A GUIDE TO AN INSTAGRAMMABLE holiday to the GILI ISLANDS
A quick guide to an instagrammable holiday to the Gili Islands. The actual costs associated with travelling to the Gili Islands and some tips to save your dollar. This cost overview card is based on a four day stay. If you want more information scroll down to find out, where to stay, what it was like, instagrammable spots and finally some advice 🙂
Accommodation: We booked cheap accommodation before we arrived on booking.com, close to the beach, to avoid transport costs. Try choose a breakfast included option. They usually are around the same price and it really helped us keep our costs down!
Transport: I’d recommend asking to book a return taxi to your accommodation in Bali with the tour services as well as a return boat ticket. This should be cheaper then organising a separate taxi. We only booked from our accommodation to the ferry and then the boat ticket. The cost of a taxi on our way back was extortionate- so don’t make our mistake!
Also, look at a few different companies to figure out the cheapest rate.
Use bikes– There are no motorised vehicles on the island. Bike hire is only $3 a day and it is a relatively small island. The other option for transport is by horse and kart, which is can cost a lot.
Food & Drink: The average cost of a main meal was around 38,000 IDR when we were here. But drinks can be pricey as this is known as the ‘party’ island of the three.
Activities: Snorkelling- similar to what we found with booking transport in Bali, there were many tour companies around Gili T. So we just stopped by a few until we noticed what the standard price should be.
Where to stay
I unfortunately didn’t take any photos of the accommodation we stayed at (not instagrammable!). We wanted to go for cheap accommodation to save money for activities and planned on spending most of our time on the picturesque beaches. I’d recommend Paradesa Villa, it is only 400m from the centre, so you can walk there! This was just under $25 a night for two sharing. Pool included and breakfast!
Gili Trawangan is the only place that made me regret taking a suitcase travelling. As there isn’t any electrical vehicles on the island, we had to walk carrying our luggage… From the boat to our accommodation. Killed me!
What to do
- Beaches– we spent a lot of time chilling on the beaches here
- Swings– Got to give your insta fans what they are after!
- Jiggy Boat Party– we met some people who did this and said it cost around $30 and you got some free drinks included
- Hire snorkelling kit- You can hire a snorkel set for 3$ here and go on your own
- Glass boat island tour– You can book with locals on the island or before online. Read below for more detail!
Booking the boat tour: At first we managed to get a good deal on the island and but had to put a deposit down. The guy we booked with said he’d come to our accommodation in the morning and show us where to cycle to, to get the boat. I was a little sceptical because our tickets were cheap. AND we bought the tickets from a stand on the side of the road. But he collected us the next day!
We booked a glass bottom boat 4 hour tour at just under $20 each. We took the public boat option, which can have up to 25 people squeezed in! Luckily there was only about 15 of us.
The tour: This took us to 3 different spots and stopped off at Gili M for lunch. Gili M was a bit of a let down. All we could really find was run down restaurants, a bird & turtle sanctuary. There didn’t seem to be many people there and like everyone else, we went for lunch and came back to the beach after half an hour and waited for the tour to start again. Our guides however came back late and by then, the tide had gone out and our boat was stuck. Locals then had to take us back to Gili T. We got our money back though as we got back so late!
What it was like
As there were no motorised vehicles on the island, this meant we had to get everywhere by bike which was quite fun for a change. The island also seems to be full of cats with no dogs in sight. While we didn’t do an expensive tour I think we had a pretty decent experience, we got to swim with turtles and a manta ray! The time was more than enough, most of us were pretty tired out by the time we got to the last spot. It was nice though that they stayed at the given spots until everyone had had enough. It was nice that the process didn’t feel rushed. The ‘glass bottom boat’ bit was really not essential though- so I wouldn’t pay more just to experience this. I’d say you can save on accommodation here and still have an incredible time by spending most of your time on the beaches or doing activities.
I also found the process of getting on and off the boats quite difficult. I’d recently burnt my leg from a moped and the boats literally pull up to the sand and you are helped down into the water and passed your luggage.
Any advice
Swings- Hire a bike if you want the swing pics, as the swings are all around the island. If you hire one from the centre it’ll take you a good half an hour to get to the well known ones, if you wanted to cycle around all of Gili T- it’ll take you roughly two hours.
Watch out– It may be a party island but Gili T is the only island with police. They seem to be quite strict, so be careful (apparently the death penalty applies for drug use!).
For more breakdowns like this instagrammable trip to the Gili Islands look here!
Edwina says
This is a really good read. Although I fear that at the age of 32 I may look like grandma on the party island 🙈 it wouldn’t stop me going though 🙋🏽♀️
Edwina xxx
Jess says
Such beautiful photos!! Love your guide prices to how much a stay will cost too – super useful when planning!
Setitra says
Great advice here! And wow this place looks amazing to visit! Love the photos!
Elina says
Never heard of Gili Islands before, would love to visit. Thanks for the handy guide!
Jemima says
Indonesia looks amazing, love to see it soon! Thanks for sharing!