Gili Trawangan is one of three Gili Islands with a party vibe in comparison to the neighbouring Gili Meno and Gili Air. It’s garnered a bit of a reputation as a ‘party island’ which is somewhat true, but it has so much more to offer.
♪ Watch my day 8, day 9 and day 10 vlogs in Gili T on Tik Tok.
Good to Know
Gili Trawangan is predominantly Muslim so don’t be surprised to hear prayers played from speakers at nearby mosques. The island does not allow any motor vehicles so the only way to get around the island is on foot, renting a bike or using a horse and cart – fortunately the island isn’t very large. There are ATMs available on the island, and the majority of established restaurants accept card but it helps to have cash.
Upon re-entering Bali you’ll need to pay the tourist tax of 20,000 IDR per person. At the port, there will be a small building that almost looks like a waiting room – you will need to pay this before getting on the boat – we weren’t aware of this until minutes before boarding the boat.
Getting to Gili Trawangan
We used Samaya One boat company that was booked through our accommodation. There is a 20,000 IDR entry fee to Gili T, when collecting our boarding passes for our boat from Nusa Penida to Gili T we paid this at the time and were given a receipt that allowed us to walk straight to the port exit at Gili T, otherwise there was a short queue to pay before exiting.
Gili Trawangan Accommodation
We booked a one-bedroom villa at Villas Edenia (via booking.com) that offered a spacious open-plan living area overlooking a private pool – a private oasis if you will. The venue was very accommodating when I contacted them directly via WhatsApp to book some surprises.
Our Bedroom at Villas Edenia
Flower Pool & Floating Breakfast
In celebration of the birthday, they offered three options for flower pools. I requested the Love Supreme for IDR 2,500,000 (approx £127) which filled the entire pool. They needed a minimum 24 hours notice and 2 hours to set it up. They also provided the option for a decorated birthday cake at 350,000 (approx £15) and I added on a flower floating breakfast for 300,000 (approx £15) for the morning after.
Since she had been travelling around Australia since September, I had her friends and family send me birthday cards and set this up with a few of her favourite things. Other than the champagne I picked up in duty-free, I bought everything with me in my checked luggage.
The total cost for the flower pool, cake and floating breakfast was 3,150,000 (approx £160), this was well worth the money to make the day extra special.
Flower Pool
Private Snorkelling Tour
We purposely arranged our itinerary to be in Gili Trawangan for Kim’s 30th birthday as wanted to spend the day with turtles! We were going to book the usual regular shared snorkelling tour, but to make it more special we paid £44.82 per person for a private snorkelling tour with the same provider (simply choose that option at the time of booking), starting at 2 pm so that we would be on the boat for the sunset – as per their recommendation.
The private tour offered everything the regular tour did – snorkelling at 3 hot spots in Gili Meno to see turtles, marine life and the famous underwater statues, snorkelling equipment and GoPro – but on a private boat. The afternoon start time seemed only available for private tours, and they also provided a cool box and a speaker so we could bring some champagne onto the boat.
Even with just two of us, it was an incredible experience and the snorkelling spots were far quieter in the afternoon. Seeing the underwater statues and turtles was a true bucket list experience, but popping the bubbly aboard the boat for the sunset was a fitting end.
One of the many turtles we met on our tour
Gili T Cooking Class
We knew we wanted to do a cooking class, so we booked the 90-minute intro course that cost approx. £18 per person. We were taught to cook three Balinese dishes; Kelopon, homemade Peanut sauce, fried tempeh and fried noodles. The class started at 11:30 am and finished at around 1 pm with us tucking into what we’d made. The class was enjoyable but there wasn’t any air con so it was very warm despite the use of fans.
Fried Noodles
Fly High Sunset Yoga
Sunset Beach Yoga on Gili Trawangan run two daily yoga classes, Morning Flow at 08:30 am and Fly High at 5 pm. They cost 150,000 IDR for a one-hour class, cash only. Reservations can only be made for groups of 6 or more and you need to arrive 10 minutes early.
Fly High Yoga
PinkCoco
Pink Coco is a pink lover’s dream! But those not staying in the hotel can make use of the pink beach bean bags to witness the sunset for a minimum spend of IDR 100,00 IDR (approx £5). This can be easily reached with a cocktail (130,000) and some food. Once the sun had set, a modern Balinese dancer performed alongside the DJ playing music which was really amazing, we’re unsure if she was hired by the venue or just turned up but either way it was a treat.
Pink Coco Gili T
ASTON Sunset Beach Resort
There are actually quite a few places to watch movies on the beach in Gili T, they’re free with the expectation to buy refreshments. The main one was at ASTON Beach Resort, just a short 12-minute walk from Sunset Yoga. Films are shown daily at 7 pm and 9 pm, they have a board showcasing what films will be shown. We unfortunately couldn’t make it to a showing but would have liked to if we’d have had more time.
Gili T Beach Swing
This was one of those ‘Instagram Vs. Reality’ moments where all the lovely beach swings we had seen on social media, well they actually didn’t exist anymore! Many had been destroyed so there was only one remaining on the island which you’ll find at Taj Maza.
Taj Maza Beach Swing
