Bali is still one of the world’s best digital nomad destinations. Canggu and Ubud stay flooded with remote workers and expats – affordable living, solid wifi, and a proper coworking scene.
Meanwhile, the nearby Gili Islands rarely get a serious mention from the nomad community.
We left our apartment in Canggu and headed east to see if you can actually live as digital nomads in the Gilis. Spoiler: paradise yes. Productive workdays – mostly no.
About the Gili Islands
The Gili Islands are three small islands off the northwest coast of Lombok, Indonesia. Think clear water, white sand, and excellent snorkeling.
There’s no airport on the Gilis, so every trip ends with a boat. Direct fast boats from Bali leave mainly from Padang Bai, which has the widest choice of operators and the shortest crossing from most of Bali. Serangan (handy for the airport and South Bali), Sanur and Amed also have services. You can also fly from Bali to Lombok and take a short boat from the north coast. Timetables change with the season and the weather, so check your operator’s current schedule before you book, and don’t plan a same-day boat back for an international flight.
Entry rules: Indonesia’s visa options, e-VOA fees and arrival paperwork change. Check the official immigration site (evisa.imigrasi.go.id) before you go, including whether your kind of remote work fits the visa you’re entering on.
Getting around
There are no cars or motorbikes on the islands. Local rules ban motor vehicles, and that includes electric scooters, though enforcement has been patchy. Getting around means walking, bicycles, or horse and cart (cidomo).
Many of the cart horses are overworked, underfed and mistreated, and animal-welfare groups have documented it for years. Paying for a cart ride supports that cruelty. We don’t do it, and we don’t recommend you do either.
Gili Meno is the quietest of the three islands, but it has horse carts too. It’s small enough to walk everywhere.
We walked and bicycled every island we visited.
The three Gilis
Gili Trawangan
Gili T is the largest and the party island. Young backpacker crowd, late nights, louder energy.
Gili Air
Gili Air is chilled and laid-back. There’s a small yoga scene and a mix of young adults and families. When we were there, it also had the best vegan options of the three.
Gili Meno
The quietest and least developed. Not much to “do,” but it’s the one that feels furthest from civilization. This was our personal favorite.
Major difficulties of working in the Gili Islands
No one wants to complain in paradise. But our workdays in the Gilis were frustrating.
We moved, on average, once every couple of hours because of wifi drops or power cuts. Sometimes the whole island lost power.
We leaned hard on phone data, and even that was patchy.
Things have improved a little since our trip, but 2026 remote-work guides still describe short power cuts (more often in the November–March rainy season) and modest cafe wifi. Bring a power bank and a phone you can use as a hotspot.
There’s also not much in the way of comfortable workspaces. The Gilis aren’t built for laptop life – and that lack of development is exactly what makes them great to visit. If you have serious work to get done, stay on the mainland (Bali or Lombok).
Our experience in Gili Air & Gili Meno
We spent about two weeks split between Gili Air and Gili Meno. (I’d visited Gili T on an earlier trip and already knew that wasn’t what we wanted.)
We arrived on Gili Air with no set plan. We lasted a little more than a week before the work friction got too much and we moved on.
Even knowing Gili Meno would be worse for working, we put the laptops away, soaked up the last days in paradise, then headed back to Canggu to catch up.
Best coworking cafes in Gili Air
These are the spots we used. The status notes come from listings and recent reviews we checked in November 2026. Island cafes open, close and move often, so confirm hours before you plan a workday around one.
B-52 Cafe
Our pick for the best work cafe on the island when we were there. Back then the wifi was slow but usable for low-bandwidth tasks, and the busier it got, the slower it got. They had non-dairy milk.
B-52 is still open on Jalan Mojo (listed 8am–7pm daily). Recent reviews mention an air-conditioned work area, desk power outlets, good wifi and vegan options, so it may be easier to work from now than when we visited.
Musa Cookery
During one of the many power cuts, we saw people on laptops here and figured they had a backup generator. Busy, wifi not great, but a nice place to sit among likeminded people – and the vegan food was excellent.
That was at Musa’s old spot, which closed in October 2022. Musa has since reopened at Musa Bintang Villas & Bungalows on the quieter north side of the island (HappyCow lists it on Jalan Bambu). It’s still a vegetarian kitchen serving mostly vegan food, listed 9am–9pm daily and cash only. We haven’t worked from the new location, so ask before you settle in with a laptop.
Breadelicious — may be closed
When we visited, this was a popular work spot – more seating and outlets than nearby B-52, but slower wifi.
Closed note: Breadelicious may be closed – check before you go. Listings disagree on whether it’s still open, so don’t plan a workday around it.
Sharkbites
Not a cowork space – it’s a craft beer bar near the harbor. After exhausting the cafes’ slow wifi, we found the fastest connection here, with almost nobody else on the bandwidth. Sharkbites is still open, with 2026 reviews and listed hours of 10am–10pm.
Newer spots we haven’t worked from
Recent Gili Air remote-work guides also name places like Pituq, an entirely plant-based cafe and restaurant in a garden in the middle of the island, as laptop-friendly. We haven’t worked from it, so this is research only – not a personal endorsement.
Are the Gili Islands recommended for digital nomads?
To put it bluntly – no, not if deadlines and high-bandwidth calls matter.
On our trip, daily power cuts, patchy wifi and thin workspace options had us closing the laptop to go snorkeling. Things have improved a little, but the islands still aren’t set up for call-heavy work.
If you’re not on hard deadlines, the Gilis can be a relaxing place to chip away at work when the connection holds and beach the rest of the time. For everyone else, save it for a long weekend from Bali.
FAQ
Can digital nomads work in the Gili Islands?
To put it bluntly – no, not if deadlines and high-bandwidth calls matter. On our trip, daily power cuts, patchy wifi and thin workspace options kept interrupting work. Things have improved a little, but the islands still aren’t set up for call-heavy work. If you’re not on hard deadlines, the Gilis can be a relaxing place to chip away at work when the connection holds.
Which Gili island is best for remote work?
Gili Air is where we worked. It’s laid-back and had the work cafes we used, including B-52 Cafe. Gili Meno is the quietest and least developed, and Gili Trawangan is the party island.
How reliable is wifi and power in the Gili Islands?
On our trip we moved about every couple of hours because of wifi drops or power cuts. 2026 remote-work guides still describe short power cuts (more often in the November–March rainy season) and modest cafe wifi, so bring a power bank and a phone you can use as a hotspot.
How do you get to the Gili Islands from Bali?
There’s no airport, so every trip ends with a boat. Direct fast boats leave mainly from Padang Bai, with services from Serangan, Sanur and Amed too, or you can fly to Lombok and take a short boat. Check your operator’s current schedule before you book.
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