Gili Meno Underwater Statues: A Local’s Guide to the Nest

The Gili Meno underwater statues are a ring of 48 life-size figures sitting about 4 m down off the island’s west coast, and you can swim out to them from the beach for free. You don’t need a tour for this one.

Most people call them the BASK Nest, and they’re off Gili Meno, not Bali, which catches out plenty of people searching from Bali. We’ve been out to the Nest ourselves, and this is what we’d tell a mate heading over: how to find the statues from the sand, what the boats cost, and when to get in before the tour boats arrive.

The Gilis aren’t on the Lombok Loop route, which stays on the mainland. If you’re heading over before or after the tour, give the statues a morning.

Gili Meno Statues at a Glance

The statues cost nothing to visit. All we ever pay for is the boat to Gili Meno and a mask.

• Where: Off Gili Meno’s west coast, in front of BASK Gili Meno, roughly 50 to 100 m from the beach and marked by buoys
• Depth: About 4 m, so you can see them from the surface and duck-dive down if you can equalise
• What’s there: 48 life-size figures in a ring, installed in 2017, with a few more figures lying on the sand nearby
• Entrance Fee: None to swim there. Foreign visitors pay a 10,000 IDR harbour tax when they land on Gili Meno
• Getting There: Public boat from Bangsal Harbour on Lombok, or the island-hopping boat from Gili Trawangan or Gili Air
• Best Time to Visit: Before 9am, ahead of the snorkel tour boats
• Suitable For: Confident swimmers. There’s no lifeguard, and the current picks up around full moon

Why It’s Called the BASK Nest

The sculpture’s real name is Nest. BASK, the resort on the beach in front of it, commissioned the work from sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor in 2017 and gave it to the Gili Meno community. That’s why everyone on the island calls it the BASK Nest.

Taylor builds underwater sculpture parks around the world, including the Museo Subacuático de Arte off Cancún and Museo Atlántico off Lanzarote. The Nest figures are pH-neutral cement over stainless steel and basalt, made to give coral and sponges somewhere to settle, and fish already shelter between them.

If you only get an hour in the water on Meno, we’d split it: the statues first while the water’s empty, then across to Turtle Point on the east side.

How to Snorkel the Gili Meno Statues From the Beach

You don’t need a boat. Walk to Gili Meno’s west coast, find the beach in front of BASK, and look for the marker buoys offshore. The statues sit roughly 50 to 100 m out, and most people reach them in about five minutes of easy finning.

Boats land on Meno’s east side. There are no cars or scooters, and the coastal loop is only about 5 km, so the west beach is a walk or a cidomo (horse cart) ride from the harbour. Masks and fins are for hire along the beach for around 25,000 IDR, and there’s room to haggle.

Check the water before you get in. The current along the west coast picks up around full moon, especially in wet season, and nobody’s watching the swimmers. If it’s running, come back the next morning or go out with a boat.

Note: Don’t stand on or hold the statues, even for a photo. Keep your fins off the sand so you don’t bury the growth, and use reef-safe sunscreen.

Getting to Gili Meno

From Lombok: every public boat leaves from Bangsal Harbour, 30 minutes north of Senggigi. The fare to Gili Meno is 21,000 IDR plus the 10,000 IDR harbour tax when you land, and the boat goes when it’s full. The Karya Bahari speedboat runs the same crossing for about 100,000 IDR if you’d rather not wait.

From Gili Trawangan or Gili Air: the island-hopping boat costs about 45,000 IDR one way and loops the three islands twice a day. The timetable shifts, so check departure times at your harbour the day before. A private boat runs around 300,000 to 350,000 IDR for the whole boat, which makes sense split four ways.

From Bali: most fast boats stop at the Gilis before Lombok, so you can go straight to Meno. Our guide on how to get to Lombok from Bali covers the crossing.

Not sure which island to stay on? We’ve compared all three in Lombok vs the Gili Islands. For statues and turtles with no nightlife, we’d base you on Meno.

Snorkel Tours to the Gili Meno Statues

Nearly every shared snorkel boat from Gili Trawangan and Gili Air stops at the statues. A typical trip runs three to four hours, visits the Nest, a turtle spot and a coral reef, and costs around 150,000 to 250,000 IDR with gear included.

We’d take the tour if you’re staying on Gili T or Gili Air and want the turtles in the same morning, or if you’re not comfortable swimming 100 m from shore. If you’re already sleeping on Meno, skip it and swim out.

Book: Gili Statues Snorkeling Trip

What to Expect at the Underwater Statues

From about 9am to 4pm the Nest is busy. The tour boats tie up here one after another, and you’ll often share the ring with a boatload of snorkellers.

Get in before 9am and you’ll have far more room. Sunrise isn’t a guarantee, since some travellers have still counted a few boats there at first light. Late afternoon, once the tours head home, is the other quiet window, and the water’s clearest on a calm morning around low tide.

Four metres sounds shallow, but you’ll need to equalise to get down among the figures. If you can’t, you’ll still see everything from the surface on a clear day.

What surprised us most on our first visit was the scale. The figures are life-size and there are 48 of them, so the ring is far bigger than it looks in photos. Swimming down through the middle is the part everyone remembers, and it makes for great photos if someone’s above you with a camera.

Gili Meno Statues FAQ

Which Gili island has the underwater statues?

It’s Gili Meno. The Nest is off Meno’s west coast, in front of BASK. It isn’t off Gili Trawangan, Gili Air or Bali, though snorkel tours from all three Gilis visit it.

How deep are the Gili Meno statues?

About 4 m. The sand around the ring sits somewhere between 3 and 6 m depending on the tide, so we’d call it shallow enough to enjoy from the surface.

Do you have to pay to see the statues?

No. Swimming out from the beach is free. You’ll pay for the boat to Gili Meno and the 10,000 IDR harbour tax on landing, and a snorkel tour if you choose one.

Can you see the statues without a tour?

Yes. Walk to the west beach in front of BASK, swim out to the buoys, and look down. Confident swimmers get there in about five minutes.

What do the statues mean?

The artist called the work Nest. The ring of figures was built as an artificial reef, a structure for coral and fish to colonise, as much as a piece of art.

More Gili and Lombok Guides

If the Nest is busy and you’d rather snorkel with nobody else in the water, head south to the Secret Gili Islands off Sekotong. Our snorkeling in Lombok guide covers the spots we rate across the whole island, and there are plenty more things to do in Lombok once you’re back on the mainland.

When you’re done with the Gilis, the Lombok Loop leaves Senggigi every Thursday and Kuta every Friday: four days on motorbikes around our island, and we think it beats the Ha Giang Loop in Vietnam 😉 If you’re coming straight from the Gilis, tell us and we’ll help sort your transfer to Senggigi.