Lombok Airport to the Gili Islands: Car to Bangsal, Public and Fast Boats

25 October 202631 October 2026

“I’ve landed in Lombok. How do I get to the Gili Islands?” “What does a taxi to Bangsal Port cost?” “If I arrive in the late afternoon, can I still cross the same day?” If you fly into Lombok, often from Bali, and head for Gili Trawangan, Gili Air or Gili Meno, this stretch from the airport to the islands is usually the first thing you have to work out.

The short answer: it is 1.5 to 2 hours by car from the airport to Bangsal Port (Bangsal) in the northwest of Lombok, then 20 to 45 minutes by boat. Allow 2.5 to 3 hours from touchdown to the island. The public boats finish around 5 pm, so if you want to cross on the day you land, plan to be at the port by about 4 pm.

We wrote this in October 2026 after reading Lombok International Airport’s official website, local newspaper reports, the official website of a hotel on Gili Meno and guides from an Indonesian travel booking company, and we include only what we could confirm. Public boat fares differ a lot from source to source, and we could not find a current official fare table from the local government, so we list each figure with its source and date.

This guide is for travellers landing at Lombok International Airport on their way to the three Gili Islands, and for those heading back from the Gilis to the airport at the end of the trip.

If you are starting from Bali instead, our guide from Bali to the Gili Islands covers the direct fast boats, their harbours, timetables and fares.

As of October 2026

What this article covers

✓The kinds of car you can take from the airport to Bangsal Port, with rough fares and times
✓How to board a boat at Bangsal Port, and how to deal with touts
✓Public boats versus fast boats, and how to read fares that differ from source to source
✓Your options if you land in the late afternoon or at night
✓Working backwards from your flight to decide when to leave the Gilis on your last day

In short

As of October 2026, the usual way from Lombok International Airport to the Gili Islands is a car to Bangsal Port (about 60 km, 1.5 to 2 hours) and then a boat. The car costs roughly Rp150,000 to 400,000 (about US$8 to 22). Examples for the boat to Gili Trawangan are Rp23,000 to 25,000 (about US$1.30 to 1.40) for the wooden public boat and Rp85,000 to 100,000 (about US$4.80 to 5.60) for a fast boat. Public boats stop around 5 pm, so if you land at night, ask your hotel to arrange a transfer or spend a night on mainland Lombok and cross the next morning.

Contents

How long does it take from the airport to the Gilis, door to door?

Allow 2.5 to 3 hours from landing to arriving on the island. That is the time the local site Sundays Lombok (May 2026) tells readers to expect for Gili Trawangan. Waiting for luggage or for a boat at the port can stretch it.

The airport is about 60 km from Bangsal Port, 1.5 to 2 hours by car (tiket.com, an Indonesian travel booking company, updated June 2026). Wikivoyage, the traveller-edited travel guide, gives “1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours”. For the crossing, the official website of BASK Gili Meno, a hotel on Gili Meno, says the public boat takes 20 to 30 minutes. Wikivoyage gives 15 minutes to Gili Air, 30 minutes to Gili Meno and 45 minutes to Gili Trawangan by public boat, so Gili Trawangan is the farthest from the port.

Figure: The route from Lombok airport to the Gili Islands (rough times and fares)

Figure: Times and fares are rough figures from tiket.com (updated June 2026), Sundays Lombok (May 2026), Wikivoyage and the BASK Gili Meno website, as cited in the text. Checked in October 2026.

How to get from the airport to Bangsal Port

A ride-hailing app is the easiest option; a transfer booked in advance through your hotel or a transfer company is the most reliable. The airport’s official website lists three ways to leave the airport: taxis, the DAMRI airport bus and rental cars. Taxis are run by the cooperative KSU Lombok Baru, with a counter in the domestic arrivals area, and charge by zone or by meter. The site says the counter is open daily from 7 am to 5 pm.

DAMRI does not go to Bangsal Port. The official website lists four routes, including Mataram for Rp25,000 (about US$1.40) and Senggigi for Rp35,000 (about US$2), running daily from 7 am to 5 pm. The cheapest way is DAMRI to Senggigi and then a car to Bangsal Port, but that adds one more change. For rental cars, five companies have counters in the domestic arrivals area, open daily from 7 am to 10 pm.

