Gili Islands from lombok · From Lombok in Gili Islands
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From Lombok in Gili Islands
From Lombok in Gili Islands
There are essentially two ways to get from Lombok to the Gilis: a shuttle bus or taxi to Bangsal (1 hr), and a public boat from there (15/30/45 min to Air/Meno/Trawangan) or direct privately chartered boats from Senggigi (1-2 hr) or Teluk Nare (30 min).
The easiest way to get to the Gilis from Lombok's airport or Senggigi is to walk to the nearest travel agent, taxi desk or tout and book a package.
The cheapest way is to take a bemo/taxi to Pemenang, walk or cidomo to Bangsal, and then take the Public boat (ferry) from there. However, this may involve long waits and dealing with a truly unpleasant bunch of touts, so some people figure it's not worth the hassle.
See the Bangsal and individual Gili articles for details of the official Koperasi Angkutan laut Karya Bahari services.
If you want to travel at your own pace, you can charter a boat directly from Senggigi to take you across. Ask any travel agent or simply head to the beach behind the Santosa Hotel in central Senggigi or on the beach at Mangsit at the northern end of Senggigi. At Mangsit most of the charter boats are located between Qunci Villas and the Holiday Resort Lombok (ex Holiday Inn Resort). On either beach you're guaranteed to be solicited by boat operators and guides. The Senggigi article has more information on this. A charter of a regular outrigger (perahu) to any of the Gili Islands can cost as much Rp 500,000, but bargain hard. Some of these boats are pretty basic so make sure you check the safety equipment for yourself, especially if you cannot swim. The better guides at Mangsit beach will provide life vests of their own if the chartered boat does not have them. If there are three or less of you, it is much faster and infinitely more comfortable to arrange a speed boat pickup from Teluk Nare with one of the dive shops or your hotel on Gili Trawangan. A taxi to Teluk Nare from Senggigi will cost about Rp 40,000-45,000.
For organising your trip back to Bangsal, there is a public boat ticket office on each of the Gili Islands.
Note that the sea is calmest in the morning and all transport stops running in the late afternoon, and well before dark. During periods of southerly winds and in July and August especially, the swell can be a bit hairy and you are very likely to get wet on the crossing. It is advisable to place laptops, cameras and handphones in waterproof bags for the crossing.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Gili Islands
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Gili Islands - updated May 2024
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Gili Islands Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.