Nusa Penida and The Gili Islands

Nusa Penida and The Gili Islands 3/23/2025-3/29/2025

We arrived on Nusa Penida Island that evening and the only thing standing in the way of me being in bed all to myself was a twenty minute walk. I had my travel backpack, my little backpack, and my surfboard bag. It was a lot of weight for twenty minutes of walking. We make it to the hostel and checked in. I’m in pretty rough shape at this point. I’m so sweaty, I have a headache, I have stomach pains, but I was glad to have a whole room to ourselves. 

I was pretty much bed ridden at this point. Camila found an Indian food place that was pretty close and got me some rice and butter chicken. All I could eat were some rice chips and some rice. I remember not sleeping all night due to my fever and headache. Fucking sucked.

Camila had a tour around the island the next day. I was pumped for her to actually see how beautiful this island was. I was realizing that I was probably not going to see much of anything during our time here. Before she left, she made sure I had enough food and water. No chance was I gonna be able to eat though but I loved having someone to take care of me. Camila was gone most of the day and I spent most of the day laying down with my eyes closed cause my headache was so bad. 

Photo: Kelingking Beach

Photo: Camila Enjoying a Nice View

By the time she came back, I was in worse shape. My fever was at an all time high of 103. Camila contacted the emergency room that was a 5 minute walk away to get their recommendation on what we should do. I think I was trying to wait to go until the following day in hopes I feel better by then cause it was getting late. We ended up going because they offered to pick us up in a little ambulance and see us right away. We saw the doctor and with all my symptoms he was worried that I had contracted Dengue Fever. I provided them with a blood sample and a stool sample (hehe). They were also trying to suggest I stay in the hospital bed to get a fever reducer and electrolytes in me by IV drip. I was still able to get stuff down orally so we fought against that suggestion because that would have costed us an extra 350 bucks.  I think we ended up paying something like 50 bucks for the whole visit. We even got a ride home in the ambulance. I can’t imagine how much that would have cost us in the US. With the fever reducer medication and some antibiotics, I immediately started feeling better that night. And by the next morning my appetite had come back and I was over the moon. I took it very easy. I was enjoying having the ability to function with my eyes open and eat. 

Before I knew it, It was time to leave Nusa Penida and head to the Gili Islands. I didn’t see any of Nusa Penida but Camila captured some great pictures. I was able to live vicariously through them. 

Photo: Another Stunning View

Slowly but surely I was feeling better and better. The boat to Gili T was smooth and got to our new hostel without a hitch. The moment we got off the boat we were greeted with such peaceful vibes. There were no motorbike or cars on this island. The only ways of getting around were walking, biking, or taking a donkey with a buggy. The whole circumference of the island was maybe 7 kilometers so it was small. 

Our hostel was in the center of the island on one of the main roads that cut through the island. I’d say we were close to everything but on this island you’re always close to everything. We had a private room with a big old bed and out front there was a pool. 

First thing we did was rent bicycles from the hostel and explored the island. We found a nice place to have lunch. That afternoon we went looking for a good spot on the beach where we could cozy up on some beach chairs, get some cold coconuts, and rent some snorkel gear. We both really wanted to get in the water so we wasted no time and hopped in. Not even two minutes into our self guided snorkeling experience, Camila spots a sea turtle. It was magical watching this creature look for food and come up to the surface for a breath. They are so beautiful and big. I was loving it. The further out you swam the deeper and clearer the water got. I swam out maybe 100 yards. I would dive down to the bottom and be surround by all different types of colorful fish. Schools of fish would swim around me. It was all so surreal and magical. I wish I knew the kinds of fish I saw.

It had only been about a week at this point since the last time I had surfed. But with everything I had gone through, it felt like an eternity. Our first day on the island, I had to check the only surf spot on the island to see if there were any waves. It was flat as can be. The next day after some coffee and a delicious apple cinnamon chocolate muffin, I checked the same spot and there were actual waves. I couldn’t believe it. I had zero expectations of surfing on this island so this felt so special. I geared up back at the hostel and headed to the surf spot with Camila. 

