There are also things, that could spoil the image of those pristine islands in the very near future. Mounting heaps of garbage are one of them, growing everywhere and it seems that most people don’t care. Plastic bags are blowing in the wind and starting to pollute the beaches and surrounding waters.
The Cat population (at least on Trawangan) seems to get out of hand currently. They are almost anywhere, begging for food and honestly – the smell of cat piss is literally everywhere, worst felt after a short rain shower.
Constant brownouts will make sure, that you will sweat through your cotton shirt more than once a day. Also during the nights, there is usually less hours electricity than it is. That means, if you paid for an A/C room and the electricity is off, there is nothing you can do – you will still sweat like doing a work out.
During New Year I preferred sleeping on one of the sun beds directly at the beach (as also most local visitors did to save the resort costs), with a fresh breeze and only few mosquitoes making for a light sleep.
So better ask when making a reservation or checking in, if your stay has a generator to kick in when electricity is gone. Otherwise your stay could be a very unpleasant one, if you are not used to tropical nights. Although sleeping at the beach is a good way to check out the sunrise at the Eastern side of Trawangan. 
Now what?
My recommendation of the Gili’s is a clear – Go, do it – now! The positive impressions still outweigh the negative ones, although things are changing fast. The real estate market over there is boiling hot right now. Lombok will probably even get an International Airport soon and things are clearly heating up.
Land lots, beach shacks and resorts are changing hands faster than you can keep up with it. Many businesses falter soon as well again, as it also generally seems to be a problem, to attract reliable staff to stay and work a longer period on the islands. Most of the better staff seems to be ‘imported’ from Bali these days.
There is an increasing trend towards more upscale resorts, holiday and package deals, with steeply rising prices as mentioned by many, who come already for years and years.
What are your experiences about the Gili Islands? Have you been there or planning to go? What would you recommend to first-time travelers to the Gili’s?
Please help out other readers by adding your valuable experiences in the comment form.
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One thing I would add are the incredible strong currents just 10 meters from the shore on the north-eastern side of the beach (the most beautiful one!) which kick in when the slope starts. They can make your snorkeling experience a real nightmare. Even a powerful swimmer like me has no chance at all to swim against them. Your only choice is to let yourself float and swim out of it in a 20 degree angle. In this way you will exit the water more or less near the harbor…
That’s the problem with every soon-to-be-developed tourist attraction. Tourists will flock the place and appreciate it’s beauty but after that, piles and heaps of trash will be left. I hope this kind of attitude will be changed. I also prefer for any beautiful sites just to be left intact and as it is. That could be better as compared to developing a place and commercialize it…
Belated Happy New Year, Chris!
Oh yeah, the currents there are not to be underestimated. I felt them too, Jurgen! Strangely they seem to be stronger the later it is in the afternoon, must be a low-tide/high-tide thing.
Dodong, we humans are strange creature, longing for unspoiled nature and solitude away from it all, but need infrastructure and comfort at the same way. Trying to combine both, we destroy it all. Thanks for the wishes, I will check out El Nido and Davao when going to your home country in about 3 weeks time for 3 months, just to make sure that I see all the nice sights before mass tourism kicks in.
Oh man …… I’m in Utah now and I’m just drooling. ;)
They look amazing. I have United flight benefits now ( which means I can get to Sydney cheap ). That means …. Bali and possibly the Gili’s may become a reality. I hope all has been well Chris!
;)
my 2 cents.
1) no problems with muslims calls on gili air. and it is cheaper there.
2) it is veeery boring. spend 4 days here on nothing just chatting and snorkling. Trawangan are offerring some more antiboring facilities. Reccomend island hoping each day.
3) sand has a lot of corals there, so you can’t lie directly on it.
4) turtles and their numbers is amazing there – sometimes you can see them from beach.
I went to Gili Trawangan 20 years ago and again a few years ago. In 1990 it had the most beautiful corals everywhere (mostly soft corals) I had ever had the pleasure to snorkel. I stayed there for 9 days of simple bliss in a bamboo bungalow, there were not many if any AC rooms in those days. Our room with meals was 8 or 9 US bucks a day. The ocean was a paradise of life, even seen quite a few lion fish. Also Bali at that time had made topless and other forms of nudity forbidden so the flocks who wanted that freedom went to the Gili’s – and lots snorkeling there in the buff. Also the other nice thing was the ease of getting to into the water and the corals could even be seen from the beach – the water was that clear. Currents were strong and we always just went with the flow and then angled in and walked back – often to do it all over again.
