Spending A Day in Gili Trawangan
When people talk about Lombok, there are two things which will come across their mind - Climbing the famous Mount Rinjani and the three Gili islands (Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, Gili Meno)
My main purpose of travelling to Lombok was to climb Rinjani (read it here and here). So, when I booked my flight ticket half a year before actually flying to Lombok, I only prepared an additional day in case I wanted to get a 4D3N hiking package instead of 3D2N. But a month prior to departure, my travel mates and I decided to go with 3D2N so that we can have an extra day at the island, since it seemed like a must-do thing when in Lombok. And as I left it to the girls to decide which island to head to, they chose the more happening Gili Trawangan.
So... what exactly are the must-do things in Gili Trawangan?
Breakfast on the beach
Pamper yourself with massage
If you did the Rinjani hike prior to spending the rest of your holiday in Gili Trawangan, body massage or at least food massage is a must-do thing here to relax your muscles. I had foot massage which costs me around RP100,000 (RM31/SGD10) for 60mins. My friends did full body massage instead and I think it costs them probably around RP200,000 to RP300,000 for the same duration. I had mine done the night we arrived on the Island while the girl had theirs done the following morning when I went for Subwing and before they head out for snorkelling.
Subwing
When I mentioned Subwing to my friends, everyone seem to have no clue as to what it is. I found this interesting sport when I was doing my research on what to do in Gili Trawangan prior to this trip and I must say, I’m sold the minute I saw the video!
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| Photo from google |
As you can see from the video, the subwing board is tied to a long bamboo stick attached to the boat and you will be pulled by the boat. The subwing board is built from two separate wings which are connected with a rotatable swivel. By holding on to the front edge of each wing with one hand, it can easily be controlled in all directions. Steering is done by pulling or pushing the wings up or down. Push both wings downwards to dive, and pull both upwards to resurface. If you want to spin, simply pull one wing up and push the other one down. A single hand grip is mounted between the wings at the rear and is designed to be used when equalizing ear pressure and when one hand is needed. It sound complicated on paper, but I swear it’s very easy to learn and someone like me who couldn’t swim and have fear for water actually learnt it in 5-10minutes, so it’s really not hard at all!
Subwing is a relatively new sports but it's so much fun that I personally think a two 25 minutes sessions ain't enough. And if you have a GoPro, bring it along as there are mounts available for your device so that you can take photos or videos of you performing your cool act underwater. I actually met a bunch of Malaysian girls and they were kind enough to lend me one of the GoPro during my session. I’ve never handled a GoPro before and after following their instruction on how to take a video, I thought I have it all captured on screen. I was even all ecstatic for being able to do a triple spin. The girls eventually emailed me to inform that they found nothing in their GoPro. I must have not recorded anything after all. Anyway, I keep comforting myself that the best memory is often captured in my heart and that’s all that matters.
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| Met a bunch of Malaysian ladies who kindly lend me their GoPro |
And for someone like me who can’t swim and had to rely solely on the life jacket to be afloat, it was brave enough of me to try this sports alone, while my friends went for the usual snorkelling tour. The rest of the tourists doing Subwing with me actually kinda looked at me like I’m doing something crazy since I can’t even swim, but I assured them that I’ll be fine and I’ve got a life jacket with me. I’m not going to lie that I’m not afraid of the idea of being pulled at 4 knots speed in the water ‘cos I do feel the fear of drowning, but it’s something to overcome in order to truly enjoy this water sports and in the end, I’m glad that I chose to do this over snorkelling.
One of the best part of an adventure is learning new things. Things you never thought you would do
Currently, only Aquadiction is offering this water sports in Gili, departing at 9.30am from Gili Trawangan and if you happened to stay in Gili Meno, there are several partners offering this service but departs at 9.00am. The cost of this activity is RP350,000 (RM109/SGD36) per pax, and is limited to 10 people in a boat. I happened to book my slot on the same day and was lucky that there are still slots available. If you are visiting Gili during peak season, I would recommend that you do your booking earlier, whether via email or pay a visit to the shop a day earlier, to avoid disappointment.
For more info, visit their website: http://www.subwinggiliislands.com/
Snorkeling & Island Hopping
If Subwing is too thrilling for your liking, there’s always snorkelling tour around and it’s at a friction of the cost of subwing. There are plenty of tour company around the island and the entire snorkelling tour covering island hoping to the three Gili islands with lunch will probably costs around RP100,000 per pax and RP120,000 per pax if done in the afternoon until sunset. I didn’t join any snorkeling tour as I was more into subwing and I couldn’t remember exactly how much my friends paid for theirs.
