Gili Trawangan, or simply “Gili T,” isn’t only famous for its lively atmosphere and stunning sunsets, but it’s also a world-renowned diving destination. Nestled in the heart of the Coral Triangle, the waters surrounding Gili T and its sister islands (Gili Meno and Gili Air) are teeming with an incredible diversity of marine life and boast some of the most accessible and exciting Diving in Gili Trawangan has to offer.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro with hundreds of dives under your belt or looking to take your first breath underwater, Gili Trawangan welcomes all levels of divers. The island is dotted with numerous PADI and SSI-certified dive centers, making it easy to get certified, refresh your skills, or simply join fun dives with experienced instructors.
Why Gili Trawangan is a Diver’s Dream
- Abundant Marine Life: Prepare to encounter everything from majestic sea turtles and reef sharks to colorful nudibranchs, vibrant reef fish, and intricate coral formations.
- Variety of Dive Sites: From shallow coral gardens perfect for beginners to deeper slopes, walls, and even a wreck, Gili Trawangan offers diverse underwater topography.
- Warm, Clear Water: Enjoy comfortable diving year-round with water temperatures typically ranging from 27°C to 30°C (80°F to 86°F) and excellent visibility.
- Accessibility: Most Diving in Gili Trawangan are just a short boat ride away, meaning less travel time and more time exploring underwater.
- Experienced Dive Schools: The island boasts a high concentration of reputable dive centers with multilingual instructors, ensuring a safe and professional experience.
Top Dive Sites Gili Trawangan You Can’t Miss
Let’s explore some of the most popular and rewarding Dive Sites Gili Trawangan and its neighbors offer:
Shark Point
- Location: North-west of Gili Trawangan.
- Depth: Ranges from 6 meters (20 ft) to over 50 meters (165 ft), with deeper canyons.
- Marine Life: True to its name, this site is famous for sightings of white-tip and black-tip reef sharks, often resting in the sandy channels. You’ll also encounter schools of jackfish, barracuda, tuna, stingrays, and plenty of turtles in the shallower parts. During full moon, you might even spot large bumphead parrotfish schools!
- Current: Can have moderate to strong currents, making it a good drift dive. Suitable for Open Water certified divers and above, especially those comfortable with currents.
Halik Reef
- Location: North of Gili Trawangan.
- Depth: Slopes from around 5 meters (16 ft) down to 24 meters (80 ft), with deeper sections for advanced divers.
- Marine Life: A beautiful coral garden with diverse hard and soft corals. Expect to see a wide variety of reef fish like clownfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish, lionfish, and moray eels. Turtles are very common here, often found resting in the shallows.
- Current: Generally mild to moderate, suitable for all certification levels, from Discover Scuba Diving to Advanced.
Turtle Heaven (Gili Meno Wall)
- Location: East of Gili Meno, easily accessible from Gili Trawangan.
- Depth: Starts around 5 meters (16 ft) and drops to a sandy bottom at about 22 meters (72 ft).
- Marine Life: Living up to its name, this site is a guaranteed spot for green and hawksbill sea turtles! You’ll find them grazing on corals and resting. The site also features a beautiful wall covered in soft corals, home to blue-spotted stingrays, various reef fish, and sometimes pygmy seahorses on the gorgonian fans.
- Current: Gentle to moderate, making it excellent for all levels and even night dives where you can spot crustaceans and Spanish dancers.
Bounty Wreck
- Location: North-west of Gili Meno, near Gili Trawangan.
- Depth: Relatively shallow, from 5 meters (16 ft) to 18 meters (60 ft).
- Marine Life: This is not a sunken ship, but the remains of a submerged jetty, which has transformed into a thriving artificial reef since it sank in 1999. It’s now covered in corals and is a haven for macro life like nudibranchs, frogfish, scorpionfish, stonefish, lionfish, moray eels, and schools of glassfish. It’s also a great place to spot turtles!
- Current: Mild, making it an excellent site for beginners and underwater photographers.
Deep Turbo
- Location: North of Gili Trawangan.
- Depth: Starts around 18 meters (60 ft) and drops to 35 meters (115 ft) and deeper.
- Marine Life: A series of impressive sea mounds and pinnacles rise from the sandy bottom. These formations are covered in massive barrel sponges, sea fans, and a wide variety of soft corals. Look out for leopard sharks, giant rays, barracudas, and thousands of garden eels swaying on the sandy slopes.
- Current: Can be strong, making it suitable for advanced divers and those comfortable with drift diving.
Manta Point
- Location: South of Gili Trawangan.
- Depth: Gently sloping reef from 8 meters (26 ft) to 30 meters (98 ft).
- Marine Life: As the name suggests, this site attracts majestic manta rays, particularly during the rainy season (November to February), when the water is rich in plankton. Even without mantas, you’ll find healthy hard and soft corals, bommies, reef sharks, turtles, sweetlips, and various schooling fish.
- Current: Can have strong currents, which is what attracts the bigger pelagics.
Diving in Gili Trawangan: What You Need to Know
Dive Centers
Gili Trawangan hosts numerous professional dive centers, many of which are PADI 5-Star IDC (Instructor Development Center) or SSI equivalent.
- Examples: Blue Marlin Dive, Trawangan Dive, Manta Dive, Gili Divers, DSM Dive.
- Address: Most dive centers are located along the main strip on the east side of Gili Trawangan, easily accessible from the harbor.
- Opening Hours: Typically 07:00 AM to 08:00 PM daily, with dive trips usually departing in the morning (e.g., 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM) and afternoon (e.g., 1:00 PM or 2:00 PM). Night dives are also offered.
- Facilities: Dive centers offer equipment rental (tanks, BCDs, regulators, masks, fins, wetsuits), training pools, classrooms, retail shops, and some even have on-site accommodation and restaurants.
- Pricing:
- Fun Dives (for certified divers): Approximately IDR 350,000 – IDR 450,000 per dive (package deals for multiple dives are usually cheaper). This includes equipment and a guide.
- Discover Scuba Diving (Introductory Dive): Around IDR 650,000 – IDR 900,000 (includes theory, confined water session, and one open water dive under direct supervision).
- PADI Open Water Course: Approximately IDR 4,500,000 – IDR 6,000,000 (includes theory, confined and open water dives, equipment, and certification).
Rules & Safety
- Always dive with a certified dive center and instructor/divemaster.
- Follow your dive brief and listen to your guide.
- Never touch marine life or corals.
- Maintain good buoyancy control to avoid damaging the reef.
- Stay hydrated and ensure you have adequate surface intervals.
- Be aware of no-fly times after diving (typically 18-24 hours before flying, depending on the number of dives).
Whether you’re after adrenaline-pumping drift dives or serene encounters with turtles, the Diving in Gili Trawangan promise an unforgettable underwater adventure. Get ready to explore a vibrant world beneath the waves!
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