Snorkelling in the Gili Islands
It was a pleasant morning in Gili T as the island was still mostly asleep but it was already getting a little hot. I treated myself to a birthday breakfast at Coffee & Thyme and though everything else was dead this place was packed! I think it was probably because their prices were half those of other cafes on this main street of Gili Trawangan, luckily I got a table to enjoy my flat white and mango banana smoothie bowl. The table beside me were three British lads that sounded hungover and theyâd end up being on my tour too. As we checked in for the tour, we were each given a pair of flippers as we climbed aboard with the captain Ali and two guides Yudi and Ryan. As we were riding out to our first dive spot Yudi was explaining how to wear the flippers and the mask as the Indian ladies sitting opposite me had never swam before it seemed like, this will be interesting⌠Our first stop was the underwater statues that are pictured with every image of the Gili Islands and it was truly every man for himself there. Swarms of people bobbing around the surface while others tried to dive down and have the guides get a photo of them with the statues in the background. The Indian ladies were coughing and spluttering unable to keep their heads above the surface despite wearing life jackets so they had to return to the boat. It was cool to see the statues underwater but the uncontrolled crowds and all the plastic floating in the water made it less enjoyable. This spot did however also redeem itself with many colourful fish and corals to look at without diving deeper. This stop was short, maybe around 20 minutes and then we gathered back in the boat to go to the next stop where we could swim with sea turtles. The water here was dirty and cloudy so despite the guides saying there were sea turtles surrounding us, I didnât see a single one and I followed the guides around the full 20 minutes here. I got in the shallow water where I could stand up so didnât wear a life jacket but then ended up out into the deep and struggled a bit to get back to the boat. The water got clearer further out and the British lads found a turtle and yelled out to the guides so everyone could see that one and get photos swimming beside it if they wanted. We anchored at Gili Meno and went ashore to see the turtle sanctuary which was a series of tiled bathtubs full of baby turtles. They rescue them when they hatch and keep them in the tubs until theyâve grown to 4-5 months old before releasing them otherwise predators can catch and kill them as babies. I wandered up the beach for a while taking some photos knowing that if I ordered a juice, weâd be leaving on the boat again as soon as I got it. Without making a purchase though, it was hot and there wasnât much shade around the shore. After 2o minutes we were summoned back on to the boat for our last snorkel spot of the day. This one was the highlight, we were the only boat there and the water was clean and clear so we could see all the beautiful corals and tropical fish and another couple of turtles. I swam alongside one of the turtles close enough to where I couldâve reached out and touched it. It was a longer boat ride to Gili Air, the most isolated of the three islands but it was a nice vibe there and the temperatures had dropped to be more pleasant. I headed up the main street to Shark Bites for lunch, it was quiet there - just me and one other table and a little cat asleep under a chair. I ordered the fried cauliflower rice with tempeh and a booster shake made up of coconut milk, ginger, and turmeric. I rushed back to the meeting point only to wait around for the others to gather. Thatâs what I really hate about group tours; when they give you all a time to be somewhere and people donât respect the othersâ time. I wanted to look in some of the little shops on my walk back but felt I didnât have time. We took the boat back to Gili T as a storm started to roll in but luckily it didnât strike us.












