I’ll be honest, I went to the Gili Islands expecting the Trawangan version of things. Full moon buckets, backpackers doing tequila laps on bikes. What I found on Gili Meno instead was a proper slice of paradise, barely a couple of hours by plane to Bali or Lombok from Australia, followed by a short ferry ride.
Warm ocean breeze, sun on your back the second you step off the boat, turtles gliding through the shallows, birds calling from the trees above the beach. It’s the kind of place built for switching off completely, and if you want to properly indulge while you’re at it, the five-star hospitality at resorts like BASK means you can.
Whether you’re after total quiet or something a bit more social, Gili Meno has a version of the trip that works for you.
Getting there
Skip Sanur and its traffic and head to Serangan Port instead. Ekajaya Fast Ferry runs a direct service to Gili Meno from there, and the crossing takes around 3.5 hours.
That sounds long until you’re actually on the boat, which is big, air-conditioned, and nothing like the cramped speedboats you might be picturing. Bring a book. Watch Bali shrink behind you. By the time the Lombok volcanoes show up on the horizon, you’re nearly there.
No cars. Horses instead.
There are no cars or motorbikes on Gili Meno at all. People get around on foot, by bike, or by horse, and there are horse-drawn carts called cidomo that work as the local taxi service, taking visitors from the ferry wharf to their accommodation across the island.
Do the sunset horse ride if you do nothing else. You’re on the sand, the volcanoes are turning gold behind you, and you’ll experience the island’s beauty from new heights (literally). It’s also very likely that the horse you ride might even fancy a dip in the ocean, having been raised on the coastline – so dress accordingly!
The local team behind Gili Meno Stable Horse Riding also offers sunrise horse tours and caters to riders of all experience levels. So whether you are a first-timer like me, or an experienced pro who is as comfortable in the saddle as they are walking on land, this is an activity that all will love.
Turtles everywhere, no boat required
The water around Gili Meno stays warm and shallow pretty much year-round, and there are huge seagrass meadows and plenty of coral just off the beach that Green and Hawksbill turtles come in to graze on.
You don’t need to swim out far from the beach, or even swim deep; these gentle giants graze right up close to shore, often so relaxed you can float mere metres away and simply observe them in their natural habitat.
While you can go snorkelling at any time of the day, I do recommend heading out early in the morning around 7am. This is when the local turtle population is most active, and there are fewer boats in the water filled with fellow holidaymakers visiting from Gili Air and Gili Trawangan, which churn up the water and reduce visibility. If you are looking for some extra adventure, then book a local operator to take you out properly. They’ll know where the turtles are grouping that day, and they’ll get you further out to the reef for rays and reef fish too, not just more turtles.
It’s also worth walking over to the turtle sanctuary while you’re there. It’s on the east side near the harbour, and a community-run initiative that relies on donations from visitors to keep afloat. For over 30 years, a dedicated group of locals has scoured the coastline of the island, collecting sea turtle eggs, which they have then taken back to the sanctuary to raise the hatchlings until they are about a year old – giving young turtles a much better shot at survival than they’d have in the wild.
And go find Nest. It’s an underwater sculpture off the west side of the BASK resort featuring 48 figures arranged in a circle on the seafloor that marine life has quickly flocked to, making it a fantastic place to snorkel and snap some epic action shots while diving down in the process!
BASK Gili Meno
I stayed at BASK, and it’s easily one of the better resorts I’ve been to in the Gilis with its beachfront pool villas. There’s a 35-metre infinity pool, a beach club that starts slow in the morning and turns into a proper sunset DJ set later on, a fully stocked wine cellar, five-star dining, and the above-mentioned underwater sculpture installation by British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor just offshore that you can swim out to.
While enjoying a poolside daiquiri, I ended up chatting with founder Greg Meyer, an Australian who spent thirty years in finance before building BASK.
His pitch for Aussies deciding between another Bali trip and Gili Meno was pretty simple. “If what you loved about Bali 20 years ago still remains in your heart, you should give it a go. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”
He also reckons the resort’s landholding setup keeps the island from being overdeveloped. “We want to keep it the same, or make it better.”
While the location and facilities are of huge appeal, it’s the service from the local staff while I was there that genuinely made the trip; you’d be hard-pressed to find a more talented, friendly group of people (special shout-out to Manu!).
More is coming. BASK is adding another 14 villas, plus a wellness precinct on the lakefront and a padel court, alongside a private, ultra-exclusive villa with its own recording studio aimed at musicians and celebrities after total privacy.
“We’ve had requests from Premier League footballers and actors,” the financier-turned-hotelier magnate shared.
There’s a family focus too, with a kids’ pool and statue park in the works. “I want to make it more interesting to stay here,” he said, “more fun things to do, and more complete for families.”
Even the name took a few tries. “I paid a company to come up with a name, and I didn’t like it,” Greg tells me. “Then BASK came up one night. It’s snappy, it’s simple. You’re basking, you’re chilling.”
Worth it?
Gili Trawangan has the parties, and Gili Air’s got the backpackers. Gili Meno’s got the quiet, the turtles, and now a genuinely good place to stay. Book the ferry, do the horse ride at sunset, and don’t rush the trip home.
