Gili Trawangan — Attraction in Gili Trawangan

I did not enjoy Gili Islands and I will tell you why [yes, it will be a bit long, but I hope worth reading, before you go].

It started with fast boat ferry service, which is overpriced and as a passanger I felt not well, although I am not sea sick. Boats have no air conditioning, so it is very warm inside (take the water with you before you board) and there is not enough air movement as the boat is on the go. Yes, there are windows, but you will probably need to close them at times due to water from the wave spalsh. Better to sit more in the back than in the front. Travel of time is just an approximate and usually do not correspond with overall information.

When you luckily reach Gili T, you will be charged on the welcome 10k per person for island entry (yes that is not a lot, but yet another fee to be paid). You are welcomed by the mess of port and if your hotel is not within a walking distance, you will need to take a horse lorry for unreasonable price [being already tired after ferry] or take a bicycle if you can carry luggage on your back.

The island is generally overrun with tourists. There are many local "businessmen" selling their services, so having a peaceful walk is difficult, even after a few days of stay.

There is a general problem with garbage management. Many things are being burned on the island (you can smell burned plastic in the air). You breahte it most of the time when you spend on the island.

Food. I found it difficult to find decent quality food on the island decently priced. Everything is quite expensive, together with accommodation. In our group of 4 people 2 of them got seriously sick because of food poisoning. Although I found a nice pizzeria on the island.

The mosque is generally loud and especially in the ramadan time. Most of muslim people were not friendly to foreigners, but I can understand that.

Other Gilis are a but quieter, but I think they have more trash and are more or less the same.

The beach is ok, although nothing spectacular, but only in high tide. When the tide is low, the beach turns just ugly.

For a goodbye from Gili T, ferry was only one hour late and the harbour tax is only 10k per person :) The journey to Sanur took 4 hours [stop at Gili Air, Lombok, Nusa Penida, refuelling]. Oh and when you land in Sanur port you are welcomed with taxi mafia with all their tricks to mislead people tired after travel. They charge 2 or 3 times of regular rate. So better walk to main street and get Grab or Gojek. Grab to Kuta cost us 132k IDR

To me Gilis were a once in a lifetime experience (I was in low season, in high season locals say that there are 4 times the people - I truly can not imagine that) and if you are looking for a peaceful and quiet place to relax, maybe it is wise to consider other location/island. I was just tired during the stay and was happy to leave this tourist hell.

Ps I liked Lembongan Island. I stayed on the longest beach and it was nice and possible to relax.

Ps2 I attach a nice photo of Gili T to have some positive accent (yes you are able to make insta pictures there ;) )

If you go to Gilis I hope you will find something for you, good luck. Safe journeys and do not...

I visited Gilli Trawangan with my girlfriend to see what the hype of this island is all about. Unfortunately we had a disappointing experience. There are three major problems. First of all if you walk towards the center of the island you'll notice the incredible amount of garbage and plastic laying around. It is not a huge deal but for a top tourist hotspot you'd expect a cleaner island not to mention that this island is tiny. The second point is that the beaches are below average. You can't go into the water without stepping onto stones and dead coral pieces. So if you expect stunning sandy beaches go to another island. The third point is that the horses are treated terribly. These horses are small like ponies and have to carry heavy carriages in the heat along with luggage and people. Sometimes six people are in one carriage. It can't be healthy carrying four times your own weight. I don't know why people just can't walk or rent a bike to get to certain places on this tiny island. It is certainly not worth the suffering of the animal. Me and my girlfriend stood next to the pick up places and talked to people who were about to pay for that to enlighten them about this cruelty. To sum it up we heard ridiculous excuses and people who didn't care. Many of the tourist also took it personally and talked to us in an angry way while we calmly pointed out that this is animal abuse. The locals who provided this became aggressive and insulted us. They also lied to us saying that the horses are treated well while the horses looked depressed and vomited because they weren't given enough water. They also drooled. There are many articles about this cruelty which takes place on this island. They state that horses normally live up to 30 years. However the horses on the Gilli island only live up to 3 years due to terrible working conditions and cruel treatment. If you are not in a condition to walk or ride a bike then don't come to this island. I am begging to all people who have a heart don't support this terrible animal abuse. Horses belong on fields where they are free. They are not our slaves. Ultimately I can only say that I definitely wouldn't come back here. This island can't be enjoyed when animal abuse is displayed the second you steep out of your room and the beaches are full of dead corals. But if you still decide to come here don't take a ride with these horses and book a hotel near the habor where the main...

this island has everything for everyone. the NW of the island is quiet has small number of beach bars which Prefect for relaxation in the sun. SE of the island is where most of the bars are located and is always busy. getting around in the Island is easy, just have to hire a push bike, cost of it is about R50, 000 for day, or they have horse carriages which will cost extra. Activies that you could do at island are; snorkels trips to see the turtles, diving (PADI training), surfing. The island itself is still recovering from the 2018 earthquake, so there're many building work in progress. what has concerned me mostly is that the amount of waste that is being left on the shore being from construction/public waste is not being managed well; this can be seen as 90% coral life around the island has disappeared, and amount of plastic laying on the shore. I fare that the island will not recover if certain measures are not put in place (maybe has passed that point). Rebuild waste needs to be addressed and managed, for example I saw bags of cement being off loaded my work men, in doing so it was spilling cement into the sea.

using your visa/master cash card, be careful, standard rate of charge using the card is 3%(March2019). some business will charge extra upto 10% which is not right, so question the rates before you place your order. ie service charge + card payment charge

always shop around for better activity deals as they're many small establishments around the island. Never book through the hotel or the place you are staying as 'commission' will be added.

hospitality of the island is welcoming, locals are helpful. BUT establish the motive ie help can quickly turn into 'you owe me this much'

travelling from Bali to Gilli T cost me R400k return open ticket with pick up from hotel and drop to your distenation area (within certain radius) . becareful arriving to the port, just go straight to the booked ferry operator office where you will receive the CORRECT directions and without any extra cost.

here's no turtle hatchery on this Island, got damaged due...