Gili Islands, Indonesia: Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno & Gili Air Snorkeling

Gili Islands are perfect places for swimming and snorkeling, and I highly recommend exploring when you are in Bali! Gili Islands consist of three islands: Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air. They are located on the east side of Bali or northwest of Lombok. I took a speed boat from Padang Bai (Bali) to Gili Trawangan (aka Gili T.) to explore the three islands. My hostel was located in Gili T, which is known as a party island, and went snorkeling in Gili Meno and Gili Air from Gili T. Originally, I wanted to stay in Gili Air, which is a very laid-back island with chill vibes, but the cheapest accommodation I could find was $200 USD per night, so I ended up staying in Gili T, which was more affordable. Gili T was great too, although it was busy and loud at night. In the furthest part of the island, a lot of locals were living there so it felt less touristy. This post is all about my snorkeling experience in the Gilis and what I saw underwater! 

Snorkeling in the Gilis

Gili Trawangan 

Gili T was where I started snorkeling, and we stopped by the "underwater statues" on the way to Gili Meno and Gili Air. The underwater statues are literally the statues underwater; it's a manmade snorkeling place, where you can swim through random statues. It's not worth going because you will not see any marine life and it's extremely crowded. I even got punched in the face while snorkeling here. Not a great place to snorkel. 

Gili Meno

This was my favorite place to snorkel out of all the islands. I was in a snorkeling spot, called "Turtle City," and saw two medium-sized turtles and got to swim with them. The turtles were friendly and it was an amazing experience! I tried to keep some distance from the turtles so that they didn't feel intimidated by a fellow human swimming with them.

*Check out my video/reel on my Instagram @sr_ch_*

Gili Meno has its own turtle sanctuary on the island, where baby turtles are raised and fostered until they are mature enough to live in the ocean. Baby turtles are released after spending some time at the sanctuary. 

Gili Air 

Gili Air is known for its beautiful coral reefs, but I didn't see a lot while I was snorkeling (so that is why I don't have a lot of footage snorkeling here.) It was a bit disappointing, but I saw tons of mini jellyfish instead. They were quite aggressive and they stung me on my legs even though I didn't attack or harm them. I asked around to see if I was the only person that got stung, but almost everyone did. We were told it is safe to snorkel here, but apparently it wasn't; I think this wasn't something that the locals were expecting too. It didn't hurt that much, but I was worried that I would get rashes afterward, but luckily I had no issues. 

I had lunch at Gili Air after snorkeling. Gili Air had a lot of cute cafes and restaurants, which was really nice. It had more "local" vibes than Gili T and was less crowded than Gili T. Next time, I would like to stay in Gili Air and explore the island more. It felt less touristy, and the water was crystal clear with fewer people enjoying the beach days.