Scuba Diving at Gili Trawangan - weekend trip, fun dives, certification classes

[DN Jones]

Hi Guys,
Very new to the group but I am working as a Scuba Diving Instructor/Manager here at the island of Gili Trawangan - as the diving industries grow in Indonesia, I realize that we have more and more expat divers who worked in Jakarta, so I'm just trying to reach out to promote a bit about what we are doing.

Gili Trawangan is one of the small islands off the coast of north lombok. It takes 30 mins using a public boat from Lombok where many domestic and international flights arrive everyday. Dive sites and the facilities are located straight off of the beautiful beaches of GIli Trawangan. We can cater weekend certified fun divers, people who aren't certified, people who wish to try or be certified, experienced divers, and technical divers. We are a PADI 5 Star Diving Resort www.divecentralgili.com. We can do courses in Bahasa Indonesia, English, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, Portuguese.

Dive Central Gili - divecentralgili.com
We are going to attend Deep & Extreme Indonesia 2018 at Jakarta Convention Center as an Exhibitor from 8-11 March 2018 - Booth B03. If you guys are around, come down and say hi for questions about diving, special deals and packages, we have discount rates up to 25%.

Scuba diving in Gili is an all year round activity with lots of chances to see beautiful sea turtles, sharks, sea fans, coral table, many tropical reef fish, and wrecks.

If you guys have questions about diving or how to get here, please don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected]

Warm Regards,
Dive Central Gili team

 

[Vanhelsing]

I remember falling into the water out of my hut on Meno's north beach and seeing loads of fish and turtles.

Can I suggest never going through Bangsal to get to the Gillis. perhaps the most thief laden, unwelcoming place I've been to.

 

[DN Jones]

Bangsal is the public boat harbour at north lombok (after senggigi) to go to Gili - It's getting way better now in terms of getting in to the island - Public boat rate is from 15k-30k per person and boat leave almost every hour from 8am-5pm. Alternatively you can get private boat and car from the airport so you can avoid all the hassle OR we have our own port to get guest to the island and I'll be happy to help to organize an airport transfer.

 

[Vanhelsing]

How's the blatant criminal activity that used to be regarded as normal business in Bangsal these days?

 

[DN Jones]

I am not really sure to what you are referring to. There's a lot of expats who lived on the island for very long time some of them commute everyday and we have a lot of traveller coming from bangsal everyday. I'm sorry if you have a bad experience in Bangsal but that doesn't mean that it's not safe to come here via Bangsal.

 

[Vanhelsing]

Perhaps things have changed, and I'm glad if that's the case. The three times I've come to the Gillis through Bangsal has been just an endless drama. Bags snatched, wallets pilfered, but most disappointingly, it was the attitude of Bangsal locals. They were almost hostile.

Again, I'm very happy if things have changed. I imagine most come via the fast boat from from Padang Bai.

Is there a fast boat now from Amed as well?

 

[DN Jones]

Most people come from Padang Bai, different boat company also start to leave from different port as well such as Serangan (closer to Sanur) or Teluk Benoa (10mins away from the airport) to avoid the long drives to Padang Bai from most place from Bali. There's boat leaving from Amed - also from Nusa Lembongan / Nusa Penida.
Bangsal in Lombok - makes it easier for people visiting from Jakarta for example on a weekend trip. Fly friday midday (can dive the same day) or evening - 2-3 dives saturday - fly back sunday anytime after 10am for the 18hr surface interval