When planning your Gili Getaway, make sure you factor in travelling times. Most people visiting the Gilis come via fast boats from Bali, so you need to think about how long you will spend travelling to and from the islands, depending on where you are staying in Bali.

If you only have a few days to spend on the Gilis, consider your first and last days as travel days, including checking out of your hotel and getting to whichever harbour you are catching your fast boat from.

If you are staying in the south of Bali, transfers to Serangan Harbour (near Benoa Harbour), are fast but you’ll spend longer on the boat. Transfers to Padang Bai Harbour from the south take around 2 hours, but you’ll spend less time on the boat.

Either way, you’ll arrive on the Gilis around lunch time or a little after. By the time you check into your Gili accommodation, there is only the afternoon left for lunch and exploring your new destination before heading out to dinner or a party.

The next day is a full day when you can go diving (preferably book in advance online), snorkelling, swim in the hotel pool or at the beach, cycle around the island, have a massage or all the other fabulous things we do on holiday.

On the last day, you’ll only have time for some early morning yoga or a swim and breakfast before you’ll be packing up and travelling back to Bali from the Gilis.

Most fast boats will leave the Gilis between 10.30am and 1pm. Factor in travelling from the harbours to your hotel on Bali and you’ll be checking in to your next hotel anywhere from 2.30 to 6pm.

Three days is just enough time to give you a taste of what the islands are like… but every person we talk to wishes they had spent more time on the Gilis!

Five days on the Gilis is better, or ideally seven days. This gives you time to settle in, start getting to know the island and fine tune your holiday doing the things you enjoy most.

With more time, you can book a dive course, join in yoga classes, ride a horse along the beach, go snorkelling and swimming, cycle around and explore the environment, shops and cafés, and dine at the fabulous restaurants and eateries the islands have to offer.

The Gilis are slow-paced and laid-back and tailored to holidays offering the sort of activities you don’t get to experience at many other destinations.

With a longer stay, you can take a side trip to explore the other Gilis or even hop across to the mainland for a day trip. The public fast boat makes island hopping easy with regular departures from the harbours on all three Gilis and Bangsal Harbour on mainland Lombok, allowing you to quickly and easily travel between different locations throughout the day.

If you are staying on Gili T, make a day trip to Gili Meno or Gili Air, or vice versa. Spend the day exploring and experiencing the different atmosphere that exists on each island. They all have bicycles and snorkelling equipment for rent, and beachfront places with sun lounges or bean bags for hanging out.

A day trip to Lombok itself is possible from the Gilis using the island hopper to reach Bangsal Harbour and organizing a car and driver to meet you at the harbour and take you wherever you want to go. Organise this with tour agents on each of the islands or book online before-hand by searching “Lombok tour driver”.

It’s easy to visit the Lombok Wildlife Park, or Sedang Gile and Tiu Kelep waterfalls at Senaru – or even play a round of golf at Sire Beach Golf Club – all are located in North Lombok, not far from Bangsal.

You can also visit Senggigi or take a trip into the cites for some shopping for a few hours. Longer trips to the south coast are not really practical, as you’ll need 2 ½ to 3 hours each way and no one wants to spend their holidays stuck in a car!

However, day trips to these other areas will no doubt whet your appetite for exploring more of these beautiful islands and that’s why so many travellers are spending more of their time on the Gilis and Lombok every year!