Gili Air, our favourite place ever

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Gili islands are tiny islands close to Lombok, Indonesia. It might sound a little boring now after all the other places we loved, but Gili Air is an absolute paradise, a perfect place for holidays and a perfect place to settle down and stay forever (we wish). First we spent a few days on quite touristy Gili Trawangan and did lots and lots of snorkelling and it was just amazing, white beaches and the most blue sea and so many fish swimming all around us. But at the end of the day, Gili T is a bit too touristy and a bit too overcrowded and there is too many pubs and parties for such a small island so we decided to get the short 15 minute boat over to Gili Air which we heard was a lot quieter, and it just got perfect. Instantly it became the favorite place of our travels. Gili Air is a lovely tropical island with a very special and peaceful athmosphere. I could spend hours talking about the beautiful beaches and sunsets and fish and turtles and romantic evenings but no words can describe how beautiful it is in reality so if you ever have the chance definitely go and visit Gili Air.



Flying to Lombok, we didn't stay on the main island and we got a 30 minute boat trip to Gili T passing the other 2 Gili islands on route. All we could see was really white sand and the clearest blue waters so we were excited and expecting a lot, which we got. We took a walk down a few back streets where the guest house prices are cheaper. We found a place within our budget, with wifi, free breakfast, with a fan and a mosquito net and a nice room. So after travelling for most of the day, we had a quick walk around the main area of Gili T which was filled with pubs, restaurants, scuba diving places and bicycle rentals and then chilled on the first night. The next few days were just spectacular, we spent most of our times renting bikes and cycling around the island stopping at different quieter places for a snorkel or an evening beer. Other days were just spent lying on the whitest sand, eating in reasonably cheap restaurants that had couches on the beach and mainly relaxing in the hottest sun, tanning, swimming, seeing amazing fish and coral and turtles and it really was the best place we had been but maybe a little touristy. We tried scuba diving which was great for me but Simona's experience was shit cos our instructor didn't give her a decent chance of it, so she spent most of her time snorkelling which is free cos we did it every day but they still charged her full whak so stay away from DSM Dive Diving Center.

Then we had heard that Gili Air, one of the other islands was a lot less touristy and some called it the paradise island for honeymooners, and seeing as we had a marriage in India in Devi Temple and preffered to stay off the backpackers trail, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to see another island and we jumped at the idea. Even though the islands are so close and it really does look swimmable it is apparently very dangerous due to strong currents and we got 15 mins boat trip to Gili Air. And it was the best thing we did. No sound of pumping music from bars everywhere, nobody harassing you to stay in their guest house, instantly it was peaceful, so peaceful that we stopped in a shop 5 mins after getting off the boat, asked the shop keeper to mind our bags, rented 2 bikes of her and cycled around the island until we found the right guest house for us. We found a beautiful cabin beside the beach, lovely bathroom, nice balcony and a good view with a spacious room. The trouble was getting all our stuff on the other side of the island to our new place on the bikes we rented. We gave it a go trying to cycle through sand with our our over sized backpacks, it was extremely tough with a few stops along the way but so worth it. This island was pure relaxation of the highest quality, similar to Gili T but no pubs, no pumping music or tourists, just peaceful. We did the same things on the island, eating yummy meals, going from swims all the time and enjoying the beautiful sea life and coral. We usually went to the same place most evenings because watching the sunset was the most amazing and sensational we'd ever seen, the colours in the sky were undescribable and the staff were cool and really took a liking to us. After the dissappointment of Simona's first ever scuba dive (snorkel) and getting charged so much for it, we talked about doing it again. But didn't commit to it until we met an Irish lady that ran a scuba diving business there (Blue Marlin Dive) and as soon as we met there was an instant good feeling. Irish people have this automatic friendliness when we meet abroad and before we left she said "ah sure if your Irish, I'll have to give you a discount" and it was already cheaper than our dive in Gili T so it was like a double bonus. As well as that they have had their own pool where the instructors actually teach you how to scuba dive, unlike on Gili T where they just chuck you in the water and your on your own. The dive was awesome, we both went down about 20-25 feet and got the real scuba experience. We bought an underwater camera and even though the instructors are not allowed to take pics cos they are supposed to be 100% concentrated on us, they took loads of cool pics of us with all the amazing sea creatures, fish and corals. Much better experience and a much better island. The Gilis are an unbelievable place in the sun, prob the best and most amazing we've ever witnessed and experienced but Gili Air is without doubt much better if you prefer to fully relax and chill but both are just spectacular islands.

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