Gili Kondo – tiny desert islands on east coast of Lombok

The white dot on the horizon directly in front of the boat looks mysterious and exciting. From this distance, you can see the outline of trees and a thatched roof.

The long bamboo buoys stabilizing the boat dig into the waves, splashing, giving the impression of a fresh breeze. The wind is pleasantly cooling and the small roof with a place for offerings provides shade and adds atmosphere. The small engine generates a lot of noise, but accelerates the traditional Indonesian boat to the limits of its endurance. It is the drive and the rudder at the same time. Ari watches the course to the island, he looks like a real captain when he looks ahead so proudly in shades on the nose sitting almost on the engine. Yesterday he looked like a boy when he was cleaning the boat standing knee-deep in water. You need a bit of luck to find someone who actually handles island transfers on the first try.

Western Lombok is not very touristy, there are not many organized offices here, you have to organize the transfer yourself with a locals with a boat or in a hotel, of which there are just few here. The only place on the beach offering excursions is often closed, especially in the low season.

Island hopping on a local boat is the best way to spend time on the east coast of Lombok. The Gili Kondo islands are close by, you can see their outline from the Pantai Kondo beach despite being flat. About 3 km from Lombok, surrounded by shallow water and a beautiful coral reef, they look like from National Geographic films and tempt with white sand. Nobody lives there apart from Gili Pasaran, where there is a small farm.

A hut with a thatched roof is a rare sight, hidden in the shade of a few trees, with a large porch on which you can see the owner. The sun at its zenith is a time to rest, behind the house there are fields ploughed but not planted or nothing has yet risen. Gili Pasaran has a beautiful beach that practically wraps around the island. It takes about 10 minutes to circle around it and on the way meet the only inhabitant, next to his house there is quite a large field, running a farm without electricity and sweet water must be hard.

Gili Lamp, 200m to the south, is similar in size to Pasaram but has a more oval shape. Here as well the beach stretches all around, this time there are no inhabitants or agriculture, in its central part there are grassy areas and a few trees. The only infrastructure is a small shelter with a thatched roof by the beach. Young locals often pitch tents here and sleep in the wild.

Gili Kapal is the smallest of the Kondo islands, actually a white patch of beach 20 meters long that leaves an unforgettable impression. It looks like a classic deserted island from a postcard or meme, there is nothing here except shells, the rustle of waves and shallow water of aquamarine color.

The last of the Gili Kondo, a kilometer away from them, is a mangrove forest. Gili Petagan does not have a typical land, but you can sail between the mangroves if the tide is high and the water level is sufficient. In the transparent shallow water you can see large starfish and sea urchins, standing out against the white bottom. After turning off the engine you can hear birdsong, green mangroves on the aquamarine water, peace and quiet.

Gili Kondo is located near the north-west coast of Lombok. They are the complete opposite of the famous and touristy Gili Air, Meno and Trawagangan located on the opposite side of Lombok. No tourists, just nature, which is slightly spoiled by the power plant visible in the distance on the coast of Lombok, but from here it is insignificant and rather resembles a aquapark with slides.