The Gili Islands is a small archipelago of three islands located just off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia. A popular location for tourists to visit due to stunning white-sanded beaches and a laid back atmosphere, it is also great for those wanting to explore the underwater world. With twenty five dive sites showcasing a variety of topography spread across Gili Trawangan, Air and Meno, there are sites for both the experienced and novice.

 

Due to conservation programmes in the area, the Gili waters are full of sea turtles with many people claiming that the Gili Islands are the ‘turtle capital of the world’. Other highlights here are manta rays when the season is right, reef sharks and the occasional passing whale shark. Without any motorised transport, you can fully relax as you knuckle down to study for dive courses that are available here or enjoy your surface interval surrounded by sea on all sides.

 

The largest Gili Island, Trawangan has many dive centres and dive resorts that can help in your exploration of the surrounding waters. Gili Air and Meno, the more relaxed of the islands, also have dive centres and a few resorts where you can participate in dive courses in calm sites. All the dive sites are accessible wherever you plan to stay on the Gili Islands yet if you want to venture further into West Nusa Tenggara, liveaboards are available year round sailing through the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Scuba diving in the Gili Islands offers calm, relaxed reef dives, such as Simon’s Reef, as well as challenging drift dives suitable for more experienced divers at the Deep Turbo dive site. In Teluk Nara, you can search black sand for unusual creatures at muck dives alike to those at Lembeh Strait in Sulawesi or seek out juvenile white-tip sharks under large coral bommies at the Gili’s Manta Point. Trail 30-metre walls at Meno Wall or enjoy overhangs, outcrops and swim-throughs at Takat Malang surrounded by impressive gorgonian sea fans and table corals.

 

Sites with no current such as Hans Reef are great for novice divers learning to dive while the harder drift dives will prepare you for more advanced dive courses. Many of Gili’s dive sites drop below 18-metres so an advanced course is necessary if you want to explore all the islands have to offer. If you are new to diving, you can get your first opportunity to wreck dive at Bounty Wreck. Lying at 18-metres and rising up to 8 this easy wreck dive is suitable for all levels of divers.

Turtles are undoubtedly one of the highlights when it comes to scuba diving around the Gili Islands, with green, hawksbill and olive ridley turtles all residents to the area. Other megafauna common to the Gili’s are reef sharks, eagle rays and from December to March, manta rays. If you are very lucky you may even spot a rare mola mola heading towards the Penida islands to bathe in the cooler waters or a whale shark passing by in the blue!

 

In muck dive sites, with rubble and sandy patches, inspect the area for a range of weird and wonderful creatures. At many of these sites, leaf scorpionfish, flying gurnard, mantis shrimp, nudibranch, pygmy seahorses, ghost pipefish, blue-ringed octopus and various species of frogfish have all been spotted. As well as the usual reef fish inhabitants and some larger pelagics such as trevallies and tuna, you’ll be in awe at the diversity of fish you can find here.

Start your day exploring the unique topography of the Deep Turbo dive site. At a seamount, 25 to 30-metres deep, advanced divers can find themselves drifting along a seabed covered with beautiful coral pinnacles. Located within the channel between Gili Trawangan and Gili Meno, this fantastic drift dive gives you the chance of spotting some bigger fish such as manta rays, eagle rays, reef sharks and giant trevally.

 

The Bounty Wreck, once a floating pier on Gili Meno was sunk during a storm and has now become a great artificial reef. Corals cover the structure in thick carpets which attracts a range of reef fish such as batfish, snappers and scorpion fish. There’s even an old bicycle, standing upright and still chained to a bit of railing where divers can wonder at how disappointed the owner must have been to wake up to the bicycle at the bottom of the ocean. One man’s loss is another man's gain.

 

At Shark Point, search a sloping reef for sharks in the deeper areas as turtles hang out in the shallows. There’s often quite a bit of current here, attracting barracudas and the occasional ray to glide effortlessly against the strength of the ocean. If you’ve come to see sea turtles, Turtle Heaven is calling your name. At this site you will lose count of the number of turtles you’ve seen as you survey a shallow pinnacle for mantis shrimp, ribbon eels and shy octopus.

 

Han’s Reef located to the north of Gili Air, is a gentle sloping reef with a white sandy bottom and various sized coral bommies. The reef is fast becoming renowned for its excellent muck diving and the perfect spot to search for the more elusive species found around the Gilis. With minimal current, head from one bommie to the next looking for leaf scorpion fish, mantis shrimp, nudibranch, frogfish and the robust ghost pipefish. The dive site is suitable for divers of all levels who want to enjoy the ‘small stuff’.