Gili Trawangan, Meno and Air in Lombok and the Gili Islands

Part of the Lombok and the Gili Islands travel guide — see every topic in All Lombok and the Gili Islands Guides.

The three Gili Islands lie a few kilometres off Lombok's north-west corner, are all small enough to walk around in an hour or two, and share one defining rule: no motorised vehicles. Transport is bicycles, walking, and cidomo pony carts. That single restriction is what gives them their character. Trawangan is the biggest and the party island; Meno is the smallest and the quietest, with a salt lake in the middle; Air is the one most people end up recommending, with a real village, good food and enough life to be interesting.

Gili Trawangan

The largest at about three kilometres by two, with a walking circuit of roughly seven kilometres. The east coast holds the boat harbour, the dive shops, the restaurants and the bars, and it is busy and increasingly built up. The west and north coasts are quieter, with better sunsets and the well-known swings set in the shallows. The nightlife rotates around a few large venues on a schedule the whole island knows. It is the most developed Gili by a distance and the one with the most infrastructure — ATMs, clinics, a wide range of accommodation.

Gili Meno

The smallest and quietest, with a couple of hundred residents, a brackish salt lake in the middle and a walking circuit of about four kilometres. There is almost nothing to do, which is the point: a handful of restaurants, a turtle hatchery, some of the best snorkelling of the three off the north-west, and the underwater sculpture installation of standing figures a short swim from shore. Accommodation runs from simple bungalows to a few genuinely good small resorts. Bring cash and any medication; the infrastructure is thin.

Gili Air

Closest to Lombok and the one with the most balance: a real Sasak village of a couple of thousand people alongside the tourism, a five-kilometre walking circuit, good beach bars on the west coast for sunset with Mount Agung across the water, and a food scene better than its size suggests. It is quiet at night without being silent, has decent snorkelling off several beaches, and is the usual recommendation for anyone who finds Trawangan too much and Meno too little.

Practicalities

No cars, no motorbikes, no dogs (an old regulation). Get around on foot, by rented bicycle at 50,000–100,000 rupiah a day, or by cidomo pony cart — there has been sustained criticism of cidomo horse welfare, so it is worth looking at the animal before hiring one and walking instead if it looks poor. Freshwater is scarce and mostly desalinated or shipped, so showers are often brackish. There is no proper hospital; anything serious means a boat to Lombok. Public boats run between the three islands on a limited schedule.

Gili Trawangan, Meno and Air at a glance

More in Lombok and the Gili Islands

All 17 Lombok and the Gili Islands guides·Indonesia tourist maps

Featured Videos