Why go to the Gili Islands to dive?
Diving on the Gili Islands is not to be missed. All three islands are completely surrounded by reefs, providing a wide variety of dive sites for all different levels of diver. As such, the Gilis are a superb place to learn to dive by taking the PADI Open Water Course. There are currently seven dive centres on the Gili Islands, offering excellent services at prices cheaper than elsewhere in the region. Added to the fact that the dive sites are so close to the beach (no long road trips), many people choose the Gilis as the place to learn.
What you can expect to see
The diversity of marine life in Indonesia is said to be greater than that of the Great Barrier reef and the Red Sea, and the Gili Islands offer a good cross-section of the rest of the archipelago. The reefs offer a variety of topography, ranging from, canyons, caves, wrecks, drop-offs, slopes, coral gardens, plateaus, which are home to an amazing array of marine life, such as sea-snakes, rays, sharks, turtles, ghost pipefish, dolphins, cuttle fish, octopus, angel fish, numerous nudibranchs, moray eels and much more. See our Dive Sites page for full details and some great video footage of these sites.
Gili Diving Cave
The Gili Eco Trust
The Gili Eco Trust oversees conservation of the islands’ dive sites. The trust controls pricing (prices are equal between all dive centres), and all dive operators agree to pay Rp. 40,000 “reef tax” for every diver. This is used for preserving the reefs, beach cleaning, recycling and generally keeping the local eco-system in tact.
Click Here for information on Learning to Dive and PADI Dive Courses on the Gili Islands.