For ride-hailing, Sundays Lombok says the Grab pick-up point is outside the arrivals hall, and a ride to Bangsal Port or Teluk Nare costs Rp150,000 to 200,000 (about US$8 to 11). Fares can be higher in the July and August peak season. You need an Indonesian SIM card, so buy one in the arrivals hall before you book a ride.

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Option	Rough fare to Bangsal Port	Source	Notes
Ride-hailing app (Grab and others)	Rp150,000 to 200,000	Sundays Lombok (May 2026)	Needs a local SIM. Peak-season surcharges
Taxi or ride-hailing app	From around Rp300,000	tiket.com (updated June 2026)	Airport taxi counter closes at 5 pm
Metered taxi	Rp300,000 to 400,000	Wikivoyage	Depends on the route taken
Car with driver (4 to 6 hours)	From around Rp350,000	tiket.com (updated June 2026)	Book ahead. Suits night arrivals
DAMRI plus car	Rp35,000 to Senggigi, plus the car	Airport official website	7 am to 5 pm. One more change

*What each source said when we checked in October 2026. US dollar figures at US$1 ≈ Rp17,800 (September 2026): Rp150,000 is about US$8, Rp300,000 about US$17 and Rp400,000 about US$22. Check the actual fare in the app or when you get a quote.

The ride-hailing fares in the sources differ by almost a factor of two, and we could not confirm which is closer to today’s going rate. The app shows the fare before you book, so decide on that figure. Where ride-hailing is hard to use is covered in our guide to getting around Lombok.

At Bangsal Port: where to get out and where to buy a ticket

Cars drop you at a car park short of the port, and from there you walk or take a cidomo (a horse cart) to the boat landing on the beach. Wikivoyage explains that you drive to a car park on the road from Pemenang to Bangsal, then walk or take a cidomo to the beach. tiket.com also says to buy tickets at the official port counter and avoid touts (calo).

People may approach you between the car park and the counter. Our Bangsal Port guide gives examples of what you may hear, such as “hurry, there’s a boat leaving right now” or “the public boat isn’t running today”. Turn down anyone selling tickets before the counter, and check the fare at the counter itself.

At the port and on the islands, cash is the norm. tiket.com says almost all payments at Bangsal Port are in cash, so carry small notes. According to Sundays Lombok, there are BRI, BNI and Mandiri ATMs in the airport arrivals hall. On top of the boat fare there is a tourist levy for the three Gilis. The local paper Radar Lombok (January 2024) reported that from 1 February 2024 the levy for foreign visitors rose from Rp10,000 to Rp20,000 per person. Where you pay it differs by source: Radar Lombok says at the island entrance, tiket.com says at the port.

Caution

You may get wet on the boat: Wikivoyage says you are quite likely to get wet crossing when the southerly winds blow (especially July and August), and recommends putting laptops, cameras and phones in a waterproof bag.
There are no cars on the islands: no cars or motorbikes run on the three Gilis, so you get around on foot, by bicycle or by cidomo. BASK Gili Meno says the public boat lands on the east side of Gili Meno and you need a cidomo from there to the hotel. If you have heavy luggage, pack with the onward trip on the island in mind.
If you are unsure about a boat, don’t board it: Wikivoyage says that if you have doubts about the boat, the operator, overloading or the weather, you should not get on and should ask for a refund.

Public boats and fast boats: what do they cost?

Boats from Bangsal Port come in three broad types: wooden public boats that leave once enough passengers have boarded, fast boats that run to a timetable, and charters where you hire the whole boat. tiket.com (updated June 2026) gives these fares to Gili Trawangan: Rp23,000 to 25,000 per person for the public boat (30 to 45 minutes, 7 am to 5 pm), Rp85,000 to 100,000 for the public fast boat (15 to 20 minutes) and Rp350,000 to 500,000 per boat for a charter (10 to 15 minutes).

The public boats are run by a local cooperative, Koperasi Karya Bahari. According to the local news site insideLombok (September 2022), the cooperative cannot set public boat fares itself; the local government does. At the time the fares were Rp16,000 to Gili Air, Rp18,000 to Gili Meno and Rp20,000 to Gili Trawangan, and the cooperative had asked the North Lombok Regency transport office to raise them to Rp20,000, Rp22,000 and Rp25,000. A January 2025 article on the same site said an increase of Rp2,500 per person, based on a 2024 regional regulation, was still under discussion.

