A Guide to Gili Trawangan

Planning a trip to Gili Trawangan? We spent a few days on the island and found it to be much more than just a party destination, with snorkelling, beach clubs and great food. In this guide, I’ll share where to stay, what to do, costs and practical tips based on my own experience.

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Good to Know

Gili Trawangan is predominantly Muslim, so don’t be surprised to hear prayers played from speakers at nearby mosques. The island does not allow any motor vehicles, so the only way to get around is on foot, by renting a bike or using a horse and cart. Fortunately, the island isn’t very large.

There are ATMs available on the island, and most established restaurants accept card, but it helps to have cash.

Upon re-entering Bali, you’ll need to pay the tourist tax of 20,000 IDR per person. At the port, there will be a small building that almost looks like a waiting room. You’ll need to pay this before boarding the boat — we weren’t aware of this until minutes before boarding.

Watch my Gili Trawangan vlogs to see what the island is really like: day 8, day 9 and day 10 

Getting to Gili Trawangan

We used Samaya One boat company that was booked through our accommodation. There is a 20,000 IDR entry fee to Gili T, when collecting our boarding passes for our boat from Nusa Penida to Gili T we paid this at the time and were given a receipt that allowed us to walk straight to the port exit at Gili T, otherwise there was a short queue to pay before exiting.

How Much Does Gili Trawangan Cost?

Prices on Gili Trawangan vary depending on the season and your style of travel, but overall it can be more affordable than Bali if planned well.

Accommodation ranges from around £30 per night for budget stays to £100+ for private villas. Activities such as snorkelling tours typically cost between £15 and £50, while meals can range from £3 at local warungs to £15+ at restaurants.

Extras like bike hire, yoga classes and beach clubs are also reasonably priced, making it easy to tailor your budget depending on how you want to experience the island.

Gili Trawangan Accommodation

We booked a one bedroom villa at Villas Edenia, which offered a spacious open plan living area overlooking a private pool, a private oasis if you will. The venue was very accommodating when I contacted them directly via WhatsApp to arrange a few surprises. It’s worth looking at accommodation options on Gili Trawangan to compare prices and locations across the island.

Flower Pool & Floating Breakfast

In celebration of the birthday, they offered three options for flower pools. I requested the Love Supreme for IDR 2,500,000 (approx £127) which filled the entire pool. They needed a minimum 24 hours notice and 2 hours to set it up. They also provided the option for a decorated birthday cake at 350,000 (approx £15) and I added on a flower floating breakfast for 300,000 (approx £15) for the morning after.

Since she had been travelling around Australia since September, I had her friends and family send me birthday cards and set this up with a few of her favourite things. Other than the champagne I picked up in duty-free, I bought everything with me in my checked luggage.

The total cost for the flower pool, cake and floating breakfast was 3,150,000 (approx £160), this was well worth the money to make the day extra special.

Private Snorkelling Tour

We were going to book a regular shared snorkelling tour, but to make it more special we chose a private option instead. If you’re planning something similar, you can check Gili T snorkelling tours here, including both shared and private options.

We arranged our itinerary to be in Gili Trawangan for Kim’s 30th birthday, so we wanted to spend the day with turtles. We paid £44.82 per person for a private snorkelling tour, starting at 2 pm so that we would be on the boat for sunset as recommended by the provider.

The tour included snorkelling at three spots around Gili Meno to see turtles, marine life and the famous underwater statues, along with equipment and a GoPro. The later start time also meant the spots were much quieter, which made the experience feel even more special.

Even with just two of us, it was incredible and definitely worth considering if you want something more private. Seeing the turtles up close was a real bucket list moment, and ending the day with sunset on the boat made it even better.

Gili T Cooking Class

We knew we wanted to do a cooking class, so we booked a 90 minute intro course that cost around £18 per person. We were taught to cook three Balinese dishes including kelopon, homemade peanut sauce, fried tempeh and fried noodles. The class started at 11:30 am and finished at around 1 pm with us tucking into what we’d made. The class was enjoyable but there wasn’t any air con so it was very warm despite the use of fans.

Fly High Sunset Yoga

Sunset Beach Yoga on Gili Trawangan run two daily yoga classes, Morning Flow at 08:30 am and Fly High at 5 pm. They cost 150,000 IDR for a one-hour class, cash only. Reservations can only be made for groups of 6 or more and you need to arrive 10 minutes early.

Pink Coco

Pink Coco is a pink lover’s dream! But those not staying in the hotel can make use of the pink beach bean bags to witness the sunset for a minimum spend of IDR 100,00 (approx £5). This can be easily reached with a cocktail (130,000) and some food. Once the sun had set, a modern Balinese dancer performed alongside the DJ playing music which was really amazing, we’re unsure if she was hired by the venue or just turned up but either way it was a treat.

ASTON Sunset Beach Resort

There are actually quite a  few places to watch movies on the beach in Gili T, they’re free with the expectation to buy refreshments. The main one was at ASTON Beach Resort, just a short 12-minute walk from Sunset Yoga. Films are shown daily at 7 pm and 9 pm, they have a board showcasing what films will be shown. We unfortunately couldn’t make it to a showing but would have liked to if we’d have had more time.

Gili T Beach Swing

This was one of those ‘Instagram Vs. Reality’ moments where all the lovely beach swings we had seen on social media, well they actually didn’t exist anymore! Many had been destroyed so there was only one remaining on the island which you’ll find at Taj Maza.

If you are planning a wider Indonesia trip, you might also like my Bali travel guides.