3 days in Gili Trawangan

[Ardy]

Hi Guys, which is good diveshop in Gili T. Done a fair bit of diving and really don't want to be with a group of trainee divers.

I understand there is very little macro stuff to photograph, but what do you think are the best dive sites? Proviso is that I am old and don't do strong currents and anything over 30m anymore....Also if you are a photographer any suggestions what to look for?

 

[matts1w]

All the big players on Gili T will take care of you and be certain you are diving with others of similar ability...or at least who wont hold you back. I would head to Blue Marlin or Manta Dive as they are both good people. You will probably find more people with experience at Blue Marin as they do a bunch of tech stuff too.

There is plenty of macro to shoot. You will find all the usual Indo creatures: nudis, ghost pipefish, scorpionfish, rhino pious, leaf scorpion fish, porcelain crabs, orang crabs, etc.. You will see more turtles than anything else.

Most of the time the water is warm and currents are pretty chill. Nor will you be expected to dive past 30 meters.

Best advice I can give you is if possible switch your stay to Gili Air. Do some reading about the difference bewteen Gili Air and Gili T. I suspect Gili Air is much more your speed...it certainly is mine. That being said all three islands are magical and my favorite non-hardcore diving spot in Indonesia.

 

[FindingMenno]

Haven't been to Gili T, but absolutely loved Gili Air. Nice balance between enough happening, and laidback small island vibe.
By the stories, Gili T seemed too much a party island for me. But again, based on hearsay, no personal experience.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Again , really recommend Gili Air. ON the last two occasions we were there there were enough very experienced divers to fill a boat at Manta Dive. One of the instructors at Manta now has his own shop , called Gili Phili. It doesn’t teach any courses and is for experienced divers only. They do one two tank dive in the morning and possibly more in the afternoon.

 

[xmass-Eve]

Manta Dive, on Gili T (or Gili Air)... They are one of the oldest dive centres and safest ones. Max 4 people per team and all same level. There are more than enough instructors and DMs to take you out.

Ask for the currents before you go. Hanns reef is most of the times low current and you can see some ghostpipe fish, frogfish or shrimps if you're lucky. They also have a divesite in Lombok what is macro diving without any current at all. There has to be enough people to go though. It used to be one of my favorites.
Shark point can be cool, Deep Turbo too, but not when current is to strong. Depending on the moon, it can be raging...
Ask for photographers only in your team. Ben, the boss, will do as much as he can to comply to your wishes.

 

[xmass-Eve]

All the big players on Gili T will take care of you and be certain you are diving with others of similar ability...or at least who wont hold you back. I would head to Blue Marlin or Manta Dive as they are both good people. You will probably find more people with experience at Blue Marin as they do a bunch of tech stuff too.

There is plenty of macro to shoot. You will find all the usual Indo creatures: nudis, ghost pipefish, scorpionfish, rhino pious, leaf scorpion fish, porcelain crabs, orang crabs, etc.. You will see more turtles than anything else.

Most of the time the water is warm and currents are pretty chill. Nor will you be expected to dive past 30 meters.

Best advice I can give you is if possible switch your stay to Gili Air. Do some reading about the difference bewteen Gili Air and Gili T. I suspect Gili Air is much more your speed...it certainly is mine. That being said all three islands are magical and my favorite non-hardcore diving spot in Indonesia.

Rhinopias very, very difficult to find... In five years I have seen two. And you mean Orang Otang crabs? Never ever seen one here. Hairy squad lobsters, porcelain crabs, yes. Nudis, cool ones mostly at Meno Wall/Air wall but still... There isn't much macro on these Gilis... The Lombok Gilis thats another story (around Gili Gede, Gili Asahan... there is plenty).

 

[matts1w]

Rhinopias very, very difficult to find... In five years I have seen two. And you mean Orang Otang crabs? Never ever seen one here. Hairy squad lobsters, porcelain crabs, yes. Nudis, cool ones mostly at Meno Wall/Air wall but still... There isn't much macro on these Gilis... The Lombok Gilis thats another story (around Gili Gede, Gili Asahan... there is plenty).

Here's a Facebook album of some pics around Gili while diving with Blue Marine (Best shop on Gili Air) from a year or so ago. I had thirty ninth graders doing open water class so there were more of a priority than my camera. I am pretty sure there will be enough macro to keep you happy. It's ain't Lembeh or Ambon, but I love the Gilis nonetheless.

Gili Air, October 2016 | Facebook

I spent ten minutes with a whale shark on Deep Turbo several years back. Sometimes things fall in to place. That being said, I have never seen a frogfish in the Gilis. Sometimes they don't.

Cheers.

 

[xmass-Eve]

Here's a Facebook album of some pics around Gili while diving with Blue Marine (Best shop on Gili Air) from a year or so ago. I had thirty ninth graders doing open water class so there were more of a priority than my camera. I am pretty sure there will be enough macro to keep you happy. It's ain't Lembeh or Ambon, but I love the Gilis nonetheless.

Gili Air, October 2016 | Facebook

I spent ten minutes with a whale shark on Deep Turbo several years back. Sometimes things fall in to place. That being said, I have never seen a frogfish in the Gilis. Sometimes they don't.

Cheers.

I don't say they aren't there. I've seen two in five years of living on Gili T, diving all the dive sites around the three islands... But finding good macro is really difficult. The moment we know there was a frogfish, rhinopias, leaf scorpion fish... we told each other. You go on the next dive and they are gone...
I guess that you dived Hanns Reef lots, if you dived of Gili Air. It's the best close site and it's suitable for all levels. It has more chance for macro. But you can't keep on diving that site...

There are more mantas and devil rays lately, I have seen from my friends... but macro... That's why we had a dive site in Lombok, with seahorses, frogfish, different ghost pipefish, wasp fish and such. I loved that dive site. Went as much as I could... I can show you lots of pics too, with lots of macro... Taken over 5 years...

 

[Scubamat]

Depends on what you want. There are dive shops all along the beach I just checked the reviews of the closest one to my villa and dived with them. The Gili islands are a good place to go and relax with some diving inbetween as it all site within 10 minutes boat ride of the island.

I dived with mango dive(SSI) while there. I had a enjoyable time never more than 4 in a group while I was there, a couple of times it was just me and DM they would drop us at an advance site then drop the remaining OW divers at a shallower easier part of the site. Drift diving there is fun but not so good if you're into photographing small things. Lots of turtles, moray, some octopuses and few sharks.

Just check the dive store speak to someone to find out if you can do what you like. All dive ops there charge the same price so that isn't a factor. Diving can be flexable If the op doesnt have packed boats I just showed up in time for the dive I wanted and went.

Btw nitrox is limited availability on the island so plan to dive air while there.

 

[xmass-Eve]

Btw nitrox is limited availability on the island so plan to dive air while there.

Nitrox is always available IF you go to a bigger shop where they also fill EAN tanks. Mango is a very small dive shop. Nitrox is just really expensive because they need to bring the 100%O2 tanks over from the mainland.