A boat ride to the tropics: the Gili Islands

To go to a tropical island with white sandy beaches, palm trees and a blue ocean. That is what every girl or boy dreams about, right?

I got the chance to visit the Gili Islands: Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air.  These amazing, tropical islands are located just off Lombok and you can get there with a two hour boat ride from Bali. To visit the Gili islands was beautiful, but the boat ride was an experience in itself as well.

GILI TRAWANGAN - We got up very early in the morning (around 05.00 AM) to be ready for a pick up from Canggu. A shuttle from Wahana drove us, together with some other tourists, to Padang Bai, a small harbour from which most of the boats to the Gili islands leave. Like most people we were very excited to go to the islands. ,,I heard so many good stories about it,’’ a Spanish girl called Vanessa said. Together with her husband she travelled from down from Spain to visit Bali and the Gili islands. ,,In the Lonely Planet we read that the Gili islands are one of the twenty places to see in Indonesia. We are very curious about the three islands.’’

,,In the Lonely Planet we read that the Gili islands are one of the twenty places to see in Indonesia. We are very curious about the three islands.’’

,,I am so excited to go snorkelling,’’ Vanessa said. ,,We have done that before in Egypt, but I heard that the Gili islands are one of the best places to go snorkelling. Her eyes glowed and her husband nodded. ,,I want to see the turtles,’’ he said. ,,Apparently there are a lot of turtles that swim around the Gili Islands and I can’t wait to go in the ocean and swim with them.’’

Side by side they sat on the roof of the boat; enjoying the sunshine and each other’s company. ,,I can’t believe that we are finally going to the Gili Islands,’’ Vanessa said. ,,I can’t wait to walk on the white sand with my bare feet. The boat ride is pretty comfortable as well. It is not too expensive and the music is great. I prefer sitting out here in the sun rather than sitting downstairs. If the ride gets a bit rougher, we might go inside, but for now we are enjoying the view and the fresh air out here.’’

It took two hours to get to Gili Trawangan. What an amazing view that was, to arrive at that tropical island. ,,I have never seen such blue water before,’’ Raoul said while he put his arm around his wife. ,,Look at all those cute boats,’’ whispered Vanessa. ,,I want to go on one of those and go snorkelling. I am really excited to visit this cute but busy island!’’

,,Apparently there are a lot of turtles that swim around the Gili Islands and I can’t wait to go in the ocean and swim with them.’’

The boat trip from Padang Bai to to the Gili islands took two hours and was a bit of a mission. The Gili islands are very popular and especially in the summer (august) there are a lot of tourists that want to visit them. Luckily there were a lot of different charter boats going to Gili T and it was not too hard to find a seat. As soon as we climbed up the boat, we put up our luggage  and were ready to go.

On the Wahana boat you can sit inside, but as a true surfer girl I preferred to sit on the rooftop. That way I had a better view over the ocean and the beautiful coastline of Bali that was passing by. At the same time it was nice to feel the sun on my face and to breathe the fresh ocean air. Together with the fun music that came from two big music boxes and the good company, it became a pleasant boat ride.

Big boat, small boat, you can pick what suits you the best. 👌