GILI AIR ISLAND LOMBOK WEST COAST
Find various type of hotels on Gili Air. Gili Air has the size almost the same as Gili Meno island and this islet is the
closest to the west shore of Lombok. By motorized boat it takes only 15 minutes from small port
of Bangsal located further north of Senggigi Beach Resort. The island is the most populous land off the
coast which population reached alredy more then 1000 people this year. The local people are the same as
the people on the Gili island who was decended by mixed seafaring people of Bugis, Sasak and an indication
also Balinese. In the past they mainly lived as fishermen, and with the changes happened to the island which was
a destination of travel, the profession of the people also changed into some types of services such as
restaurant, hotel, sea recreation, small vendors, tour guide, suppliers, boating and many others.
Gili Air is a beautiful island, despite the situation that the island is the most crowded one, the whole direction
of Gili Air is encircled by sand beach. The concentration of hotels on Gili Air is located at the south
east where one can find some good bungalows or hotels. While on the west part of the
island is a bit dry and barren, so it is not interesting unless it is chagned into new landscape.
Underwater Indonesia mentioned that 2 sites on the north of Gili Air were the best for scuba
diving on Gilis that are Takat Malang and Takat Sirah sites. The type of fish found were
whitetip sharks, huge trevally, schools of fusiliers, stingrays, anthias, hardes, damsels, and titan trigger fish.
Surface current was 2 knots, at the depth of 20 meters found irregular sandy bottomed oval surrounded
by coarl encrusted ridges, which was an amphitheater of sea life. ( Underwater Indonesia, 1992 : 146-147 ) |
