Talk:Gili Islands

Should this article be a region?

I am thinking that the Gili Islands should actually be dealt with as a region of Lombok, with seperate articles for the 3 islands. This would be much the same as the way we treated the Southeastern Islands region of Bali. The content at the moment is not huge but that is mostly because there is a large amount missing. I can see Gili Trawangan being a strong guide on its own, with Gili Air and Gili Meno more than adequate. Thoughts please. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 02:05, 21 February 2010 (EST)

I think that could work, as long as Gili Islands is put directly under Lombok and not as part of Western Lombok (to avoid too many levels). However, is there really enough content for Lombok to justify the subdivision in subregions? and if yes, does it need to be as many as five? (I know this has been debated on the Lombok talk page), (WT-en) ClausHansen 03:29, 22 February 2010 (EST)

Potentially there is definitely enough content for the regionalisation of Lombok. It will require somebody to set about writing the missing articles of course. But that is nearly always the case. I will do whatever is needed for the Gili Islands and can easily handle the regionalisation project (most of which is already done), and drawing the map. It is hard to see how the island could sensibly be divided into less than five regions.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 03:47, 22 February 2010 (EST)

I'm not sure it makes sense to regionalize this, as the three islands are all tiny and very much alike: we'd just end up repeating Understand, Get in, See and Do. At 36k, the length is hardly prohibitive either. A good map of at least Gili T is desperately needed though... (WT-en) Jpatokal 06:30, 22 February 2010 (EST)

I suggest we keep the Destination as one article as most travellers will only visit Gili T. In case some day their is an overload of listings(hotel, eat, drink etc.) we could split but Jani's argument is very compelling that so far the split would result in significant redundancies. A map would be good for the DotM. (WT-en) jan 08:30, 22 February 2010 (EST)

Hmm. Organising 3 islands into one article is not ideal when they all have a lot of listings. Many obvious listings are missing which is why the article is not that long. I have been reluctant to have a real go at this because I do not think the organisation is right. Gili T is in many ways comparable to Nusa Lembongan which is developed far enough to be up for star nomination. Lembongan is admittedly a little larger (and much nicer!) but Gili T has more visitor facilities. Gili Air and Gili Meno have quite a few listings and activities in their own right (mostly missing). Get in details are also a bit different for each. I can also see a Gili Islands region article being as strong as Lembongan's parent, Southeastern Islands, which is a decent guide status sub-region article. Three individual island maps are required I think, plus an overview map showing the island group in relation to Lombok (i.e. a region map). Many visitors go to Air and Meno and they tend to be a bit different to those who follow the obvious, well trodden path to Gili T. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 08:50, 22 February 2010 (EST)

Burmesedays: You know by far best about the Gilis and are the closets on geographical terms. I'm willing to support the split work if you think there is enough information and espcially maps, get in seperation than let's plunge forward. I think most of us fear empty articles for Gili Air and Meno and redundancies in the Get in Section. (WT-en) jan 14:42, 22 February 2010 (EST)

I agree with Jan—if anyone has a good handle on whether the Gilis would be well served by a split, I think it would be Burmesedays. As I understand it, it is very much his intent to work to make sure that we don't wind up with empty articles. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 17:08, 22 February 2010 (EST)

My only quibble is if someone is actually going to do the work, but if that is the case - go right ahead. --(WT-en) Stefan (sertmann) ^talk 17:24, 22 February 2010 (EST)

I probably should have made that clearer. Of course I am going to do the work! The Air and Meno articles will definitely not be empty (Meno might not be very large though). I am not sure if this will work as well as Southeastern Islands and its two component articles, but I am convinced it will be better than what we have currently.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 21:10, 22 February 2010 (EST)

Have a look now. That was only about 2 hours work. The region article works really well. Gili Trawangan is probably guide status already, and Gili Air and Gili Meno will be fine. I have a stack of listings to add, all places I know or come recommended by friends I trust. Within a week, this will look very good. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 03:26, 23 February 2010 (EST)

Burmesedays: Good job and it has a good direction. I suggest that we reduce the main Gili article to the minimum and then it will be perfect for the DotM!(WT-en) jan 05:06, 23 February 2010 (EST)

I don't understand what you mean by reduce to the minimum?. It is already a region article with all the listing and other island-specific content moved to the relevant island article.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 07:27, 23 February 2010 (EST)

The Southeastern_Islands article is very lean in the buy, drink, eat, sleep and Get in (mostly reference to the sub articles) sections and therefore makes a good read. Ideally the main Gili islands article is a mirror of that article but you might have already wanted to do that. Thank you for your good work. (WT-en) jan 07:58, 23 February 2010 (EST)