And now, a few years back anyway, that was all gone, and I mean really gone – meaning the clean paradise teaming with fish and corals right there and not have to go to some other island that had not been screwed up (and yes I did not see anyone in the buff either). Some parts of the beach had real nasty sand fleas – as many do with dead corals. I got a bunch of nasties by just walking along the beach on the first night and scratched for days afterwards. There are now some quite big efforts going on for reef restoration – google for that and you will find lots of info. But it will take many years just to get it somewhat back and I doubt it will ever be what it once was.
I will say though the rooms are much better and food is really good – even wood fired oven pizza’s – one place was even better than Ubud.
Anyway that’s a snippet of history and made me heartbroken to see how badly the little ocean paradise was wreaked. And most of the people spent time not in the water but lazing during the day and wandering around at night seeking someplace new to get dinner. The whole thing was reversed as before most people were waiting for dawn to get into that fantastical ocean. Cheers !!
Amanda, yup – all is well here and best regards back to Utah! Great additions about the Gili’s by Sergey and Crocket!
A few words about Gilis from me.
I am Russian, live mostly in SE Asia last 1,5 years (and travelled there often another 2,5 years before). Just around 3 weeks ago had finally a chance to visit Gili. Here’s my experience:
First, we arrived from Lombok to Gili Air, as it’s nearest to Lombok, and seems to get the crown of “party place” which Trawangan previously had. It was low season, so, as my friends wanted to find CHEAP accomodation (and 80-100k is not cheap for them, as they’re working in summer in Russia to get money for their trip, and the salaries in Moscow are neither European nor U.S. ones). After 2 hours we’ve found 2 nice rooms in the center of the village and bargained for 50k each room if staying 5 days, much better than those bungalows offered near the harbor for 70-80k.
What I can say about Air? Eastern beach with restaurants, bars and even some hotels looks a bit touristic. Fortunately it was quiet also, so we never seen hordes of tourists there, and the weather already good. Other parts are better and quieter. Still easy to find MJ or mushrooms (but if you’re about that, better go to Meno and go to the fields next day after rain :-) ) for sale, but of course many people tried to rip off us. Finally we got quite a big bag (10 grams i guess, or around half a glass by volume) of KILLER buds for 150k from our place owner. Before we were offered 3x or 4x smaller bags for 100k or even 150k, by the way.
Besides smoking and visiting beaches/snorkeling (bring your own snorkeling mask, don’t support tourist ripoff, it’s not heavy anyway) etc., and, for me, sitting online using my mobile and working – yes, there wasn’t much entertainment on the island. But it’s still very relaxing (except eastern beach), and local people are friendy too. Just some touts on the main eastern beach tried to rip us off for a first day or two, after they gave up. Eastern beach seems to be very popular with drunken bule girls from Bali, who then start to misbehave with local guys there (and they, of course, take this advantage). Beer is not cheap. I spotted Bintang cheaper for 25k only in one place and just in happy hour 5 to 8 pm. They, however, give free snacks with beer (popcorn & kerupuk) – nice value, as no Indomaret to buy bere for 17000-18000 there. And yes, our homestay owner sometimes brought a bottle of Brem (rice wine) and drank it with us, for free. :-D
And about parties – yes there was at least one. And they even had some trance music… sometimes, sometimes it was a total crap. Was offered Ecstasy for 300k (that’s $33) – hell, it’s cheaper than THAT even back in Russia, not to mention more soft drug-tolerant European countries! Guess they wanted to sell me 1 for the price of 3, and then take 2 themselves :-D of course I refused that. Most of the public was, however, local people, not foreigners. Some were just drinking (as I did), some looked as if they took something else… Closed around 2 am.
In Space bar on the northwestern beach, I was told told they’ll have party (maybe better one, as away from tourist beach), but only on 8 may – too late for me, I was in Jakarta that day.
