DIVE SITES
The magical underwater world of the Gilis offers something for everyone but turtles are starring the show here without a doubt!
DIVE SITES OF THE GILIS
The dive sites of the Gili Islands offer something for everyone. You can experience gentle to strong drift dives, walls, wrecks and pinnacles. Moreover, there are also some beautiful muck dive sites where you can expect to have your nose in the sand looking for tiny and extraordinary creatures.
The Gilis Islands also feature the largest biorock program (artificial reefs) in the world. Hard and soft corals can be found at different depths. In addition, we have the perfect training grounds for beginners as well as for professional training. Popular dive sites include Shark Point, Sunset Reef (also known as Manta Point), Deep Turbo, Meno Wall and the very instagramable Bask Nest on Meno Slope. Turtles, rays, morays, eels and also sharks can be frequently seen as well as schooling fish and critters. In addition, Lombok, which offers world-class muck-diving is only 15 to 20 minutes away. Conditions vary depending on the season but in general you can expect 20 meters visibility and 28 to 29 degrees water temperature.
You will find descriptions of the 20+ dive sites of the Gilis below. Each of the sites has its own distinct character, topography and marine life. Many of the sites are perfect for beginners although there are also great opportunities for advanced and pro divers to challenge themselves.
What can you see?
ALMOST GUARANTEED
green and hawksbill turtles, cuttlefish, clownfish, lionfish, trevally, whitetip reef sharks
With a bit of luck
nudibranchs, pygmy seahorses, ghost pipefish, mating mandarin fish, eagle rays, blacktip reef sharks
With a lot (!!) of luck
mantas, whale sharks, blue ringed octopus
Pick your favourite dive site
SUNSET REEF
This is a beautiful, large fringing reef on the south end of Gili Trawangan. Expect a beautiful coral garden on a gentle slope that mouths into a sandy bottom covered with coral blocks. Keep your eyes open for turtles, cuttlefish, mantis shrimp, the occasional blacktip or whitetip reefshark. With just a little bit of luck it is also not uncommon to be pleasantly surprised by a passing manta, eagle or mobula rays. Altogether a rewarding and easy dive.
MENO WALL
This is a beautiful, large fringing reef on the south end of Gili Trawangan. Expect a beautiful coral garden on a gentle slope that mouths into a sandy bottom covered with coral blocks. Keep your eyes open for turtles, cuttlefish, mantis shrimp, the occasional blacktip or whitetip reefshark. With just a little bit of luck it is also not uncommon to be pleasantly surprised by a passing manta, eagle or mobula rays. Altogether a rewarding and easy dive.
MENO SLOPE
Meno Slope is basically the extension of our Divine Divers house reef west of Gili Meno. It offers many coral gardens teaming with marine life. Again, apart from the turtles chilling out here it’s also a Valhalla for all of you macro freaks out there. Apart from all that, Meno Slope is also home to the famous Bask Nest, also known as the Gili Meno Statues. The 48 humanlike statues by Jason DeCaires Taylor are arranged to represent the circle of life.
HALIK
Halik stretches out along the north of Gili T. Being such a large dive site it is perfect for a nice leisurely drift dive. The reeftop itself is considered to house some of the best, most vibrant corals the Gili’s have on offer. Green and hawksbill turtles usually hang out here, cuttlefish, octopus, different species of lobsters, moray eels and lionfish. Around full moon you’ll encounter a large group of bumphead parrotfish . A stunning sight!
DEEP HALIK
As the name already kind of gives away, this is the deep part of Halik. It consists of a sandy bottom at around 30m, interspersed with a series of beautiful flat, coral covered ridges. A fantastic place for thrill seekers who like a ‘blue’ descent where you never know what you might bump into. As it is deep, nitrox is obviously a benefit to give you a little bit more time to check the deeper ridges before you make your way back to the main reef.
BIOROCKS
The Gili’s first artificial reef! Around 10 years ago the Biorock reef restoration project created this artificial reef structure and they have been busy regenerating coral reefs ever since. Already their success is obvious as the structures are now home to a sensational diversity in coral and reef dwellers alike. It’s located on the eastern side of Gili T and consists of a sandy bottom on which the structures were placed.
Han’s Reef
One of our personal favorite dive sites. Located North-East of Gili Air it offers everything a diver could ever wish for – experienced or novice. Blue spotted stingrays, scorpion leaf fish, ghostpipefish, moray eels and sometimes even the elusive frogfish! You can usually even find one of the local resident green turtles using a barrel sponge as their own private bed. Apart from the amazing marine life on offer the topography is diverse and beautiful.
Teluk Nara
This is one for all of you critter-lovers out there. You’ll love this dive site! It’s located in the little natural harbor of Teluk Nara where you can spend many bubbles looking for frogfish, pipefish, nudibranchs, octopus and the like. Visibilty can be a bit limited but hey, that’s why they call it a Muck-dive. And who cares, as you’ll have your noses glued to the bottom to find all the hidden gems this place has to offer!
