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Published: February 9th 2007
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Jordan Chasing a Turtle
Jellyfish, turtle, Jordan I had heard of these magical islands off the North West coast of Lombok called the Gili Islands. This string of islands boast some of the best diving, snorkling, and hammock recreation around Bali and Lombok. We chartered a shuttle to take us from Lovina, Bali to the Gili islands to put our new PADI certificates to use. Golo and Ingred, our German friends, saw a golden oppertunity and tagged along. Our first day on gili Air was breathtaking. Our bungallo was 20 meters from the beach which boasted a 2km reef 20 meters from the beach. White sand, hammocks and a bar that played Jack Johnson all day, there wasn't anything more we could ask for.
For the next few days we snorkled in the morning, watched a movie with lunch and snorkled in the midafternoon; retiring to our hammocks for a rest from the hard day and some Soduku. Corey, Golo and I chartered aq boat and captain to take us out fishing for black snapper. There wasnt much biting so Gus, our guide, suggested that he could swim in and grab us 3 Large Bintangs. Hells Yeah! Off he went, 150m to shore to grab ice cold
Sunset On Gili Air
Sunset shot from the fishing boat beers. What a sport, not to mention he got a huge tip.
Another day we joined up with a couple of others and headed out on a snorkel trip to 6 locations around the 3 islands and lunch on Gili Meno. Our first stop was Turtle Point. At fisrt glance it was not all that exciting; one turtle too far away to get a good look. But a we headed out further 3 more showed up. I dove down around 12 meters to get a better look and rubbed its shell for good luck. Being that close to one of the dinosours of the sea is quite an experience. The rest of the sites were majestic, filled with many fish and healthy coral and some not so healthy coral. Shot many great pics underwater proving that the camera really can handle anything!
The eateries around the island were great searving fresh fish caught hours before they are grilled up and milkshakes that dim the lights. This island is a real paridise that sucks you in. You dont mind doing the same thing every day because it is so beautiful there that your brain doesn't care. We rented bikes
and toured the island since it is only 3km around. With my luck halfway around the island my chain broke and I had t push it through the sand back to the shop. Corey and Golo thought that that was extremely funny, watching me one foot it back!
The three amigos did a dive off the South West coast of Gili Trawangan at Sunset,where we saw a White Tipped Reef shark. Waht an amazing creature! It made a few passes by us to check us out tehn darted towards a group of fish, having a quick meal. It seemed to become board with us and had a little nap on hte sea bottom! Lazy Shark! We also did a night dive off the coast of Gili Air. That was quite and experience! It was pitch black out when we dropped in the water, where we saw Lion fish, Scorpion Fish, a sea snake and a Horned Cow fish. The high light of the dive was turning off our toarches and waving our hands in front of us, illumination millions of plankton. I could have done that all day. That was the best way to spend the 5 min at
3m to expell all the nitrogen out of your blood stream.
After a week we parted ways wiht our German friends and headed to Gili Trawangan, the party island. It was low season so the island was pretty quite, except for the huge beach volleyball court outside our hotel. Corey and I played with the locals every day at 4:30. they loved use with our huge blocks and powerful spikes. We even played in terenchal downpour. What a blast , these guys were hardcore. It was competitive enough that the losers had to do push-ups! I loved it. The Gili Islands are very relaxing and a great way to forget about time (I dont think that Gili Air had a clock on it).
We will be coming back here in a heart beat next time we are in Indonesia
Hope everyone is doing well and healthy. I miss and love you Mum.
Take care,
Your Gude Jordan
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Nicole
non-member comment
Looks like fun!!
Well it certainly looks like you've managed to keep busy and find some time to relax between dives/waves. Indonesia appears to have treated you well, good luck on the next leg of the trip, travel safe, and keep us updated! Love, Nicole