Gili Air – Ultimate Guide to an Island Escape

The Gili Islands are a trio of tiny islands located off the coast of Lombok island, Indonesia. From the left to right, they’re named Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air.
While Gili Trawangan (Gili T) is the largest and known as the party island, Gili Air is the smallest and quieter. Gili Meno is somewhere between the two, literally and figuratively.
In January 2019 I spent three weeks on Gili Air, enjoying the island life. I chilled hard every day by the pool or the ocean, worked on the Gili Air blog, drank some Bintang beers, and enjoyed many Gili Air sunsets.
Gili Air is kid friendly, great for a couple’s getaway, and backpackers of any age can meet other people and have a social time. You can experience Gili Air’s nightlife at late night parties, as well as a chance to experience the laid-back island life.
Gili Air is a majority Muslim island where you’ll hear the mosques going off five times per day. However, most locals are quite liberal and you’ll get to know some of them well from the sunset bars and all-night Gili Air parties.
To get good weather but avoid the crowds, shoot visiting Gili Air during the shoulder months of April-May, and September-October!
The busiest months coincide with the holidays, especially Australian holidays, from June-August, and around Christmas. This means more crowds and increased hotel prices.
The dry season in Bali/Indonesia is April to October.
After the Lombok earthquake in August 2018, many countries placed travel warnings on the country, dropping tourism to the Gili Islands significantly. At the time of writing (February 2019), the Gili Islands are still much quieter than they were before the earthquake.
There are fast boats that leave from Bali to the Gili Islands every day, which you can reserve the day before they depart. I paid 400,000 rupiah ($28.60) for a round-trip ticket (which has an open return date). Most advertised prices range from over 1,000,000 rupiah ($71.40) for a round-trip ticket, or 850,000 ($60.70) for a one-way. Haggling is required to get a good price!!
My 400,000 rupiah ticket included a pickup from my hostel in a shared van, the fast boat ride to the Gili Islands with an open return for a boat back to Bali, plus a van transfer back to anywhere on Bali (including Kuta, Ubud, Seminyak, etc).
I was picked up at 7am from Kuta to head to Padang Bai pier, which was a 2 hour drive away. The boat ride to Gili Trawangan, the first stop, was about 90 minutes. Then it was a short 10 minutes to Gili Air.
The main method to get around Gili Air is by foot – you can get anywhere on the island in 30 minutes!
Because there aren’t any motorized vehicles on Gili Air, the only alternative to get where you want is by horse and buggy. You’ll find these guys running all around the island transporting tourists and goods alike. Be aware that it seems a bit cruel to the horses to promote this method of transportation.
Gili Air is 5km around so wherever your Gili Air accommodation is, it’s never more than a 30 minute walk to get anywhere. Where to stay on Gili Air depends on what you want to experience while staying on the island.
Warungs (Warung Sunny, ZZZ Warung, Warung Bambu, Muslim Warung, etc). Warungs are local eateries on Gili Air that serve Indonesian food and interpretations of Western food to cater to tourists.
You can order the standard Nasi or Mie Gorengs (fried rice or fried noodles), Gado-Gado (tofu and vegetables in peanut sauce) and different curries for 25,000-35,000 Indonesian rupiah ($1.80-$2.50) per dish.
Some Warungs, like Warung Lalapan Saba and Warung Pardia serve rice on plates or in a cone, and you can add unlimited toppings like fried vegetables, tofu, fried fish, and more, all for a set price of 25,000 rupiah ($1.80).
Gili Air Guest House Restaurant also serves traditional Indonesian dishes, but with massive portions.
Some people may struggle with the small portions that are standard around Indonesia, and this restaurant was the answer to that problem! A large Nasi Goreng with five extra eggs was only 40,000 rupiah ($2.90), enough for even the hungriest gym bros to feel full until dinner.
There are a couple of BBQ restaurants dotting the circumference of Gili Air, that offer a BBQ item off their menu plus all you can eat salad bar.
My favorite was D’Maiq Restaurant in front of Mola2 Resort. It had several fish and chicken options for BBQ, or tofu/tempe skewers or veggie skewers for vegetarians. Their buffet wasn’t only salad, they had pizza, grilled veggies, potato wedges, soup, bruschetta, and a pasta station! The value was amazing at 50,000 rupiah ($3.50) for the tofu/tempe skewers, and 80,000 rupiah ($5.70) for BBQ chicken, buffet included!
$7-$8 is about as high as your food spending will get on Gili Air without alcohol. Some resorts and restaurants will offer imported wines for 75,000 ($5.36) a glass, which can also be purchased by the bottle. Standard cocktail prices are 75,000-100,000 rupiah ($7.14) but are buy-one, get-one free during happy hour!
Learn some Indonesian cooking styles while visiting Gili Air! Gili Cooking Classes is right next to the port, making it easily accessible for those coming from Gili T or Gili Meno. They have classes for learning four, five, or six different Indonesian dishes, starting at 290,000 rupiah ($20).
For 250,000 rupiah ($17.80), try the cooking class at Warung Sunny in the center of the island, which is attached to a local eatery and has raving reviews on TripAdvisor.
I was surprised to see there were a dozen or so boutique shops on Gili Air. For those on vacation and looking to bring home some new souvenirs, jewelry, and clothing, there are many shops that line the circumference of the island and some on the main road leading from the pier.
Gili T isn’t the only island for parties. On specified days, Gili Air’s nightlife explodes as bars host late night raves for locals and tourists alike. Gili Air parties can last until 3am, or if there’s enough people, until the next morning!
Many visitors to Indonesia plan to stay for 2 months, instead of the 30 days that the free visa allows. If you purchased an Indonesian visa upon arrival and want to extend it while you’re on Gili Air – there’s an immigration office close by in Lombok!
You’ll have to make two trips from Gili Air to Lombok’s immigration office. The first visit is to drop off your passport and fill out the paperwork, the second is about 5 days later to pick up your passport and visa.
The boat to Lombok costs 20,000 ($1.40) rupiah, and a 45-minute taxi to the immigration office costs about 200,000 rupiah ($14). You’ll need your entry and exit flight information, a copy of the photo page in your passport, and 350,000 rupiah ($25).
View this post on InstagramGili Air time: where two months can pass by in a week.
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5 thoughts on “Gili Air – Ultimate Guide to an Island Escape”
Wow, Gili Air looks beautiful and it’s nice to have different island options because I feel like Bali seems to be the default. The food looks so good too, and I love that you can do some good snorkling. Will keep this as a reference for the future!
Wow, Gili Air seems just incredible. It looks very serene from your pictures – I would love to visit someday. It’s nice that the island doesn’t have any vehicles, especially since it’s small enough to navigate on foot. Thanks for sharing this guide!
Looks so beautiful. I’d no idea it was so small, can’t believe you can walk anywhere in 30 minutes! Would love to snorkel here one day!
It looks like such a beautiful area! I would love to go snorkeling there!
This is a really comprehensive guide! What a beautiful place to escape to. I would definitely go snorkelling as much as possible!