After Air, we headed to Gili Meno. It was quieter (almost totally after midnight), but even better. And i don’t know why Wikitravel says the accomodation there is expensive! Don’t know how about high season, but we got bungalows, for same 50k, not so nice as our homestay on Air, but just 2 min from the beach also. As about food.. well, I never paid anything more than 15k (normally 6-10k) for a single dish on Meno. Mostly dined at warung ya ya just to the right from the harbor.
In a few days, however, we were slowly running out of cash. As such, one day I went to Trawangan. Got out from the boat and, after 5 minutes walk to the left (people said the ATM’s are there) was really scared! Bcos it felt even MORE touristic than, say, Kuta on last year’s May. Hotels (with pools etc.), travel agencies selling boat tickets to Bali for a crazy price (600000+ for a 50 km trip by speed boat? hm I arrived from Surabaya to Lombok by plane for 319 incl. airport tax, and it’s MUCH more far!!), terrific prices posted on many restaurants (how about 30-40k for a mere 100 grams of FISH… on the tropical ISLAND… is it imported there? :-D ). And the beach… so so, anyway i wouldn’t like to go swim in front of that tourist hell. To the right from the harbour situation is a bit better, but the prices are still 2x than on Air/Meno even in local-style restaurants. And touts approached me quite often, even though normally they see I do not look like a “fresh chicken” just from Bule land with lots of euros or US$ to throw.
There were some announcements of ongoing parties on many bars – but I guess it’s something like Kuta/Jl.Legian parties, not same that were there before. Neither of the places didn’t make me want to stay overnight on Trawangan.
So, I even wanted to go back to Meno via Bangsal (to not to wait till 4pm), but unfortunately there were not enough people who wanted to do the same, and if later I just risked to get stranded on Lombok, boats to Meno are not frequent. So, mostly i just sat online drinking overpriced (10-17k depending where) coffee, worked a bit, then finally left to Meno. Sure if I’ll go to Trawangan again – it would be just for the same reason (ATM) as last time.
In short:
Trawangan is next to nothing now, I mean if you’re a traveller and/or from the psytrance party people community, not a 2 weeks tourist wishing to drink and pay 3x for everything all those 2 weeks.
Meno is quiet, but I was not bored there. No parties however, just except one small drinking place near the harbour that was open till 1am. Beaches are the nicest of all 3 Gilis for sure!
Air is not as much spoiled as Trawangan, and seems to still have some parties (maybe in the high season more/better ones, but afraid more Bali tourists too). Also, the local community certainly outnumbers foreigners (in low season), so you don’t feel like you’re in tourist place. If you’re concerned about that – just stay away from eastern (looking to Lombok) beach.
And yes, it was a good idea to visit Gilis while it’s low season. If (more correctly to say “when” :-) ) I’m in Indo in high season, probably I’ll avoid both Bali and Gili, and head to some less spoiled places.
Dmitry, great update about the Gilis. Definitely a different perspective and very detailed. And even on a budget, you can still have good bargains there, that’s good to know. Thanks a lot!
Regarding the synthetic pills and whatever they sell there, I can only recommend to be cautious and refrain from it. Most of it is probably not real, as they mainly sell pure sugar or pills stretched with flour or whatever. There was even an article in the Bali Times, that police arrested a dealer of that stuff. But he was only fined 5.000 Rupiah (0.50 USD), because all things he sold were made of sugar. Tourists caught with that merchandise routinely pay a fortune in bribes (and I mean tens of thousands of $$ or Euros) or rot in Kerobokan jail for many years to come. Do I hear the words double standard? Lol! Better stick with natural merchandise in Lombok and none at all (maybe only MMs, coz it’s part of the culture) in Bali.
Remember: 1 joint can get you 10 years in jail here – and they even jailed a 70-year old guy who smoked it against his back pain.
Personally I would avoid the Gilis. I went in the 1990s and then again this year in April and I could not believe how much they have changed, it is now just an extension of Thai islands where young people go and drink.
Hey Chris,
I am disappointed to hear about all of the damage the influx of tourism has done to this once beautiful island. I think that the heaps of garbage is probably leading to the increases in the cat population (and cat piss smell). It is truly a shame.
Yup!