The easiest way to reach 3 Gilis on west of Lombok is from Bali both by flight
or by sea. Flight from Bali is daily using small plane such as CN25 with capacity 36 pax or Fokker 28 with
the capacity of 50 pax. It needs 25 minutes flying from Bali to Mataram international airport.
There are also international flight from Singapore direct to Mataram, but the frequency is still very small
only twice a week, as well as from other cities of Indonesia such as Jakarta with stop in Surabaya only
4 times a week. From Mataram airport need to ride a car to small port called Bangsal on the west coast
of Senggigi Beach from where one has to take motorized boat to reach the Gilis, with 15 minutes to the
closest Gili Air, and 30 minutes to reach the farthest Gili Trawangan. By sea can be reached from
Padangbai port in Bali by ferry boat takes between 4 to 5 hours to cross Lombok strait to the port of
Lembar located on the south west of Lombok. From Lembar needs 45 minutes by car to the small port of
Bangsal. The fame of Gili islands was started since 1980s initiated by divers that already explored various
diving sites in Indonesia including Bali such as Menjangan island and Tulamben beach. Gili islands are said
one of the best scuba diving site in Indonesia by Underwater Indonesia edited by David Pickell. That
the quality of the site is summed as follows
Reef type Coral slopes and sandy bottom, some walls
Visibility 15 meters, fair
Current Gentle, occasionally 2 knots
Coral Good variety and fair amount some bombing damages
Fish Fair to good variety and numbers
Highlight Reef whitetip sharks, and giant trevelly at Takat Malang ( Underwater Indonesia, 1992 p.143 )
The popularity of of Gilis has not been only for their scuba
diving sites but also a place for real relaxing, such as swimming,
snorkeling or just strolling on the beach with it's clear
blue water and beautiful beaches. Besides the traveling facilities
to Gilis has been fare enough, that the beauty of the islands
also strongly interests people to spend their holiday in one
of the islands, not only foreign travelers but also domestic
travelers within Indonesia whom has more budget to spend,
as holiday in Gilis means a little bit more expensive compared
to availability of places at other areas. This is due partly
to the transportation from airport to the pier and from pier
has to charter speed boat or motorized boat. The name Gili
means island in Sasak language, so when we mention Gili island,
it means "islands". We speak about the tree Gilis
on west coast of Lombok, near Senggigi beach. Here lies 3
Gilis, namely Gili Air the closest to the shore, Gili Meno,
and Gili Trawangan, the farthest. Gili Trawangan with the
size of 3.5 sq. kms, is the largest of the three, counting
population 700 persons. According to Karl Muller an expert
of Indonesian underwater, Gili Trawangan has the best sites
for diving which is called Andy's Reef and Grand Clam. The
presence of sharks are also often that can be approached up
to 4 or 5 meters. Other than sharks there are mantas and remoras.
The type of shark here is reef whitetips. Fish can found here
were blue-line snappers, goldman's sweetlips, surgeonfish,
Moorish idols and other common reef fish. Gili Meno with the
size almost half of Gili Trawangan has 350 people. Gili Meno
also has some hotels and bungalows like Gili Trawangan. The
sites around Gili Meno is considered easy and plenty to see,
so it is good for beginners. There are dozens of harlequin
sweetlips, yellow margined moray, blue spotted stingray, lobsters,
soldier fish, and angel fish. Gili Air, although it's size
almost half of Gili Trawangan it has 1.000 population. Gili
Air has best dive sites and also has more sharks on a narrow
bottom channels which each as the resident of reef white tip sharks.
Find your suitable hotels on Gili island for
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