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Gili
Islands that is the name given to the small
islands off the coast of Lombok. There are many
small islands around Lombok such as Gili Trawangan,
Gili Meno, Gili Air, Gili Gede, Gili Panjang,
and others. The name Gili has the meaning island
as Nusa in Balinese
language. The most important Gilis in our
discussion here are 3 small islands on the west
coast of Lombok those are Gili Air, Gili Meno,
and Gili Trawangan. Since the beginning that it
is known by the travelers these islands have been
recorded as the beautiful island with fine white
sand beaches with crystal clear water and blue
turquoise color. These islands then become a popular
place to relax, snorkeling, diving and swimming,
staying in simple bungalows built on the island
with minimum facilities. During the course of
time then Gili Air, the closest island to the
mainland of Lombok developed into more standard
holiday resort with accommodations, transport,
and some restaurants. At the same time professional
divers also come to the island to research the
underwater around the 3 Gilis. It was found that
the water around the Gilis has a great attraction
such as fair to good variety and numbers of fish
with highlight of Reef white tip sharks and giant
trevally, and visibility of water around
15 meters. Soon both Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan become
islands that were changed into new resort for divers.
Gili Trawangan is the furthest west and the largest
of the tree Gilis. with the size around 3.5 square kilometers.
Gili Trawangan is already inhabited by local people
with the number of population around 700 persons living
her for dozens of years. They are most probably the
people of South
Sulawesi mixed with Balinese and the Sasak of Lombok
mainland. Today on the island of Gili Trawangan there
are many good hotel such as Vila Ombak Hotel, one of
the best accommodation on the island, Dive Indonesia
Hotel is popular for divers with lower budget plan,
Salobai Hotel is also one choice for holiday with standard
facilities. |
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Many small bungalows with minimum facilities
are available on Gili Trawangan, yet due to the heat
of tropical countries with low location the moisture
level are high, so it is actually hard to live without
air conditioner in the room, so many guest tried to
stay at
a Bungalow without air conditioner moved to room with
this facilities. In the type of underwater attraction
it is said the Gili Trawangan has the best with soft
coral garden and Trawangan wall. Gili Meno is the island
in the middle and has the population around 350 person
who already living on Gili Meno at the same time as
people in Gili Trawangan. This island is also said to
have good underwater attraction, especially the west
coast where one can find from shallow spread of staghorn
Acropora hard and soft coral, sponges and gorgonians,
a concentration of dozen harlequin sweetlips, good sized
yellow margined moray, and a cute little blue sported
stingray. While Gili Air is the most crowded island
with population around 1.000 persons and as the closed
island to Lombok mainland, it must have been inhabited
from the beginning as old as west Lombok entering the
civilization. The same as Gili Trawangan and Gili Meno,
Gili Air also offers great place for divers with many
hotels and accommodation such as Gili Air Hotel, the
one most popular accommodation in the island. Dive operators
: Albatross Dive Center on Gili Trawangan is
the best outfit for dives off that island and nearby
Gili Meno. Regulator and BC sets are available for rent
along with the basic sets of snorkeling equipment. Baronang
Dive Center on Gili Air offers diving program around
the island. Diving is year round off Gili Air with visibility
dropping only temporarily after a heavy rain. |
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