15 years ago we fell in love with Gili Air. It was a simple, rustic island with basic amenities. While that’s changed a little, you’ll still lose your heart here!
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We remembered Gili Air as the perfect rustic escape. It’s definitely changed a bit but you can still find that same charm. The island doesn’t have motorised vehicles, you’ll get around by walking or riding a bike. You may find the occasional e-scooter here and there. The beauty in this is that the roads are quiet albeit busy with pedestrians, especially near the harbour.
How long for Gili Air
We ended up extending our stay to 5 nights, we just couldn’t pull ourselves away! This island is forever one of my favourite places, it is so laid back, beautiful and cheap!
Where to stay in Gili Air
Casa Blanca Gili Air is my favourite place. It’s a nice midrange accommodation with the most lovely guys looking after it! Jhi and Adi are the best, the rooms are great and the breakfast is excellent! It is one of the cutest places, I loved our little white cabin with outdoor shower! It is home to 2 cute cats called scrambled and pancakes who love a pat.
How to get to and from Gili Air?
Getting to Gili Air is really easy. If you are coming from Bali head to the port at Serangan, Padang Bai and you’ll take a boat over. You will drop other passengers at Nusa Penida first on most boats as well as at Gili Trawangan. We booked this boat and it was great.
If you are coming from another Gili Island, you can book at the beach shacks around the island. We booked here and it was super easy. If you are just going to or from another Gili Island then you will be on a small boat and the trip is only about 10 minutes, it is really easy.
When we left we were headed back to Bali, we booked at a shack on Gili Air and it was super easy. You will see loads of places selling tickets. There are lots of companies and different types of boats. I highly recommend the one we took as it was comfortable, big enough and not crazily over crowded. The air conditioning worked also. The boat is called Wijaya Perkasa, just ask around where to buy these tickets if you can’t find this spot. You need to bring the lanyards and the receipt ticket when boarding. All the boats fill up so I recommend you booking a couple of days before if possible. There are cheaper options and more expensive. This boat had great reviews and we found it really comfortable.
What to do on Gili Air?
This is how we spent pretty much ever day on Gili Air…
Wake up for an excellent brekky
If you’re staying at Casablanca try the omelette, it’s truly good, if not there’s loads of excellent cafes to hop around in for your morning meal and brew. Try ——- for excellent coffee and pastries.
Head off to the beach early
We walked over to Sunset Point beach right next to Black Sweet restaurant. We swam and laid out on the beach for hours on end. It’s a perfect beach and we loved it here!
Black Sweet
Iced cappuccino at Black Swwet is a must! After swimming in our favourite beach head next door to sit in the bean bags on the sand and enjoy a cold drink or lunch watching the water.
The Gili Air swing
You have to go on the overwater Gili Air swing! At low tide you can walk to it but at high tide you will need to swim out. Then pull yourself up on to the swing and enjoy the stunning blue water vistas.
Cooking class
Head to Sunny Warung for a cooking class. The chef here is great and the cooking class is really popular. It costs around 350k and can be booked in advance by stopping by and booking in or just turn up near lunch or dinner and if the chef’s available he will do the class then and there!
There’s another cooking class near the harbour called Gili Cooking Class. It is also really popular and runs daily by reservation. You can book online here. Learning how to make some of your favourite Indonesian dishes is a great souvenir to give yourself! You can book your cooking class here.
Tip – there are lots of traditional horse and carriages that are used by tourists to get around the Gili Islands with their bags. These horses are hooked up to the carriages all day, they stand with them attached until the driver gets a job. They are not free to move around as they please all day. Please consider if you really can’t make it to your accommodation carrying your own bags.
Walk the cute sandy streets
There are some great shops along the Main Street from the port towards the centre of the island. Wandering these sandy streets is a great way to get to know the island. You will pass from the shopping areas to the more local areas passing by cows and pretty views.
Tours
Throw in a tour to explore the area. You have to do a snorkelling tour to see the turtles and the really cool underwater sculptures! These are the most popular:
From Gili Island: Group/Share Snorkelling Tour 3 Islands
Gili Islands: Private or Shared Snorkeling Boat Trip
Cocktails hours
Back to the room to shower, change and relax for a minute in the cool before heading down to Santay Bar and Cabins. Here the lovely Hannah will take care of you! She has a great happy hour running from 3pm to 8pm! The drinks are great, perfectly created and the food is good. Sit in a little wooden hut overlooking the water and while away the time with a Long Island ice tea or gin fizz for only 40k IDR!
Sunset drinks
If you want to see the sunset then head over to Cheeky Monkeys. They run a happy hour between 5pm and 7pm which is 2-4-1 80k IDR. They do a mean captiosca and the sunset is lovely. It’s blissful, sitting out under the sky with a bonfire going on the sand, music playing and the sunsetting. Truly a magical moment!
Nightlife
You can enjoy late night drinks at one of the many bars, they are open until after midnight most nights if you want to kick on after sunset. Even walking the island in the evening is really pretty.
Where to eat on Gili Air
Sunny Warung
We are dinner here and I was so excited to find out they knew what gluten free is! I had the tastiest dish of vegetables and rice and Mike had a delicious mie goreng. It’s a nice spot to eat in the evening, the staff are great and atmosphere is nice.
Santay restaurant and bar
This bar and restaurant does great food! If you’re coeliac you can ask Hannah anything and she will find out the ingredients and even bring out the bag or bottle for you to check if it’s safe, next level food and care here!
Frida Warung
Frida Warung became our favourite spot for dinner on the way home from drinks. We stopped in every night to eat delicious curries, rice and noodles. The prices are really cheap, the food is excellent and the staff are lovely. We highly recommend this spot. If you are told there is a 40 minute wait and you have time to stop and wait then do it, we never waited longer than 30 minutes for a meal.
Where Next?
Plaza Premium Lounge Changi Airport
