Halik
Gili Trawangan, Indonesia
“The best around the Gili Islands”
(me, a self proclaimed dive expert, 2025)
We love to dive because we don’t really know what we’re going to see when we’re down there… Of course, you can give it a good guess - but whether it’s bumping into the resident anemone fish, gliding the wrong side of a trigger fish or being waved at by an eagle ray from the blue, we love the unpredictability and gentle chaos of the underwater world.
Halik, at the north east of Gili Trawangan in Indonesia, is different. It’s one of those sites where the dive briefing feels less like a prediction and more like a spoiler alert. “Turtles here, sharks there, coral everywhere”. And for once, it’s not optimistic dive-centre marketing. Five minutes in, you’re already ticking boxes. Ten minutes in, you’re wondering if someone’s arranged the fish in advance.
The site slopes gently away from shore, starting shallow enough that you barely need to think about depth - about 5 meters. Perfect for long bottom times, lazy buoyancy, and divers who’d rather look at turtles than their computer. Most of the action sits comfortably in the 5–18 metre range, with deeper sand patches if you feel like stretching it, but honestly, there’s very little reason to leave the shallows.
If you’re the adventurous type and do veer into the deep(er) blue, you’ll be greeted with a row of valleys at about 32 meters. Down there, you’ll see a lot of the same, with the odd mystical White-Tip sleeping on the sand. There are a few big boulders that you can have a look at, but given the depth and the inevitability of sucking through your air, you might be best going back to where everyone else is.
The Divemaster’s current check has to be on point, which sounds as if it’s a given, but to make the most of the site it sings true. I’ve learned the hard way (cheers, Divemaster) that if you get the strength or the direction wrong, you’ll drop in the wrong place and have the dive finished in no time - and that’s no fun, is it?
Even better if you’re an instructor, you don’t need to pay too close attention to your own air or computer - just focus on the newbies.
There is one thing that sets it back, though… although diving around the Gili Islands is amazing, Halik is a tough act to follow.
If you’re the kind of diver who wants heart-pounding currents, deep drop-offs, and a vague sense of danger to feel alive, Halik might not be your place. Yes, you might have a particularly strong current, taking you to the next dive site, but there’s no drama here. No “where did everyone go?” moments. No gripping your reef hook like it owes you money. It’s calm, predictable, and unapologetically well-behaved.
If the current is right, you won’t need to even kick along. Just think: less time staring at your computer, good for air consumption and I don’t even need to move. If that’s not a perfect dive site, then I’m lost.
And yet… I still love it.
Because sometimes the best dives aren’t the ones that test you, they’re the ones that let you relax. Halik is a reminder that diving doesn’t always have to be a challenge to be memorable. You can slow down, hover effortlessly, watch turtles do their thing, and come back up thinking, “That was just really, really nice.” No stress, no chaos — just a solid, feel-good dive that delivers exactly what it promises.