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| Photo from google |
Most of the snorkelling tour comes with glass bottom boat where you can see have the view of the sea and corals not only when you are snorkelling but also when you are on the boat.
Other water activities
If subwing and snorkelling is not your cup of tea, fret not, as there are other water activities out there for you to do. Think: kayaking, stand up paddling and scuba-diving. There are diving schools all over Gili Trawangan and most of them are located within the hotels themselves, like the Trawangan Dive which we stayed. If you are an attention seeker and the idea of kayaking in a glass-bottom kayak sounds appealing to you, you might want to head to Gili Air.
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| Photo from google |
It costs approximately USD15 for 2 hours and is currently only available on GIli Island (as of July 2016). Do let me know if I’m wrong about this and this is purely what I have read online and I’ve not seen any of it advertised on Gili Trawangan. Take note of the strong current though, as it is not advisable to kayak across islands even though they seem pretty close to each other on the map.
Cidomo Ride
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| Photo from google |
Step foot on Gili Trawangan and you will definitely take note of the horse carriages waiting near the harbour to pick up customers to their hotel. We decided not to take any when we first arrived because Trawangan Dive is not too far away. But if you are staying slightly further outside of the boat pier and you have got a lot to carry with you, you should probably consider taking one. You may also ride a cidomo to tour the island if you are not in the mood to walk or cycle. However, like everywhere in South East Asia, always bargain!
To travel is to live
Rent a bicycle
Gili Trawangan is rather big island. Although it’s feasible to be explored on foot, it could be tiring and time consuming to go around. We rent bicycles in the evening to go to the other side of the island (west side) for sunset. Rental can go from RP50,000 (RM15/SGD5) to RP100,000 (RM30/SGD10) depending on where you rent it. Some goes for the whole day while others go by hours, so make sure to bargain and get the best deal.
Sunset at the famous swing
If you have done some research on Gili Trawangan or have clicked into those Instagram photos, I’m sure you have seen the photos of beautiful silhouette amongst the sunset background of Java sea.
There are several places along the northen beaches of Gili Trawangan with such a swing and the more notable ones you’ve probably seen on Instagram are Ombak Sunset and The Exile. Be sure to go there earlier before the sun sets to get that perfect photo as it can get extremely crowded with people.
The swing at The Exile is only 20mins away from the public pier by bicycle or cidomo ride.
Dinner at night market
Just right in front of the boat pier on Gili Trawangan, the night market opens at 6.00pm daily where you can get some cheap and delicious local Indonesian street food. Wherever you are staying, just head over to the boat pier and there’s no way you would miss this place as crowds swarm this place, be it locals or tourists.
There are a wide variety of Indonesian cuisine offered such as fresh seafood, various types of Indonesian cakes and desserts, Indonesian pancake or simply known as martabak manis, rice and noodles, satay and much more. 
I recommend to try nasi campur which is a commonly found food in the night market. Nasi campur is a typical Indonesian rice dish with vegetables, eggs, meat, peanuts, and seafood of your choice. There are several stalls selling nasi campur, so free feel to roam around find the one that look the most appealing to you. It’s affordable and absolutely delicious.
Eat like local, speak like local, dress like local and do what the local does
Gili Gelato
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| Trying Gili Gelato, which seemed to be everywhere around the island |
After stuffing yourself with a delicious meal at the night market, you can continue to cycle around the island with the rented bicycle or take a stroll along the island for some night breeze. You will likely to pass by Gili Gelato as you stroll along the street and there are plenty of this ice cream kiosk all over the island. It costs approximately RP20,000 (RM6/SGD2) for one scoop, RP30,000 (RM9/SGD3) for two scoops and RP50,000 (RM15/SGD5) for 3 scoops. It tastes just alright in my opinion but there’s nothing really impressive with this ice cream, but if you are looking for something to beat the hot weather, this is it (except for a bottle of cold beer of course).
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| Look at Wendy's face and you know it's meh |
Bintang beer
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| Photo turned out blurry, I must be drunk and shaking. Haha |
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| Cheers~! |
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| A night of celebratory, for surviving a tough hike |
Epilogue
And there you go, the countless things you can do in Gili Trawangan. What I have listed above are definitely non-exhaustive and there are plenty other things you can do in that island. Not are activities are for you, but I'm sure there is always something for everyone.
The world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page
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| Bidding goodbye to Rinjani |
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I impressed with your article. Tq for sharing amazing place. Keep on updating
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This post is so informative and makes a very nice image on the topic in my mind. It is the first time I visit your blog, but I was extremely impressed. Keep posting as I am gonna come to read it everyday! Also, Visit at Best Diving Gili Islands.
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