Gili Trawangan dive sites are enjoyed by both beginners and more experienced divers
Gili Trawangan has great conditions for diving and snorkeling with green and hawksbill sea turtles. Gili T is a true “Turtle heaven”. There are several dive sites in Gili T, with destinations for both beginners and for divers who hope for laid-back diving, but also interesting sites for more experienced divers. The reefs have a rich macro life and you may find rare nudibranch and frog fish if you look closely enough. Some of the dive give you good possibility to see blacktip and whitetip reef sharks. Most dive sites are only a 5–15 minute boat ride away.
Gili’s best dive sites are described in more detail below.
Turtle Heaven
Turtle Heaven is really worthy of its name and perfect dive site for anyone who is hoping to see as many turtles as possible in one dive. This dive site is a pinnacle with really rich marine life. We often encounter, nudiebranchs, many variations of lion fishes and large schools of damsel fishes swimming around the pinnacle. During this dive, it is possible to spot mantis shrimps and octopuses that are hidden in the rocky outcrops while drifting along the coral slopes after the pinnacle.
- experience level: easy, suits for all levels
- Depth: 5 - 30 meters
Shark Point
Shark Point is one of the most diverse and interesting dive sites around Gili T. The destination is only about ten minutes away by boat and it’s located on the north east side of the island. Shark Point starts from a shallow, much soft coral-growing sloping reef at a depth of around 8 meters we often find octopuses, scorpionfishes and ribbon eels from the shallow part.
The reef continues deeper to a depth of 18 meters, where a divers can encounter moray eels, lobsters and cuttlefishes and it continues to around 30 meters, where the huge resident school of jacks can be encountered very often.
At Shark Point, divers have a good chance of seeing black and white-tip reef sharks, blue-spotted stingrays and bumphead parrot fishes. If the dive has current divers may also see large schools of bat and tunafishes. In the deep part of the dive site there is also a large Glen Nusa wreck that you can dive into when the conditions are good. Shark Point is prone to currents and waves, so it is not always possible to dive at this dive site.
- Experience level: Suits for all levels
- Depth: 8 to 40 meters
Glen Nusa Wreck
Glenn Nusa Wreck is an old Tugboat that was cleaned and sunk in February 2016 to create a habitat for fish and corals.The wreck is ideally located on a flat sandy bottom at a depth of around 28 meters between the Halik and Shark Point dive sites. The wreck is 22 meters long and 6 meters high. Nusa Glenn Wreck is ideal dive site to complete SSI current, wreck and deep dive adventure sections. It is possible to start the drift dive from the Glenn Nusa dive site and end the dive at Shark Point, or vice versa depending on the direction of the current.
- Experience level: from intermediate to experienced
- Depth: 22 to 28 meters
Halik
Halik is one of the most well preserved and diverse dive sites in the area and is located on the north side of Gili T. Halik has such a rich marine life that it is possible to encounter most of the Indonesia’s common tropical reef fish species while diving at this dive site. Halik is a reef slope with coral covered ridges and is well suited for both shallow and deeper dives. Halik is also one of the most popular snorkelling spots in Gili Islands. Halik has usually low or medium current, which also makes it a nice and peaceful drift dive site. You have the chance to encounter napoleon wrasses, tunas, mackerels, Bumphead parrotfishes and even beautiful manta rays and reef sharks.
- Experience level: Suits for all
- Depth: 10 to 35 meters
Seahorse Bay
Seahorse Bay is a unique shallow reef with a sand bed on the west side of Lombok where you can find a smaller and more special macro life. Large groups of Anthias and other colorful reef fishes swim above the beautiful corals and all around the diver. There are unique species in this site as well as many juveniles that are not found in other Gili dive sites. the diver may find for example rare seahorses, frogfishes, ribbon eels and various pipefishes if looking carefully. The sandy slope of Seahorse Bay slowly drops over 20 meters, which makes this dive site optimal for Padi AOWD courses. Seahorse Bay usually has calm conditions and good visibility. Macro life lovers and photographers especially love this dive site!
- Experience level: suits for all
- Depth: 5 to 20 meters
Bounty Wreck
The Bounty Wreck is a large sunken floating dock that sank in a storm in 2002, on which the Bounty cruise ship used to dock on. The sunken dock is about 25 meters long and starts at a depth of 8 meters and continues to a depth of approximately 18 meters. The wreck is a home for a wide variety of corals and reef fish like scorpionfish, lionfish, frogfish, drummers, snappers and nudibranch. Deeper, you can also encounter reef sharks. On the slope behind the wreck you might find turtles, clownfishes and mantis shrimps.
Diving at the Bounty Wreck is a drift-dive. The currents disintegrate the upper part of the wreck, so it is not safe to dive under or inside the wreck.
- Experience level: suits for all
- Depth: 5 to 18 meters
Deep Turbo
Dive into the blue ocean and descend to a pristine coral hillock rising from the sandy bottom. Deep Turbo’s dramatic topography and impressive coral garden. While diving above the giant sea fans and soft corals you might spot schools of bat fishes and giant bumbled parrot fishes. Naturally you might also meet turtles at this dive site and In the sand-bottomed area, you might enjoy spotted eagle rays.
White and black tip reef sharks can often be seen patrolling around the reef, and the well-trained eye can also find small seahorses hiding in sea fans. This destination is especially comfortable during medium to hard currents, when the current moves divers effortlessly from one underwater mound to another. Deep Turbo is also an excellent dive site for AOWD courses.
Sometimes currents and waves unfortunately restrict access to this dive site. When diving is possible, Deep Turbo is the place to be and it will not disappoint.
- Experience level: for experienced divers
- Depth: 18 to 35 meters