Gili Air, a tiny coral reef island off the coast of Bali known for its turquoise waters, deserted beaches and serene atmosphere, is Bali’s version of Fire Island. Horse-drawn carts and bicycles are the only vehicles touring the sandy paths throughout the island. A night on the town consists of watching the sun set. You can pack everything you need for your trip—bikini, sunscreen and a novel—in an REI daypack. After four days there, I decided “gili” is Indonesian for relaxed.
I’d been warned: Traveling from Ubud to Gili is no day at the beach. The super fast speedboat that makes the trip in less than 2 hours is bearable only when accompanied by a handful of Dramamine. Since I’m of the opinion if you’ve seen one beach, you’ve pretty much seen them all, I dismissed any curiosity I had about Gili based on that information alone.
But my friend Mary Ann, who’d journeyed from San Diego to spend 2 weeks with me in Bali because I’d begged her to, had targeted Gili as one of her must-sees. I argued with her—there’s tons of beaches right here on Bali, a beach is a beach… Mary Ann held firm and gently reminded me she’d traveled something like 20,000 miles for a vacation from her 80-hour work week job, plus the entire trip to Gili was on her. She half cajoled, half bribed me into acquiescence. Thank God.
Our first encounter on Gili set the tone for our stay. When we arrived at our guesthouse, Manta Dive, one of the employees, upon seeing us but before we even introduced ourselves, held out his arms, smiled warmly and exclaimed, “Lynn! Welcome. Here is your room key.”
“Would you like our credit card?” Mary Ann asked, taking the key and tentatively allowing the young man to embrace her.
“Oh, no,” he said, shaking his head, dismissing the idea as if it were silly. “I will help you with your bags.”
Mary Ann is still wondering how he knew who we were.
Getting Manta Dive to take our (Mary Ann’s) payment was our biggest challenge on Gili. The night before we left, knowing we had to catch the boat early in the morning, Mary Ann popped into the office. “I really think we should pay you now,” she said. The young man shrugged, smiled broadly and said, “I hope you will come back soon. We really liked having you here.”
And we loved being there. Manta Dive is located at the end of Gili’s tiny restaurant row. As the name implies, it offers scuba instruction and dives. The center features an enormous front patio with tables, a swimming pool and two types of accommodations—rustic bungalows with outdoor bathrooms and modern, more luxurious hotel-like rooms. Both are wonderful.
Lined up within 200 meters of Manta Dive are a selection of restaurants. Scallywags, which offers an organic salad bar, and Chill-Out Bar, which fronts the best swimming beach on the east side of the island, were our favorites.
In between breakfast, lunch and dinner, Mary Ann and I spent a lot of time doing nothing. We napped on the beach, rented bikes and rode all over the island, often, at low tide, right on the beach. We didn’t go snorkeling (just seemed like too much work) but we heard it’s divine.
As we biked around the island, we pit-stopped at various homestays that offered cold bottled water. At each one, we were encouraged to grab a lounge chair, enjoy the beach, stay for awhile. Balinese people are, as a rule, very sweet. But in Gili Air the sweetness of their hospitality soared to new heights.
Aside from its Caribbean-like beaches, Gili’s scenery includes fantastic views of the mountains of Lombok, which we’ve been told is the next Bali. If I ever travel back to this part of the world, I will head straight to Lombok. It’s much closer to Gili Air.