The waves that were coming in weren’t very big but they were pretty consistent. The waves worked like a right point break. The water was occupied by locals and people learning to surf on soft tops. I had a couple of decent waves. There were some little local kids out there they would try to call me off of every wave even when I had priority. 

I was so stoked to be surfing again. We rewarded ourselves with a cold coconut and sat on the beach. I went back out once more but the waves were really dying down at this point. Glad I was able to catch the only surfable day during our time on Gili. The rest of the day we bike around the island checking out the farms and the northern part of the island. 

We had a snorkel tour booked for the next day. We had to stop for a coffee and a muffin at the same spot as the day prior because it was right across from where the tour was leaving. The boat had about eight people on it including a girl from San Diego. Through out our whole trip we didn’t meet a lot of other Americans. The first snorkel spot we checked out was circle of underwater statues. It was the most famous spot so there were a lot of people around. It was almost a right of passage to get kicked in the face at least once while swimming around. After that, we went more toward the open ocean where we spotted a sea turtle. We spent about thirty minutes following this guy around. Watching him eat and swim around was something I couldn’t get tired of. The spot in the ocean we were at was cool too cause most of the ocean floor was about 8 to 10 feet deep but then there was a sudden drop off where the floor disappears and turns into a mysterious shade of deep dark blue. 

Photo: Swimming With The Turtles

We stopped for lunch on the adjacent island with our group. There were the tiniest little stray kittens roaming around while we ate and some Indonesia guys singing and playing guitar. It was a total vibe. 

One thing we couldn’t get over was the beautiful rich color of the water. It was mesmerizing to stare at. We hit maybe one more spot after lunch but after swimming with the turtle most things pale in comparison. The last thing we did was see the baby turtle sanctuary where all these baby sea turtles were swimming around. Couldn’t believe how cute they were. All of these surfing and snorkeling adventures were recorded on a camcorder and can be watched here!

After all that snorkeling, we were looking to just chill out. One popular thing to do on the island is to take shrooms. A common way to take them is by going to some of the beach bars and ordering shroom shakes. We went to this place called Dr. Happiness which had excellent reviews on google and we got to meet Dr. Happiness himself. I don’t think he had any credentials of being an actual doctor but put our trust in him. He supplied us with two shroom shakes with a "normal dosage". He was trying to sell on double the amount but we didn’t have enough cash on hand. And thank god cause it was intense. There was a nice deck area that over looked the water at Doctor Happiness. We spent the first thirty minutes just laying out listening to the radio that was playing reggae. About thirty minutes in it starts hitting us full force. I’m seeing patterns in everything and all concept of time had been forgotten. I spent a good amount of time looking at Camila’s leg which looked like there were ancient hieroglyphics under her skin. I know this might sound gross but it was just totally mesmerizing and beautiful. I did have a moment where I got so incredibly overwhelmed so quickly but Camila was right there to take me back. Once we were fully in this, we walked out into the shallow water. I swore we walked through that water for twenty minutes but when I looked back we were only 10 feet from the shore. We sat in the water and talked and talked. Little waves would come through and gently hit us. They were like my little friends saying hello and they passed through. I also remember getting so upset seeing people walking on the coral reefs with their reef booties. Just killing the coral. Ultimately, just made me feel very connected with the Earth and was a meditative experience. 

After about two hours at Doctor Happiness, we thought the experience was over. The hunger we were feeling I guess overrode the shroom feeling. We biked to this brick oven pizza place for a couple of pies. Once seated, I realized I was still seeing patterns on stuff. I don't even remember eating, I just remember looking down occasionally and there would be less and less pizza on the table. 

Last thing we wanted to do was bike to the northern part of the island to see the sunset and stopped for an ice cream. Once we returned to our room, it felt like everything had returned to normal for real this time. This was a very therapeutic day and made for a perfect final day on the island. 

Off to the adjacent island of Lombok for some surfing!