Lombok and the Gili Islands, Planned Around the Boat

Which Gili island should you stay on?

Gili Air is the safest choice for most travellers: quiet enough to unwind, but with enough restaurants and dive shops to fill a week. Gili Trawangan is the largest and the only one with nightlife. Gili Meno is the smallest and stillest, best for couples who want almost nothing on the schedule.

All three are car-free and small enough to walk around in a couple of hours. The choice is about how much company you want at dinner, not about the snorkelling, which is good from all three.

For the longer version, with beaches, diving and where each island falls down, see our full Gili islands comparison.

Can you learn to dive in the Gili Islands?

Yes, and it is one of the most common places in Indonesia to do it. A PADI Open Water course takes three to four days, costs roughly IDR 5,000,000 to 6,900,000 as a working estimate, and runs on shallow, sheltered sites. Warm water and gentle conditions are why so many people certify here rather than at home.

Prices barely vary between schools. Most established centres on Gili Trawangan belong to the Gili Indah Dive Alliance, which sets minimum prices across its members, so compare group size, instructors and gear rather than quotes. Allow more days than the course itself needs, because a cancelled crossing from Bali eats the buffer first.

The full week, course plus fun dives afterwards, is mapped out in our 7-day Gili Islands diving itinerary.

How do you get from Bali to Lombok and the Gili Islands?

Fast boats leave Bali's east coast ports daily and reach the Gili Islands in roughly 1.5 to 2.5 hours at sea, or Lombok in 2 to 3.5 hours. Lombok also has an international airport near Praya, about 45 minutes' flying from Denpasar, which is faster if you are starting in the south.

Flight against fast boat, with prices and which to pick for your side of the island, is on our Bali to Lombok route page.

How do you get from Lombok to the Gili Islands?

The public boat from Bangsal harbour on Lombok's northwest coast reaches Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan in 15 to 30 minutes for around $2 to $4. Getting to Bangsal is the longer part: near 2 hours from Lombok airport and about 2 hours from Kuta Lombok, so the drive outlasts the crossing several times over.

Buy at the official ticket counter rather than from the touts outside it, and treat the public boat as the default. Charter only makes sense if you have missed the last sailing or you are moving a group with heavy bags.

Fares, the counter to use and the last sailings are on our Lombok to Gili Islands route page.

Can you do the Gili Islands as a day trip from Lombok?

Yes, and Gili Air is the one to pick. It is the closest of the three to Bangsal, 15 to 30 minutes each way, which leaves five or six hours on the island after a morning crossing. From Kuta Lombok the drive to Bangsal is around 2 hours each way, so a day trip becomes a twelve-hour day and an overnight is the better shape.

Take the first boat out and do not plan on the last one back. Sailings thin out through the afternoon, and a missed departure means a charter or a night you had not booked.

If you would rather give the islands their own trip, our 4-day Gili Islands route covers all three without a rushed crossing.

Which other islands are there off Lombok?

Dozens, and three of them are easy to reach. The southwest cluster off Sekotong, Gili Nanggu, Gili Kedis and Gili Sudak, is a short boat ride from the mainland and sees a fraction of the traffic. Lombok's east coast has its own group around Gili Kondo. None of them has the dive infrastructure of the main three.

Treat them as day trips or as a quiet second half rather than as a replacement. There are few places to eat, boats are arranged locally rather than on a schedule, and card payment is rare.

The southwest cluster gets a full week in our southwest Lombok and secret Gilis itinerary.

Where should honeymooners stay in Lombok and the Gilis?

Gili Meno for the quietest few days, south Lombok for space and a view, and the two together if you have a fortnight. Meno is the smallest and stillest of the three islands, with a handful of bungalows and almost nothing on the schedule. Kuta Lombok and the bays east of it have the room to move that the Gilis cannot offer.

The order matters more than the choice. Finish on Meno rather than starting there, so the trip ends on the slowest part instead of on the transfers.

The two put together, with the crossing placed where it belongs, is our 9-day Lombok and Gili honeymoon route.

How many days do you need in Lombok and the Gilis?

Seven days is the working minimum for both, with three or four nights in Lombok and three on one Gili. Four days is enough if you only do the Gilis. Ten days is where the Rinjani trek and the south coast beaches fit without the trip becoming a chain of transfers.

The seven-day version is mapped out day by day in our 7-day Lombok and Gili route, with the transfers and boat times already placed.

Lombok or Bali: which one should you pick?

Choose Bali if you want variety, restaurants and short transfers between very different places. Choose Lombok if the point of the trip is quiet. Lombok has emptier beaches and lower prices, but fewer places to eat, longer drives, and less to fall back on when the weather turns.

Most travellers with ten days or more do not choose. Bali first, then the boat east, is the usual shape, and it puts the busiest part of the trip at the start when you still have energy for it.

If the answer is both, the 10-day Bali, Lombok and Gili Islands route runs them in the order that works.

When is the best time to visit Lombok and the Gilis?

Roughly May to October, the drier months, when the fast boat crossings are calmest and the water is clearest for snorkelling. November to March brings rougher seas and more cancelled sailings. Conditions vary year to year, so check the forecast in the week before you travel.

The crossing, not the rain, is what usually breaks a plan here. A cancelled boat costs a day, so avoid booking a same-day onward flight out of Bali on the day you cross back.

Month by month, including the Rinjani trekking window, see the best time to visit Lombok.