With so many options, booking your Gili Trawangan Snorkeling Tour can be a little overwhelming. So here’s our guide to help with snorkeling Gili Trawangan.
How To Get From Lombok To Gili Trawangan
The easiest way to get from Lombok to Gili Trawangan is via Bangsal ferry port.
All ferries from Bangsal run daily starting at 9am and finish at 6pm.
Once you arrive at Bangsal ferry port you will have the following two options:
By Public Boat
Price: 15,000 IDR.
Takes roughly 30 minutes and leaves every time there are 40 people ready. Which usually isn’t long as there as lots of locals!
By Fast Boat
Price: 85,000 IDR.
Takes roughly 15 minutes and leaves every hour, on the hour.
Tickets can be bought on the morning of travel.
Tour
Another option is to book a private Full-Day Gili Islands Snorkeling Trip from Lombok tour. This includes transfers to and from Lombok, as well as your guide to exploring the Gili Islands.
For those short on time, or that prefer everything to be organised for them, there are some awesome tours on Get Your Guide available to book in advance.
Gili Trawangan Snorkeling Tour Prices
Snorkeling tours are available to book at nearly every shop along the main strip of Gili T.
However if you like to organise and book things in advance, we can recommend the Gili Trawangan, Air & Meno Island: Snorkeling Day Trip.
This way you have everything ready to go when you arrive.
Standard prices on Gili T:
Public Tour Boat – 100,000 IDR per person
Private Tour Boat – 250,000 IDR per person
Up to 25 people can fit on the boats and usually they will pack out the public boats to the maximum. We opted for a private boat for the 4 of us, paying 250,000 IDR each.
What To Expect When Snorkeling Gili Trawangan
Gili Meno Underwater Statues
This is definitely one of the most popular spots on the Gili Trawangan snorkeling tour and possibly the most creepiest!
Located just off the shore of Gili Meno, these 48 incredible life-size human sculptures are formed in a circle and are a very popular photo spot for visitors.
The artwork named Nest, was commissioned by BASK and produced by the world-renowned underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor.
Gili Meno Island
Slightly underwhelming, although still worthy of a visit, Gili Meno is a small, sparsely populated tropical island with no cars that doesn’t take long to explore.
With its most popular attraction being the Gili Meno Lake, we spent an hour walking around the island of Gili Meno.
We found a bird sanctuary, a sadly over-populated turtle sanctuary and a lot of run down restaurants.
Hopefully your visit will be better than ours!
Snorkeling With Turtles
This was the moment we’d been waiting for and thankfully it DIDN’T disappoint!
We jumped off the boat, all geared up with our snorkels and fins, into the middle of the clear blue waters of the ocean. One of our drivers successfully guided us to some beautiful wild turtles.
There were crowds of tourists nearby but we were lucky enough to find a couple of big boys to ourselves.
Following them at distance, we watched them gracefully gliding through the water and enjoyed every single moment.
Snorkeling with turtles was truly amazing and definitely the highlight of our snorkeling Gili Trawangan tour!
Gili T Shipwreck
The shipwreck was the final stop of our Gili Trawangan snorkeling tour and although it was impressive, it’s better seen whilst diving as it is quite deep under the water.
We could just about make out the old Japanese WW2 shipwreck from the surface, but to get amongst it you’ll need a tank to reach the full 45m depth.
Where To Stay In Gili Trawangan
Luxury – Kelapa Villas
Kelapa Villas is located in a coconut plantation in northwest Gili Trawangan.
All villas have an enclosed fence and come with a private pool. Gili Trawangan Beach is just a 5-minute bike ride from the property.
Every villa comes with landscaped gardens and a unique lay out and design.
All of the air-conditioned villas have a seating area and a flat-screen TV. The private bathrooms are either indoor or open-air. Some villas include a kitchen and living/dining room.
Kelapa Villas is a 15-minute bicycle ride from the lively centre of Gili Trawangan.
Mid-Budget – White Coconut Cottage
White Coconut Cottage is situated in the northern part of Gili Trawangan, 900 yards from Sunset Point.
Free WiFi is available in all areas. All rooms come with air-conditioning, a private terrace, day bed and outdoor furniture. Guests can enjoy garden and pool views.
Decorated with white timber furniture, the rooms features a fridge, a kettle, and a personal safe.
White Coconut Cottage also includes an outdoor pool. Light meals and drinks are also available. Turtle Conservation Gili Trawangan is 0.6 miles away.
Budget – DPM Gili T. Diving Hostel & Bar
DPM Gili T. Diving Hostel & Bar features a restaurant, bar, a shared lounge and garden in Gili Trawangan.
Located around a few steps from Sunset Point, the guest house with free WiFi is also 50 yards away from Gili Trawangan Art Market.
The property is non-smoking and is located a few steps from Turtle Conservation Gili Trawangan.
At the guest house every room comes with air conditioning and a private bathroom. A continental breakfast is available daily at DPM Gili T. Diving Hostel & Bar.
For other places to stay in Gili Trawangan, you can check the latest prices on Booking.com.
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