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.
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