Thanks jan. Give it a few days and I think it will all look great. I actually think there is more information for the Gili Islands as a region than there is for Southeastern Islands And I see you are formatting some listings and adding new ones... great. Well done. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 08:22, 23 February 2010 (EST)

I have now finished Gili Meno to my satisfaction and stuck it straight up to guide. Please all have a look, but I think it hangs together nicely as a guide to an OtbP destination. This should dispell any fears of there not being enough content for 3 articles; when finished the Trawangan article ought to be 4 times the size of Meno and Gili Air about twice the size. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 00:23, 24 February 2010 (EST)

Gili Meno is definitely guide. I see that you finished the sleep listification on Gili Air. Only the Salabose hotel has no contact details (neither homepage nor telephone). It would be great to have it because the description will lure travellers and when there is contact then they can avoid touts. Maps are good but could you also pencil in a boat line from Senggigi to Gili T? I think some travellers (including me) took this connection to avoid the way to Bangsal because being a bit short of time. (WT-en) jan 04:13, 24 February 2010 (EST) P.S. All Gili_Trawangan#Eat listing neither have directions or phone numbers. Are they any? I don't want to listingfy if you still tackle that section. (WT-en) jan 04:36, 24 February 2010 (EST)

Salabose will probably go. I do not think it exists anymore but am checking. Can do on the charter route from Senggigi to Gili T. I should probably put in the speedboat charter route from Teluk Nare as well. Good decision to avoid Bangsal by the way - an absolute hell-hole. I willingly pay lots more money to never go via there. I am right now working on the Gili T listings - adding more as well as details for the existing ones. Most cheaper places on Gili T do not have phones.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 04:47, 24 February 2010 (EST)

The two things missing for a Gili T guide ranking are a map and the See section is still empty. Do you want to merge it with the Do section? I was told some bad stories about Bangsal and decided for comfort reasons to directly go from Senggigi. Good to know that they are true and the money wasn't wasted. (WT-en) jan 05:00, 24 February 2010 (EST)

The region map now has all the boats routes on it. See and Do will probably be merged for Gili T yes as I cannot think of a single attraction. Maps for Gili T and Gili Air will come soon, but I want to get the articles in shape first.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 07:23, 24 February 2010 (EST)

Buremesedays, first thank you for the update of the map. You wrote in the map that charter only is on the route between Senggigi and Gili T but in the Get in section it is stated that a daily Perama boat is commuting for Rp 8,000. It's just nitty gritty but if we want to make it a star it could be seen as biased. You merged See and Do and i think the article is ready for promotion for guide or do you want to go straight for starnom? (WT-en) jan 03:08, 25 February 2010 (EST)

That's a mistake, it should not say charter only. Gili T is a guide for sure. The Gili T map will done today also. Star though is a fair way away I think. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 03:46, 25 February 2010 (EST)

Trawangan map done and I have stuck it up to guide.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 06:09, 25 February 2010 (EST)

Map is good and a good guide article imho. I will ask User:(WT-en) Inas to have a look at the article because he has a good view for weak spots on articles. BTW: The starnom for Nusa Lembongan is silent. I haven't noticed any serious opposition. Do you want to finalise it as most usual suspects made their statement? (WT-en) jan 07:26, 25 February 2010 (EST)

It is tragic how few users bother to comment on a star nomimation. Very demotivating and makes you feel like not bothering to put in the extra effort. Specifically on the Nusa Lembongan nomination, there is one support statement, from you. That's it. Back to Trawangan,. I am really happy with it. The article comprehensively covers the island I think, and correctly conveys the atmosphere of the place. The listings are good, with the right businesses represented and the bad ones not. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 09:13, 25 February 2010 (EST)

Done! Just added the map for Gili Air and all is done, to my satisfaction at least. The 3 island articles are now all guides I think and the region probably is as well. I now feel much more comfortable with this as a DotM than I did when it was one article with a minimal number of listings and spotty coverage of activities. If anyone feels like proofing any or all of the four articles, please do. I am now blind to them, and there are probably some silly typos.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 03:06, 26 February 2010 (EST)

Boat charter pricing?

