Diving in and around the Gili’s is popular due to the abundance of marine life and attractive coral formations.
Through the Lombok straits, between Bali and Lombok flows the Indonesian through flow, a massive volume of water that passes from the pacific to the Indian Ocean. The result is extremely rich marine bio diversity and during certain times of the year large pelagic fish such as manta rays & whale sharks visit the reefs. Many underwater photographer enthusiasts visit the Gili Islands due to its wide variety of coral reefs and macro life.
HARBOUR
South Gili Air, 18m
A sandy bottom that slopes down to 18 meters. A large pinnacle forms the middle point of the reef. The house reef is home to crocodile fish, razor fish, seahorses and several types of nudibranchs and the all famous mandarin fish. A perfect site for shallow dives, night dives and for first dive experiences.
BLUE PLAINS
North-East Gili Air, 18m
This long slope runs all the way from the northern tip of Gili Air down to the harbor. Boxfish, frog fish, octopus, ribbon eel and lion fish are frequently spotted here. While drifting down the slope, the Gili Air BioRock can be spotted as well. This artificial reef was set up to stimulate the marine life on the island and is now home to many different types of fish and corals.
HANS REEF
North-East Gili Air, 24m
This site just off the east coast of Gili Air provides a great opportunity for macro photographers or those who wish to witness some of the smaller, stranger creatures found here. Frog fish, leaf scorpion fish, sea horses, ribbon eels, black spotted morays, pipe fish and many types of shrimp are frequently spotted here.
BATFISH POINT
North Gili Air, 28m
Deep dive site on the northern tip of Gili Air. The site consists of three pinnacles and houses batfish, a beautiful variety of corals and some of the larger species of fish. Macro photographers praise the site for the colorful pictures that can be taken here.
GILI AIR WALL
West Gili Air, 30m
The wall between Gili Air and Gili Meno slopes from 8 meters all the way down to 30 meters. Pygmy seahorses, turtles and blue spotted stingrays are amongst the inhabitants of this dive site. The topography of the wall makes this site different from all.
Takat Penyu
North East of Gili Air, 30m
Blue nudibranchs, yellow nudibranchs, red and white nudibranchs and brown nudibranchs with white spikes… Nudibranch Heaven has earned its name by hosting many different types of nudibranchs in all colors and varieties. Colorful reef fish such as angelfish, surgeon fish and clownfish are also frequently spotted here, and so are ribbon eels, mantis shrimps and squid.
SORAYA
Between Gili Meno and Gili Air, 25m
This open water dive site consists of two long ridges of coral running east to west in between Gili Meno and Gili Air. The corals on this reef are nearly untouched, resulting in a dive site covered in very large table corals, staghorn corals and gorgonian fans, which in their turn attract all sorts of coral fish. Drift along the reef and enjoy the view!
MENO WALL
North-West of Gili Meno, 25m
Just off the west of Gili Meno and home to a plethora of crustaceans and a great spot for night diving. The wall runs from 5m down to 16m and a second wall runs a little deeper. Spanish dancers, crabs ranging from small coral crabs up to the huge sponge crab, lobsters, shrimps, sleeping turtles, juvinile cuttlefish, eagle rays and scorpion fish are amongst the many creatures that can be seen.
MENO SLOPE
West of Gili Meno, 20m
Turtle-lovers, pay attention: Meno Slope is the place to be! The slope on the north coast is the best place to spot green sea turtles, olive ridley and hawksbills. They graze on the corals and sleep between the different coral bommies. Bat fish, puffer fish and schools of snappers are frequently spotted here as well.
MENO WRECK
South-West of Gili Meno, 25m
The Meno Wreck lies on the northern slope of Gili Meno. The Bounty used to be a pontoon used for building a jetty on Gili Meno. Unfortunately an enormous hole in the pontoon made it sink to the slope, with the top at around 6 meters and the deepest tip at 17 meters. During the years it has completely overgrown with corals and is now hosts a large variety of fish, including frog fish, scorpion fish and Sweetlips
TAKAT MALANG
North West of Gili Air, 30m
This deep dive site just above Gili Meno consists of several canyons with coral slopes. Swim over the sandy bottom in the cantons and navigate on the reef. A flat, shallow area provides the perfect circumstances for a safety stop. Marine life on Takat Malang includes colorful corals with schools of reef fish, the sandy bottom is a good hiding places for blue spotted stingrays and garden eels.
SIMONS REEF
North-East of Gili Meno, 30m
A great deep dive that offers a variety of corals not seen on the other dive sites. At 30m this site has a sandy bottom between large sea mounds. These sea mounds range in size and have an interesting variety of overhangs and outcrops, there are also some interesting sand bar formations similar to sand dunes in a desert. The dive ends on a pinnacle that’s covered in fish life.
DEEP TURBO
North-East of Gili Trawangan, 30m
A great deep dive just off the east of Gili Trawangan with spectacular topography. At 30m this site has a sandy bottom between large sea mounds. These sea mounds range in size and have an interesting variety of overhangs and outcrops, the largest of which go up to about 20m depth. You’ll find a good variety of corals and some huge sea fans. Thousands of garden eels cover the sandy bottom and barracuda, leopard sharks and giant rays can also be seen here.
HALIK REEF
North-West Gili Trawangan, 20m
A steep slope on the north side of Gili Trawangan, from 5m down to 24m with a series of gullies at the bottom. A fine site for multi level diving, the selection of soft coral in the deeper section gives way to hard corals as you ascend and in the shallows there are always several turtles totally unfazed by the presence of divers. This is also a great site for drift dives. Divers interested in deep diving can descend into the deeper part of the reef, with canyons down to 40 m. In the deep part of the reef bigger marine life is frequently spotted, such as Reef sharks, trevallys, bumphead parrotfish and occasionally eagle rays.
SHARK POINT
West Gili Trawangan, 30m
An excellent site for viewing larger marine life on the north side of Gili Trawangan.A flat sandy bottom turns into a series of progressively deeper canyons that run parallel to the shore. This is probably the most popular site because of the sheer variety of life seen here on a single dive. Reef sharks are found basking in the canyons, lobsters, cuttlefish, stingrays, tons of turtles in the shallows, and every full moon it is a favorite hangout for a school of huge bumphead parrot fish. Large rays sometimes pass by as well as schooling trevally.
SUNSET REEF
South Gili Trawangan, 22m
Located on the west side of Gili Trawangan, Sunset Reef is the dive site that is fed with fresh waters from the Lombok Sea Strait. Frequent visitors of the reef are black and white tip reef sharks, giant trevallys, sweetlips and schools of snappers. Occasionally devil rays and manta rays are spotted here as well. In the shallower part of the reef, staghorn corals form a safe haven for reef fish and turtles.