Gili Gede — Local services in West Nusa Tenggara

Spent a beautiful 8 nights in this island paradise staying at the stunning Villa Selalu. You will receive a genuine rock star welcome as you enter the local villages. The resident children love the opportunity to say “Hallo” and wave and the village adults are extremely welcoming and happy to assist, offer directions and advice on how best to enjoy your visit. Highly recommend touring the island by bicycle led by a local guide. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see all 5 villages and stop off along the way for a cool drink or a snack/meal along the way. We stopped in for refreshments at Marina Del Ray as we were dining elsewhere, however owner Jack tells us they make the best Pizza on Gili Gede. We island hopped to nearby Gili Rengit, Gili Layar, Gili Goleng & Gili Asahan several times for spectacular snorkelling. Nautilus Restaurant on Gili Asahan was a great option for lunch, offering delicious Italian and Indonesian fare, delectable desserts and varied beverage menu. Kokomo Resort was a favourite alternative dining option when we were not dining from the delicious menu at Villa Selalu. Also offering a full menu of international & Indonesian cuisine. Delicious desserts including Affogato, Ice cream parfait and crème brûlée. Chef Putu kindly guided us on a tour of his onsite vegetable & herb garden which services the restaurant. Great to note staff live locally on Gili Gede and are building on their hospitality skills in these local businesses rather than bringing in staff from the mainland. The island’s tourism is currently quiet but picking up steadily post Covid lockdowns. If you are looking for a stunning quieter option from the main 3 Gili Isands up north then this is magic. Activities such as snorkelling, kayaking, scuba diving, SUP boarding, sailing, island hopping are available or simply relax and do absolutely nothing. As with many places in Indonesia and the world, rubbish is a big problem and it is confronting. This is acknowledged by the locals and there are currently measures in place and programs underway in an attempt to combat the problem such as regular community beach and underwater clean ups, education and incentives. The task however is immense and the solution is a difficult one when there is not structured regular garbage collection in place and there are large amounts of plastic and other items washing up from other areas. Help be part of the solution by leaving nothing but footprints when you visit, finding a bin or separating rubbish and recyclables or collect bags of rubbish yourself. Gili Gede and it’s people are simply beautiful...

Wouldn't come back. As we have been to the northern Gilis already years ago, and read that they are very crowded nowadays, we decided to go to the secret Gilis after reading the amazing reviews.

It didn't meet our expectations though.

Pro: it's relatively quiet you can see and feel local life significantly less tourists than gili T/Air/Meno

Con: very dirty (not because of tourists) missing the natural beauty of the others beaches are okay, but not nice Limited options for dining / drinks

If you want to stop over, not more than 2-3 days, do a snorkelling tour or diving. on the Island you have a few small warungs, 1 premium resort and a few simpler stays.

We stayed 6 nights, which is definitely too long for this Island. I cannot recommend and if you want to visit the secret gilis, choose GILI asahan instead - there you can enjoy 3-4 nice eco and boutique resorts next to each other with a nice...

Très déçus par cette île, très sale.nous y avons passé trois jours. Le premier jour promenade en partant du village, côté est vers le Nord et retour côté ouest,. 1h30 de plages magnifiques et désertiques mais d'une saleté comme nous n'en avons jamais vue. Toute l'île vous explique que c'est la faute à Lombok.. les déchets de leurs habitants sont charriés au début de la saison des pluies des rivières à la mer et arrivent à Gili Gede. C'est sans doute en partie vrai même si le village n'est pas en lui-même un modèle de propreté mais toujours est il que personne ne ramasse les déchets arrivés de la mer, attendant que la prochaine marée haute les reprenne ! Mais il en reste forcément et au fil des années le résultat est désolant. Il y a bien le snorkeling, avec de belles sorties en bateau local mais nager au milieu des détritus.ce n'est pas top ! Reste la plongėe mais c'est tout ! Nous venions de Gili Asahan, Gili Air , nusa Penida, où nous retournerons avec plaisir profiter des belles plages propres, des beaux snorkeling et des superbes plongées ! Et ou les amateurs de villages authentiques trouveront aussi des poules, des chèvres et des mosquées ( sauf à Penida ) Et où le soir on peut profiter d'endroits sympas pour dîner et...