Trawangan Slope
Fancy a leisurely drift dive along Gili T? Trawangan Slope is just the place to do that. On the slope itself you can enjoy the company of some of the local turtles chilling or grazing on the reef. Deeper down on the white sandy bottom you may see some blue spotted stingrays gliding along and, when the current allows it, check out the different bommies and coral formations deeper down for some of the more elusive reef dwellers.
Jack Point
An absolute must for the adrenaline junkies amongst you! If diving Shark point isn’t exciting enough for you here will be your additional thrill. You basically start your dive with a descent into the blue, directly onto the deeper ridges that lead to Shark point. On these ridges you will not only be accompanied by a large school of jackfish but you also have an excellent chance to find white tip reef sharks. You’ll finish the dive on Shark Point.
Gili Air Wall
Air Wall is stretched out along the western side of Gili Air and is an absolute must if you like drop offs. The drop off itself is covered with a carpet of mainly yellow soft corals. When the current allows you’ll have plenty of time to check out the many nooks and crannies of the wall to find an enormous selection of small marine animals hiding in there. Before and after the wall you’re almost guaranteed to bump into some of the resident turtles.
Turtle City
On the north eastern tip of our beautiful little home island Gili Meno, you will find a lovely pinnacle where we can just about guarantee you an encounter with some of the largest turtles around the Gili’s – both green and hawksbill turtles can be found here and often in large numbers. If this is not enough, you’ll also find many different unicorn fish, batfish and nudibranchs here as well as a huge diversity of shrimps, clownfish and lionfish. Altogether a beautiful leisurely dive.
SORAYA
This little gem, also known as Mirko’s reef after a good friend of ours, is situated halfway between Gili Air and Gili Meno. An absolute must for those of you who like cruising along a beautiful rich coral reef, famous for its massive table corals. As you make your way over the series of pristine ridges of which this reef consists, you will basically forget to be on the look out for other marine life swimming by as the corals alone will captivate you.
Shallow Turbo
Another great dive on the north east corner of Gili T. This site, unlike its deeper sister reef Deep Turbo, is accessible to all levels of divers while still offering a huge diversity of both marine life and coral. Keep your eyes peeled for frogfish, octopus and scorpionfish, while doing so you might find some company in curious batfish. Don’t get too caught up and have your nose glued to the bommies. You might miss the occasionally cruising whitetip reefshark.
Gili Air Harbor
This is another macro highlight right in the middle of Gili Air Harbor. Here you have a great opportunity to find a great variety of the smaller marine critters that make the macro heart grow fonder! Frogfish, ghostpipefish, seahorses to name but a few. The highlight is best found during a late afternoon or early morning dive, the elusive mandarin fish! Yes, they are there! An absolute must for macro lovers!
Maya Slope
Wedged in between Meno Wall and Meno Slope we have another wonderful little corner of our Divine Divers backyard. Here we have a gentle slope down to a white sandy bottom covered with a great number of beautiful coral-covered bommies. A great place to spot cuttlefish, one of the most amazing little creatures you’ll ever encounter underwater or above. For those of you with keen eyes, there are scorpion leaf fish to be found!
Bounty Wreck
The Bounty is one of two freely accessible wrecks on the Gili’s. Once a jetty, it is now a popular dive site. It’s been colonized by a huge variety of soft and hard corals alike which attract our usual reef dwellers like sweetlips, snappers, batfish and many more. Macro lovers will definitely not get bored here either. We usually start, or end the dive, depending on the current, on the famous Bask Nest, also known as the Gili Meno Statues.
Deep Turbo
Attention to all experienced divers who like it deep and beautiful. Deep Turbo is a magnificent dive site with superb coral formations and sea fans that you will absolutely love. The topography is impressive – imagine seamounts covered in healthy corals on a white sandy bottom. There are also several overhangs and small caves where many creatures live. Many of the gorgonians are home to the elite pygmy seahorse. Nitrox recommended.
SIMON'S
A must see for you experienced divers out there. A collection of stunning healthy corals, bommies, pinnacles and canyons spread out on a white sandy bottom. As the shallowest part is at around 18m this is an excellent chance strap on a nitrox tank to allow you some extra time at depth to check out all that’s on offer here. Cruising sharks, huge green turtles, rays, large gorgonians hide the tiny pygmee seahorses and nudibranchs.
SHARK POINT
A site not to be missed. As the name suggests, we often find whitetip and blacktip reef sharks here. But Shark Point doesn’t need sharks to be an amazing dive site. The site features beautiful ridges with stunning hard corals parallel to the main reef. These ridges are full of blue line snappers and schooling jack fish. The main reef is home to supersized turtles, octopus, the picturesque clown triggerfish and even leafy scorpion fish.
Glenn Nusa Wreck
Here we have the Gili’s first proper shipwreck! The Glenn Nusa was a tugboat which was purchased, properly stripped and cleaned and sunk in 2016. It lies upright at a depth of 28m on the sandy bottom between Halik and Shark point. Efforts are also being made to promote coral growth on the wreck. However, it has already collected a wide variety of coral and marine life and makes for an excellent wreck dive and even a wreck speciality.
