Best Time To Visit Gili Air

June is dry with good underwater visibility and a sea that is still settled. It is the last month before the crowds and the swell both arrive.

July is dry above the water and unsettled on it. The southerly swell picks up and fast boats from Bali start cancelling on rough days.

August is the driest and busiest month, and the swell is still running. Book accommodation early and allow slack in your dates for a delayed transfer.

September is the best month of the year here. It keeps August's dry weather, the sea calms down and the peak-season crowds have gone.

October is calm and still mostly dry, and it is the other month worth picking if the crossing matters to you.

November is where the wet season starts. There is no motorised transport on the island, so once the sand paths turn muddy, getting about becomes a walk in the rain.

December and January are the wettest months. Storms churn the water and cut visibility, which removes the main reason to be on Gili Air at all.

If your dates are fixed here, nowhere in Indonesia is dry, but Phu Quoc in Vietnam is mid dry season through both months.

February is wet and the sea is often too stirred up for good snorkelling. Turtles are still around, but you will see less of them.

March improves through the month, and late March works as a cheap shoulder trip with Ubud or Lombok on either side of it.

The roughest water of the year is July and August, which is also the peak booking season. If you get seasick or you are travelling with children, September and October are worth more than a marginally drier forecast in August.

For snorkelling and diving, visibility follows the rain: best from June to October, poorest from December to March. The same holds for the Nusa Penida crossings out of Bali.