Calling all who've been...Lombok Gili Islands!

[Inkypoo]

Hi everybody!

Did a search with "Lombok" and came up with a couple of relevant threads...they're good but there's still some stuff that I'm hoping to garner from any kind soul bursting with the "traveller's spirit" and willing to share their experiences.

Specifically.......

1. Can anyone share some nittygritty factlets regarding staying on the Gili Islands esp Trawangan.

Stuff like is there some small, mum&pop shop selling water?

What are the local establishments serving food in the quieter regions ? I'm trying to avoid the much talked about party-crowd supposedly haunting this island

Can you get things like common-sized batteries?

etc etc etc....

2. What are the various dive operators' "styles" on Trawangan? Is there one that tries their best to help you with reasonable requests versus one that "Everything no no no" ?

Never mind the fanciest boat etc etc....the personal touch goes infinitely further I say....

3. Any other nittygritty bit of your priceless experience from these islands be they diving-related or not is much welcomed and appreciated!

Thanks a bunch

 

[Zept]

Why Trawangan? If you don't want to be with the party crowd, why not stay on one of the other islands?

I was on Gili Meno a couple of weeks ago. Very, very quiet... maybe 15-20 tourists staying on the island. Kind of like being at a party that everyone else had left, but very peaceful once we got used to it.

When are you planning to go?

Z

 

[DiveYAK]

...and I don't know much about Trawangan but I stayed on Gili Air for a couple of weeks and had a fantastic time. Did my diving with Blue Marlin who were pretty good to me but have to recommend Reefseekers as well as all the reports from other divers I met were great and you may receive a more personal touch there. Plus they run a Turtle conservation program which gives them bonus points.

When I was there, Gili Air was a pretty quiet place and when I wasn't in the water diving or snorkeling I spent my time lounging in the sun growing fat on good food, thinking how incredibly lucky I was to be able to afford such an easy existance.

All the essentials for sustaining life on the island were available, though beyond food, water and a good book I don't really know what you'd need. Standard batteries certainly won't be a problem. Good food could be got at pretty much any place around the island. All of the cottage operators will cook you up a feast for next to nothing. Alternatively if you're not on the backpackers budget that I was on or you feel the need for something more western then there are hotel restaurants and cafes around that can cater to you.

Gili Air is a very small island taking about 30mins to walk all the way around and it's much more peaceful than Trawangan. Trawangan is only a bit bigger but I don't think it would be too hard to hide from the 'party crowd' if you wanted to. It's worth baring in mind that you can stay on any of the islands you want and just pay a local to ferry you about. It's only a 5 minute boat ride between them all. You could even swim it if ya brave

Last piece of advice is to find a toothless, 80 year old man who doesn't speak English, with a ramshackle, barely buoyant boat to take you out on a fishing trip. Oh how pleased I was at my shrewd bargaining prowess and will to avoid the crowd when far far out to sea his engine blew up and he lept overboard and started swimming for shore leaving me bobbing about for over 2 hours wondering whether I was supposed to follow him!!

Anyway hope this is of some use. Not a lot I know but it's all I got.

D

 

[Inkypoo]

Well anyway I've been to Gili Trawangan and back

It was only a short dive getaway so I'm hardly an expert on the area but I'll just like to contribute my little insignificant bits:

First off on Gili Trawangan there is no free-flowing source of FRESH water, that means you have to bathe, wash your gear in salty groundwater etc etc etc.
The way to get around this is to nicely ask the locals to assist you in the purchase of 20LITRE-sized AQUA (local brand of water) bottles of water and use these for whatever you like esp. if you have photographic eqpt, computers to rinse.

Tourist volume is really low in this part of Indonesia at this point so DON'T be expecting fresh seafood on the island.....everything I ate was a little off.....

Diver traffic is currently really low too so that's a good thing in that you would likely have dive sites to yourself and not bump into more humans than fish.

......that's all for now