Meanwhile, the BASK Gili Meno website says a “public boat” runs between Bangsal Port and the three islands every hour from 9 am to 5 pm, for Rp85,000 per person and 20 to 30 minutes. That matches tiket.com’s fare for the “public fast boat”. The BASK page carries no date, and we could not confirm whether it means the wooden public boat or the timetabled fast boat.

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Source (date)	Type of boat	Fare (per person, one way)	Time and hours
insideLombok (September 2022)	Public boat	Air Rp16,000, Meno Rp18,000, Trawangan Rp20,000 (at the time)	Not stated
tiket.com (updated June 2026)	Public boat	Rp23,000 to 25,000 to Trawangan	30 to 45 min, 7 am to 5 pm, leaves when full
tiket.com (updated June 2026)	Public fast boat	Rp85,000 to 100,000	15 to 20 min, a few sailings a day
BASK Gili Meno official site (undated)	“Public boat”	Rp85,000	20 to 30 min, hourly from 9 am to 5 pm
detikBali (November 2025)	Fast boat	Rp85,000 to 400,000	Not stated
Our Bangsal Port guide	Public boat	From a little over Rp10,000 to a few tens of thousands of rupiah	30 min to 1.5 hours

*What each source said when we checked in October 2026. Rp20,000 is about US$1.10 and Rp85,000 about US$4.80 (US$1 ≈ Rp17,800, September 2026). We could not find a current fare table issued by the North Lombok Regency or provincial transport office.

As a rule of thumb, the wooden public boat that waits until it is full costs around Rp16,000 to 25,000 per person, and the timetabled fast boat costs Rp85,000 or more. At the counter, check whether you are buying a “public boat” or a “fast boat” ticket and look at the fare board before you pay. Take the public boat to save money, or the fast boat to cut the waiting time.

Can you cross from Teluk Nare instead of Bangsal?

You can, but it is mainly a harbour for chartered speedboats. A photo story from the national news agency Antara (June 2017) described Teluk Nare in Pemenang district, North Lombok, as a more comfortable and faster alternative to Bangsal Port, with speedboats at Rp350,000 to 450,000 one way (at the time). Wikivoyage says Teluk Nare is south of Bangsal and takes 15 to 30 minutes by chartered speedboat.

We could not confirm 2026 prices. It is an option if several people share a boat, or if your hotel’s own boat takes you to the hotel’s front door. We found nothing on boats from Teluk Kode in the sources we read, so we could not confirm that route.

If you land at night, can you still cross the same day?

Not by public boat. BASK Gili Meno gives the public boat hours as 9 am to 5 pm and tiket.com as 7 am to 5 pm, and tiket.com says they do not run after 5 pm. The head of the West Nusa Tenggara provincial transport office has also said that boats from Bangsal Port to the Gilis “usually finish around late afternoon” (Suara NTB, September 2026). The same article said hours would be extended into the night only during the 2026 MotoGP at Mandalika, but gave no specific times.

At the airport, too, the taxi counter and DAMRI close at 5 pm. Wikivoyage recommends reaching Bangsal Port or Teluk Nare by 4 pm to cross without trouble. If the drive takes 2 hours, a flight that lets you leave the airport by about 2 pm is a useful benchmark.

If you arrive later than that, you have three options. First, ask your hotel to arrange a transfer. BASK Gili Meno says its car and own speedboat get you from the airport in under 2 hours, including after dark. Second, charter a fast boat; tiket.com notes that night boats cost more. Third, spend a night on mainland Lombok, in Senggigi for example, and cross the next morning. Wikivoyage says the sea is calmest in the morning. If crossing a dark sea in a small boat makes you uneasy, the third option is the sensible one.

On your last day, what time should you leave the Gilis?

Work backwards from your flight time; as a rule, take a morning boat. According to Wikivoyage, return public boat tickets are sold at the counter at each island’s landing, and you do not need to book ahead. It is 20 to 45 minutes from the island to Bangsal Port and then 1.5 to 2 hours by car to the airport. Aim to be at the airport 3 hours before a domestic flight and 4 hours before an international one, as the Lion Air Group advises (see our Lombok airport departure guide).

