Canggu to Gili Trawangan
Your journey, step by step
Every leg with real timing, and what each one costs.
What this journey costs
One traveller taking the whole car, on the cheapest class and crossing. A group splits the car, so it costs less each.
Know before you go
The things travellers actually ask us about this route.
What time to leave Canggu
Work backwards from the boat, not forwards from breakfast. For a 09:30 departure from Sanur, a pickup around 07:15 is comfortable; for a Padang Bai morning boat you are leaving in the dark, around 05:30. The Canggu shortcut roads clog from about 08:00, and the Sunset Road stretch is the part that swings most — which is why the driver sets the pickup from the departure time rather than a fixed rule.
Tell us which Canggu
Canggu is not one place. Berawa, Batu Bolong, Echo Beach and Pererenan are twenty minutes apart in traffic and some villas sit down a gang a car cannot enter. Give the property name when you book so the pickup point is agreed the night before rather than negotiated at dawn with your bags out on the road.
Surfboards
Boards travel on these boats, but they are counted and some operators charge a board fee at the counter. A long board is the one to ask about before booking rather than at boarding — and the car needs to be a class up, because the boot is the constraint long before the seats are.
Why we do not send you to Serangan
Most Canggu guides route you through Serangan, and on the map it is the obvious harbour. We do not sell it: there are currently no bookable Gili Trawangan sailings from Serangan in our inventory on any date, so offering it would be a choice we cannot fulfil. If you find a Serangan departure you like, it is a direct booking with that operator.
Pick a morning boat
The Lombok Strait builds through the day — the trade wind gets up around midday and the afternoon crossings are the rough ones. A morning departure is calmer, and it leaves later boats to fall back on if the weather shuffles the schedule. From Canggu that means an early alarm whichever harbour you choose; it is the single biggest thing you control about the ride.
Other ways in
Routes we do not sell, named so your comparison is complete.
Via Serangan
Closer than Padang Bai and popular in other guides. We have no sellable Gili Trawangan departure from Serangan, so this is a direct booking with the operator — worth checking if the timings suit you better than ours.
Fly to Lombok
Short flight from Denpasar, then a road transfer to Bangsal and a local boat. From Canggu the drive to the airport plus check-in usually cancels out the time saved in the air, but it is the gentlest option if the sea is the problem rather than the clock.
Shuttle bus and boat
Tourist shuttles run to the harbours for a fraction of a private car. They are shared, they collect from several hotels first, and they are timed to the operator rather than to you — cheap, and the least forgiving option if anything runs late.
Explore Gili Trawangan
The crossing, the harbour, and the island itself.