The best dive site around the Gilis!
“What’s the best dive site around here?” is a question that often comes up while speaking to customers. I always find it hard to answer this because every dive site is unique and depending on what kind of diver you are you will like some dive sites better than others.
Are you a kind of diver that loves small shrimps and nudibranchs, perhaps you even have your own camera that you would like to bring on the dive for good macro pictures? Then Gili Air Wall is the place for you! This beautiful wall is filled with rocks and hard coral – the perfect place for these little crustaceous and sea slugs to hide in. Let the gentle current push you along the wall, which ranges from 30m all the way up to 6m.
Perhaps the bigger creatures fascinate you more? Sharks, Eagle rays, Bumphead parrotfish, Banded sea snakes – the possibility of seeing these creatures make your heart skip a beat? Well then I know just the place for you…. Shark Point! North west of Gili Trawangan lies this massive dive site, with depths ranging from 5 meters all the way down to 40+m. With stronger currents and sloping ridges it is not a surprise that “the sweet spot” lies here at 30m. A huge tornado of 500+ Almaco Jackfish and more often than not whitetip reefsharks between 1m up two 1.6 m (although I swear they look more like 2.5m). Suddenly you look in to the blue and see a lonely Eagle ray soaring by, moving so effortlessly through the water, making the strong current you are attempting to fight look non-existent. The only thing that could possibly make the dive any better is if you are diving on Sidemount using Nitrox!
Maybe the amazing color of a coral reef is what gets you going? To see completely undisturbed nature, to experience what the ocean has looked like for millions and millions of years? Sign up for Simons reef! This grand system of corals starts at 13m, allowing you to make an amazing blue descent before reaching the first part of this dive site. Continue the descent until you reach 30-35m where a sandy bottom awaits. Following the bottom around the site you will find a great wall with Gorgonian sea fans, look closely and you might find some Pygmy seahorses. Continue until you reach some fun swim troughs that you can pass if your buoyancy allows.
So which dive site do I think is the best one around here? For me it changes day by day, every dive I want to experience something different compared to my last dive. But to give an easy answer, I would say Secret Reef. However I am not going to tell you anything about it… you have to find out for yourself!