This info re: chartering a perahu from Senggigi to the Gilis disappeared from the article: "Prices vary: a one-way dropoff can be negotiated down to Rp 250,000 in the low season, while a return day trip with island hopping might cost Rp 500,000." Any reason why? (WT-en) Jpatokal 22:05, 23 February 2010 (EST)

That's a mistake by me. It must have disappeared during the splitting work. Apologies. That information should be re-inserted. I think those prices might be a bit low though. Keep the price as vague as possible I think. I will try to get current info. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 22:46, 23 February 2010 (EST)

Yeah, those were the prices I got ~5y ago... (WT-en) Jpatokal 06:32, 24 February 2010 (EST)

:) Done. The charter price for a slow perahu is now about Rp 500,000. I have also added that option to the Region map.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 03:38, 25 February 2010 (EST)

I know that http://www.giligetaway.com has reasonable fast boat pricing. Getting me to Gili T from Serangan in approx 2 hours for IDR650'000 one way. hope this helps, as i have in the past taken the slow boat and it can be quite painful.

Get in by boat from Bali

A large number of new services have started operating this year, and the recent long edit to that section hits it on the head. I was at Serangan last weekend on a fishing charter and there seemed to be fast boats bound for Gili T everywhere! Caution is advisable as some of these are very unlikely to last the course. I would also advise against adding any specific listings yet, other than the well established Gili Cat and Blue Water services.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 08:18, 4 June 2010 (EDT)

Electricity

The advice about electricity (or lack thereof) on Gili T especially, should not be watered down. To compare it to Bali is very misleading (main areas of Bali might get one short outage a month; on Gili T, businesses sometimes only get a few hours of supply each day). And in my experience it is also far worse than on mainland Lombok. Gili T has its own on-island PLN generator with no supply from elsewhere. The problems are huge and very specific. I wil change this advice back to something like the original.--(WT-en) Burmesedays 11:13, 5 June 2010 (EDT)

Jellyfish sting treatment

I have endeavored to create a distinction between blue bottle and other types of jellyfish treatment, as according to many sources including the [Wikipedia article], vinegar use is discouraged for blue bottle stings. Natataek (talk) 11:54, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Best to do your own research rather than rely on anything from WP unless you verify the sources yourself, and check for bias or 'confusion', and that is coming from a fairly long established WP editor :) -- Felix (talk) 09:12, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

• And I must comment that it is very encouraging to see someone working on these articles as you are. -- Felix (talk) 09:13, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! :) Natataek (talk) 10:50, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

www dot balitogiliislands dot com

This travel agency is edit warring. Is there any good reason not to blacklist this URL? I'd like some discussion on this before I add it to the blacklist, and I'm not confident that MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist will be monitored by anyone. Ikan Kekek (talk) 12:39, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Dive shops & eco trust

Recently someone added a dive shop, mentioning that it was involved with the Eco Trust. That was reverted as touting; sounds plausible to me. However, one shop is already mentioned in that connection and that entry was not removed. Why not?

If all shops pay into the trust, we need a clear statement of that. Then we can drop mention of the trust in listings. In any case, it would be better to have listings for a few different decent places, not just one. Pashley (talk) 22:09, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Booking tickets

Don't the mentions of price comparison websites in the Gili Islands#Booking tickets section violate External links#What not to link to? To wit:

Avoid linking to secondary sources - for example, avoid links to:

• Price comparison websites

I will move such links here for discussion. If you think I'm wrong to remove such links, tell me why, and how you plan to ensure that only the best and most honest such sites are linked in that section. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:53, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

See below:

The most reliable way to compare live seat availability, up to date schedules and book e-tickets online is with Gilibookings for the most reputable fast boat services, or its sister site Gilitickets.com for some of the cheaper tickets on budget operators. You can view all routes, timetables and pricing for many of the most popular regional fast boat operators. Prices on Gilibookings range from US$50-70 one way, US$98-136 return depending upon departure point, the route and the carrier. Higher prices are somewhat offset by discount vouchers on food, drink and activities on the Islands. Fast boats are generally around 30% cheaper on Gilitickets. Most fast boat operators do complementary hotel transfers to/from most areas in Bali. Some operators allow for island hopping on their tickets.

Cheaper tickets can also be found locally with other companies for exemple EasyGili they offer cheap tickets (cheapest one way US$18, return US$32 excluding pickup).

Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:56, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

A question here is, is EasyGili a booking service or an actual boat operator? I'm unsure, and the problem is that two IPs have engaged in touting for it, while overwriting apparent competitors' listings, so they've been blocked with a warning, but if they are in fact a boat operator, they could be listed. It's not 100% clear to me, but it appears that they're either the same as Wahana Gili Ocean or are doing booking for them. Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:47, 11 December 2019 (UTC)