Gili Islands · Indonesia · Reef · Sand slope
Sunset Reef
Bommies across the slope work as cleaning stations
Area photo: Magul · CC BY-SA 4.0
A hard coral slope on the west side of Gili Trawangan that runs from 8 m down to 18 m, with coral bommies scattered across it that fish use as cleaning stations. Below 18 m the reef gives way to sand with isolated coral heads standing on it. The profile is shallow throughout and easy to control, and the bommies rather than the reef line are what the dive is spent on.
Where it is and how deep
8.3557° S, 116.0277° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The drop is straight onto the top of the slope at about 8 m. From there the hard coral runs steadily downhill rather than falling away, so you can pick a depth and hold it and let the reef do the descending for you. Coral bommies stand up off the slope at intervals, and they are the thing to stop at rather than swim past: each one works as a cleaning station, so fish gather on and around them instead of scattering as you approach.
Follow the slope to 18 m and it flattens out, the hard coral ending where the bottom turns to sand with bommies scattered across it. Crossing from one coral head to the next over that sand is the deeper half of the dive, and it is easy to keep short. Turn back up the slope with gas in hand and the shallow coral at 8 m gives you a long, unhurried safety stop in the light before the boat picks you up.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good |
Season follows Gili Islands: Divable year-round; Apr–Nov brings the calmest crossings, and mola mola occasionally appear Aug–Oct on the deeper sites.
Sources
- Sunset Reef - Gili Trawangan — Scubago/SSI
More dive sites in Gili Islands
Wall
A vertical face dropping from 5 m to 30 m off Gili Air
Old bicycles under coral on a pontoon that sank in 2003
Pinnacle
Sea mounds rising from sand at 30 m to about 18 m
Juvenile whitetips tucked into small caves along a drifting slope
Sand slope
Broken rubble ground from 5 m to 16 m, then open sand
Sand slope
Macro life on bommies scattered down a sand slope
Turtles in numbers along a wall that bottoms out at 22 m
Reef
Whitetip sharks and turtles on three coral levels at 18-24 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Reef from two metres down to sand at twenty
White sand to 15 m, no current, twenty minutes from town
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An extended family of blacktip reef sharks on the slope off Metita Island.
Hard coral, soft coral and sea fans on a sand slope to 20 m