Gili Trawangan: The Island of Diving and Swimming with Turtles. Oh... and We're Coming Home!?

I can’t believe the past two weeks have gone by as fast as they have.

Gili Trawangan is one of the most amazing islands, or even location in general for that matter, that we have been to. There are no motorbikes or cars, the only mode of transportation is by walking, bicycle, or horse and cart. There are no police and everyone is so incredibly friendly. You can find cheap accommodation and the food is reasonable as well.

 

 

Bringing goods to and from the island

Coconuts everywhere!

You can walk the beach and snorkel just about anywhere and come face to face with beautiful turtles while doing so.

There are dive shops left and right while walking the main road [but the only smart choice would be Diversia :)] and they all charge the same price so there is not haggling. PERFECTION.

We stayed at the same homestay the whole time in Gili T and loved it- Gili T & B. The room included air-conditioning, breakfast, and some awesome hosts! We forfeited the hot water in order to stay in a cheaper room but it really wasn't even needed. We paid about $16USD a night and definitely plan to go back and stay there when we return to Gili T in the future!
We were in Gili T for 16 days and within that time I was able to scuba dive 11 times; imagine how HAPPY I AM!! This has been the most amazing experience I believe I have had the entire time we have been traveling. Diving is truly my passion and being able to dive once or twice a day has been like a dream come true.

Happy, Happy, HAPPY!

 It makes me so happy to have the GoPro down there with me so I can resurface and share the pure beauty that is the underwater world.

If you have never dove, I suggest it’s something everyone should try at least once. Being under the water and hearing nothing but the sound of you breathing is a whole different kind of tranquility.

 

Add gorgeous colors and beautiful fish to the mix and it proves to be nothing short of a world you never could have imagined. There are so many types of fish and different marine life down there that every dive is different, even if you are in the same location.

I took so many photos and videos it was hard to pick favorites but here are a few from the many dives in Gili T:

NEMO! :) Clownfish

 

Blue Sea Star

 

Clownfish in Bubble Anemone

 

Cuttlefish

 

Lionfish

 

Lobsters

 

I'm not totally sure what this is but it was beautiful!

 

Scorpionfish

 

White Sea Horse

 

White Tip Reef Shark

From the sharks to the tiny clownfish- you will see something different every time you go down. I love love LOVE it and wish to find somewhere to live where I can dive as much as I have on this island.
We [yes, WE!] have been diving with Diversia on Gili T and if I could personally hug each person that works there a million times I think I would.

 

Tim blowing O-Rings

Gianca & a Clownfish

The experience has so much to do with the people- and these are some of the BEST people from all around the world…I guess it helps that this is an Italian dive shop as well!
Adam did his DSD [Discover Scuba Dive] course and got right in the ocean- it was awesome! He was able to dive three times with Diversia and we had the GoPro to capture his first time diving-so happy! 



 

 

 

 

I dove 10x during the day and was able to do one night dive which was AWESOME. Bringing a flashlight down and diving in the dark is a whole different ball game…especially when you see a 2 meter [about 6.5 ft] giant moray eel slithering along- you back up REAL QUICK!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have had an amazing time in Indonesia and are quite sad to be leaving. We know we will be back here and it is my personal mission to get my dad here to do some diving!
 

We left today on a fast boat back to Bali and decided to ride on the top. Little did we know we would end up getting soaked- but at least I got to work on my tan! HA This photo was pre-drenching and prior to them handing out plastic bags to put your things in because there was so much water.

 

SO next up on the list… PHILIPPINES! We have decided to bypass Hong Kong [original plan] due to the company who we purchased our tickets with, Mandala Air, ceasing all operations and canceling all flights. We were left to search and purchase a new flight and decided to pick one more stop and spend our last month there.

We knew our flight home [omg, we're coming home...] flew through the Philippines so the decision was made! We changed our flight home to no longer come from Hong Kong which was the first leg, but to only take the second leg which was Manila, Philippines to LAX.

We head to the Philippines on July 5 with nothing planned yet…oops. There’s always tomorrow J But what we DO KNOW is that we have our FLIGHT HOME. It’s bittersweet really. I’m ready to get back to the US but also sad that it means this incredible journey of country-hopping is coming to an end…for now at least. I don’t want to think about it quite yet so we will save those sad thoughts for a later post.

We are COMING HOME!! We land our happy little traveling feet on US soil the morning of July 27th in LA. We are heading right to the east coast because I think I may have a breakdown if we are back in the states and I don't see my parents ASAP! :) But then its off to the west coast to travel around and hopefully find a place to live for a little bit.
But for now- thank you Indonesia for being my diving happy place and here’s to the Philippines!!