On our last day on the beautiful Gili Trawangan Island in Indonesia we took the opportunity to revisit all of our favorites. Below I'll detail for you our superlatives for best beach, best restaurant, best resort, best homestay and best souvenir to help you plan your Gili T adventure!
Best Beach:
Turtle Point
This beach gets its name from its most frequent visitors: sea turtles! During high tide the sea turtles come to the water's surface to feed, making it a great spot for snorkelers to meet and feed some hard-shelled friends. Click here to see our video snorkeling with sea turtles.
This part of the island is also ideal for tropical activities. There are less boats as it's not the main entry point for travelers so it's great for paddle boarding! Click here to see our video paddle boarding at Turtle Point.
Best Restaurant:
Fat Cats Bar & Restaurant
We ate at restaurants all over the island but this is the one we kept going back to everyday! Our favorite dish at the time (before we went vegan) was the Tuna Poke Bowl, which has huge portions of tuna, avocado and cucumber! Yummy! However, since we visited they have updated their menu with vegan options of their most popular meals. Their Vegan Poke Bowl has diced marinated tempeh and tofu! I wish I could go back and try that one! Here's their website if you want to see more of what their menu has to offer.
Best Resort:
Desa Deunia Beda Beach Resort
We visited this resort's beach in our bike riding around Gili video and just had to come back! It's on the upper northwest corner of the island so tourists don't usually go there, making it a very peaceful spot to get away from the crowds. We didn't stay here overnight, but from their beach side restaurant to their relaxing atmosphere we can imagine a stay here would cleanse your soul. Here's their Instagram if you want to learn more about the resort.
Best Homestay:
Malino Homestay
We stayed at the Malino Homestay and couldn't recommend it enough! Cozy bungalows, walking distance from the beach, great prices, and custom ready-made breakfast served to you at your cabin? What could be better! We loved waking up here every morning to palm trees, gardens and bamboo homes. Here's their Instagram if you want to learn more about the homestay.
Best Souvenir:
Artisan Made Beach Wood Sculptures
Throughout our trip in Southeast Asia we loved getting real art made by the locals. In our collection we acquired a hand-woven Vietnamese traditional scarf, bamboo animal ornaments from Laos, a painting from Cambodia, and the artisan made beach wood sculpture from Indonesia featured in the video above. For all of these pieces we got to meet the artists and discuss their work and meaning behind them. Now we hang and display these pieces in our home with pride and fond memories of our time with the people of these countries.
Our sculpture is inspired by Cupak Gerantang, a traditional Lombok theater performance that tells the story of two brothers with two different personalities, good and bad. The tale teaches that good is always victorious. That's why our sculpture has two faces on opposite sides. Tell me by commenting on the video on YouTube, which face do you think is the naughty brother Cupak, and which do you think is the good brother Gerentang? Here's the full story of Cupak Gerantang if you're interested in reading more about the tale.
Conclusion:
Whether you stay at our recommended spots or try something different, your trip to Gili T is sure to be amazing! This is the last video and blog in my Gili Trawangan series. Check out the full playlist for all the best Gili T Island tips. Want to learn more about Indonesia? In this Indonesia video series we also visit Ubud, Bali and Komodo Island!
Announcement:
At the end of the video we reveal a big announcement...we're headed to Europe in May 2024!! 🎉 Yes our Gili Trawangan content is complete and it's time for our next adventure!
We're starting our trip in London, then Sweden, Greece, France and ending in Portugal! We're very excited for this next chapter in our travels!
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