Given Gili Air is set up as the less hectic of the Gilis you’ll spend most of your time relaxing, and not doing much else. As much as we like sitting on the beach, reclining in a lounger, it’s nice to see a bit of where you’re staying, so we did some walking and cycling too. The bars along the right side of the island all seem to have loungers, but some you’ll have to pay for, others will let you use if you’re purchasing food and drink. You’ll find loungers on the Gili’s are at least half the price of Bali. Here’s what we did on Gili Air.
Walk or bike the island
Gili Air is pretty small, so you don’t have any excuse to not leave the beach and go and explore a little. We made the effort to head to the other side of the island one afternoon, then decided to head north and walk back around the island from there. As there are no vehicles on the island, you’ll just have to watch out for the odd horse and cart or cow. The island is pretty easy to navigate and if you do happen to get lost, you’ll come out at the sea eventually.
We also hired bikes one day coz the heat of walking was killing us a little. There’s quite a few places between the harbour and the restaurants to hire bikes relatively cheaply if your accommodation doesn’t have them for rent.
At the north of the island you’ll find another set of bars and restaurants, however it’s far less populated and you might find yourself enjoying a drink by yourself, particularly in low season, like when we visited. There were a few families on the beach up this end as the beach is nice and the waters look pretty safe.
Snorkelling
We’d done a half-day snorkelling trip while on Gili T, pretty sure this is the same trip which is also available in Gili Air. For around IDR 100k (or $10NZD) it takes you to three or four beautiful spots. We instead opted to hire snorkels and fins, which are readily available for hire and head out off the main beach. The snorkelling was pretty stunning here too. We didn’t manage to see any turtles, but enough sea-life to keep us happy. The beach here is pretty corally, so snorkelling is preferable to swimming. You’ll probably come across a few pipes and odds and ends when snorkelling from the main beach area, but that’s just all part of the fun.
Apart from wandering, sunbathing and generally relaxing, we ate some yum food. Check out our post here on where to eat while staying on Gili Air.