My favourite five in Gili Air

Gili Air is pristine, like a postcard with aqua, deep blue and green waters, and non-touristy. The only form of transportation on the island is horse carriages and bicycles. We had done a day trip to the Gilis (Trawangan and Meno) when we visited Sengigi in Lombok, two years back. I remember telling Mandar, I wish I could come back to this paradise and stay longer. Wishes do come true.

We selected Gili Air over the other two Gili islands since it is balanced, unlike the very touristy Gili Trawangan or the really quiet Gili Meno. It was a great choice.


The Gilis are part of Lombok, the lesser known sister of Bali. Locals tell me that Lombok today is how Bali was 20 years back. We stayed here for 8 days at Tyrrell Cottages (very cheap and basic backpacker's cottage), for 3 days and Omah Gili (superior cottages, we graduated to flashpacker's budget) for 5 days. The initial four days were full of nervousness and excitement of diving - textbook to read, videos to watch, pool sessions, four super dives, swimming test and finally the exam. Rest of the days, we celebrated in post-dive frenzy.

Omah Gili Cottage

Tyrrell Cottage 

My experiences in Gili Air have been many, but here are the best of the lot!

1. Diving - Ofcourse, goes without saying, it's as thrilling as the bungy jump we did few years back, only bungy was free fall, no techicalities were involved and required a moment's courage while diving is determination, training, technical, breath control and required extended courage. 

2. Island walk or jog - An island so small, you can walk around the entire island in an hour or so. And its beautiful. We did an evening walk, stopped for sunset, collected shells, watched travellers, and discussed life. And a morning jog, inside the village, finding our way, checking out the little Warungs and cottages. 

3. Eat, drink and make merry - There are a couple of popular bars and restaurants along the coast. Scallywags, had the best setting, gorgeous local and international food, but steep prices. For special days, like Mandar's b'day, Scallywags, was the perfect place. I would vote Chill Out bar as my overall favourite, especially the couch number 1, which luckily we managed to get every time. We had lunch, evening drinks, and dinner there. The food is great, views of the sea are amazing and of course, prices are reasonable. You could just idle on the couch here whole day. My favourite Lombok dish was the "Ikan Kuning" or "Fish in Yellow Sauce" here. It was a spicy and light soup, with fish cubes and lots of local vegetables. 

4. Stare, read, swim- Time just flies while you grab a book, watch divers and snorkellers, watch the sea changing shades, and go for a swim. 

5. Warung Muslim Nasi Campur - All the dive instructors at Manta Dive, get their lunch from this place in the village. I ate the Nasi Campur twice and Mandar thrice. It was that good. Nasi Campur is the staple dish in Indonesia, along with satay. Its a mixture of nasi or rice with veggies, sambal or sauce, crackers, shredded chicken or fish, egg thrown in. Check out Mandar's post here.