For a domestic flight at 4 pm, for example, you would be at the airport at 1 pm, leave Bangsal Port by car at 11 am and take the boat from the island at about 10 am. The first public boat is at 9 am according to BASK Gili Meno and 7 am according to tiket.com, and boats may not leave until enough people have boarded. If your flight leaves around noon or earlier, it is safer to cross back to mainland Lombok the day before. For the car from Bangsal Port to the airport, rather than looking for one at the port, ask your hotel or a transfer company by the day before and agree on a meeting point and time.

Figure: Working backwards on your last day (example: a 4 pm domestic flight)

Figure: Boat and car times from the BASK Gili Meno website, tiket.com and Wikivoyage, as cited in the text; airport arrival times from our departure guide. Rough figures as of October 2026.

Before you set off

✓Does your arrival flight let you leave the airport by about 2 pm?
✓If you land late, have you arranged a hotel transfer or a room on mainland Lombok?
✓Do you have cash in small notes for the boat and the tourist levy (Rp20,000 for foreign visitors)?
✓Are your electronics in a waterproof bag?
✓Have you booked the car from Bangsal Port to the airport for your last day, by the day before?

A note from Sekotong

The airport is in south-central Lombok and Bangsal Port is at the far northwest, so the drive takes much longer than the boat. Add waiting time at the port and the walk from the car park to the landing. If you plan to cross on the day you arrive, decide from the start that you will stay on the mainland if you miss the last boat. Then you won’t feel pushed into an expensive boat at the port.

The downsides of heading to the three Gilis, and who they suit

The downside is that with a car and a boat to combine, half of your arrival day and half of your departure day go on travel. The trip does not suit night arrivals, and you need to be ready for touts at the port, getting wet on the boat and carrying your luggage on the island.

Once you are on the islands, bike hire, cidomo (horse cart) fares, inter-island boat times and how to get a suitcase from the harbour to your hotel are covered in our guide to getting around the Gili Islands.

Even so, if you plan to spend two nights or more on car-free islands, the effort is worth it. It does not suit people who want short transfers or who can only get a flight that lands at night. As another option, Sekotong in southwest Lombok is about 1 hour 10 minutes by car from the airport, with quiet small islands offshore known as the South Gilis. We run a beach cafe and more in a fishing village in Sekotong, together with the local Sasak community. We compare lively and quiet in the three Gilis versus the South Gilis, and cover the South Gili islands in The South Gilis off Sekotong.

Frequently asked questions

Q. How long does it take from Lombok airport to the Gili Islands in total?

Allow 2.5 to 3 hours from landing to reaching the island: 1.5 to 2 hours by car and 20 to 45 minutes by boat.

Q. Can I use a ride-hailing app at the airport?

According to Sundays Lombok (May 2026), the Grab pick-up point is outside the arrivals hall and the fare to Bangsal Port is Rp150,000 to 200,000 (about US$8 to 11). You need an Indonesian SIM card.

Q. How much is the public boat from Bangsal Port?

It depends on the source. tiket.com (updated June 2026) gives Rp23,000 to 25,000 to Gili Trawangan by wooden public boat and Rp85,000 to 100,000 by fast boat. The BASK Gili Meno website gives Rp85,000 for a “public boat”, but we could not confirm which boat it means. Check the type of boat and the fare at the official port counter before you buy.

Q. If I land in the late afternoon, can I get to the Gilis the same day?

Public boats finish around 5 pm, so if you cannot reach the port by about 4 pm you cannot cross by public boat. Ask your hotel for a car and fast boat transfer, charter a boat, or spend a night on mainland Lombok and cross the next morning.

Q. Do I need to book the return boat?

You can buy a public boat ticket on the day at the counter at each island’s landing. What you do need to book is the car from Bangsal Port to the airport. Arrange it with your hotel or a transfer company by the day before and agree on a meeting point and time.

Summary

From Lombok International Airport to the Gili Islands, allow 1.5 to 2 hours by car to Bangsal Port and 20 to 45 minutes by boat, 2.5 to 3 hours in all. Car fares range from about Rp150,000 to 400,000 depending on the source, and boat fares also vary widely between sources, so check the figure in the app or at the official counter at the port.

Public boats finish around 5 pm, so plan to be at the port by about 4 pm; if you land at night, book a transfer or stay on the mainland. On your last day, work backwards from your flight time and, as a rule, take a morning boat.