Blue waters, coconut mojitos and snorkeling with turtles in Gili T

After Bali, myself and a few people that I had met along the way decided to head to the Gili islands.

The original plan was to visit all three if I could – Gili Trawangan (where we started), Gili Air and Gili Meno.

The Gili islands are quite small; to get to and from the islands, the boats are not particularly safe and not the most pleasant of rides.

There have been several incidents where boats have exploded due to faulty engines or sunk.

In fact, as the boat drew near, we passed a sunken vessel that had been left there, just jutting out above the water.

Gili T has no harbour, pier or jetty. Your heavier luggage that was stored in the hold will be passed down to people who will place it on the beach.

You will need to climb down from the boat and wade through the water to get to the beach and collect your luggage.

The Gili islands are no motorised vehicle zones. The local version of a taxi is quite literally a horse and cart or you can rent a bicycle.

You can cycle the entire circumference of the island in less than one hour.

The waters are a paradisal turquoise blue

There are bright flowers and wooden huts strewn across the island

You can rent snorkeling gear quite cheaply and once you have traversed the scratchy dead coral in the shallows, you can explore the beautiful underwater world of colourful tropical fish

and if you’re lucky…

sea turtles.

We were extremely lucky and encountered three in one day. It was an incredible experience and they seemed very unfazed by us as we gently drifted alongside or above them, observing them munching on sea grass and gliding through the water.

Out of the three Gili islands, Gili T is known as the party island.

There are of course, quieter spots you can go to, but the main vibe there is like an ongoing full moon party and whilst fun once or twice, is not really for me.

Most of the time myself an A from Colombia would cycle around, snorkel, sunbathe and find spots to watch the sunset and then have a chilled beer or two.

I found Gili T to be quite expensive and whilst I did go out for one of two nice dinners such as the seafood grill and buffet at Scallywags

most of the time I would eat at a local warung for the cost equivalent to a British pound for rice, tempeh, tofu and vegetables which was actually quite delicious and I was perfectly happy with.

We stayed a few days, enjoying lemon and grapefruit Bintang beers, coconut mojitos and blue waters before myself and one of the other girls decided to carry on to Lombok.