There is always something special about arriving to your hotel by boat, this was no exception.

The Gili’s to the south west of Lombok are very different to those in the north west, far less developed and far less commercial.

We spent four nights on Gili Asahan, a small island with only three hotels and two very small shops/kiosks, in a village of less than 40 families. No cars, no roads, just a very back to nature experience.

We stayed at the Pearl Beach resort, a small hotel with villas set back from the beach and a glorious house reef for spectacular snorkelling. Named so as its close to abandoned pearl farm.

They also actively help the coral reef grow, adding new coral and stabilising structures.

They offer a 3 hr boat trip to three local islands from here to see wonderful coral, fish and turtles.

It’s the first time that we have seen Blue coral, it’s a spectacular sight.

Even at nighttime this place is stunning!

From here we head back to Bali for our last few days in Indonesia.