

Bucketlist Dive: Bali & the Gilis
Some people spend years meaning to learn.
Gili Islands · Ubud
Bucketlist Dive: Bali & the Gilis
Nov 21 - Nov 27, 2026 · ₹1,25,000
Bucketlist Dive: Bali & the Gilis
Some people spend years meaning to learn. You'll do it in a week. 12 people x 6 days x 1 saltwater adventure, from your first breath underwater on Bali's calm Amed coast to a graduation dive on the Gili reefs. For the long-meaning-to and the never-had-the-excuse: complete beginners welcome, no experience needed. You leave a certified diver, with a tribe that went under for the first time beside you. 8 to 12 invites, one closed group, strangers who become the people you call when you're booking the next one. Course, dives, stays, every ferry already sorted.
You start in Amed, Bali's quiet volcanic east coast, where the shore slopes off gently and the water sits flat. Four unhurried mornings with a PADI instructor at Jemeluk Bay take you from your first nervous breath to real open-water dives. No rush, no crowds, just you and the next dive.
Then the boat through Padang Bai to Gili Trawangan. Car-free, sunset side, the reef you trained for now wide open beneath you. Graduation dive day for the certified, a snorkel safari over turtles and underwater statues for anyone happier near the surface. Nobody sits it out on the sand.
The control is still yours: structured where it counts, open where it doesn't. You see who's coming before you pay. Max 12, all first-timers, the whole point is you're nervous together.
The big moments
The bits you will tell first.
Not sightseeing filler. These are the moments the trip is built around.


Certification day, you leave Amed a diver

Sunset on car-free Gili Trawangan

Turtles and reef on the Gili graduation day

One dive crew that didn't exist a week ago
Experiences
PADI Open Water Diver certification (Two Fish, Amed - 4 days)
All Amed dive training and certification dives at Jemeluk Bay
4 nights Amed boutique stay (twin-share, breakfast)
2 nights Gili Trawangan sunset-side boutique stay (twin-share, breakfast)
All ground and ferry transfers (Denpasar - Amed - Padang Bai - Gili - Denpasar)
Gili snorkel safari (turtles, reef, underwater statues)
6 hosted group dinners, including the certification dinner
ExCo facilitator with the cohort throughout
The Gameplan
DAY 01
The night before you change
You land in Denpasar and we drive you east, about two and a half hours, to Amed: black-sand bays, jukung boats pulled up on the beach, Mt Agung filling the sky behind. Settle in, shake off the flight, and meet the eleven other people about to spend the week underwater with you. Tonight is the table, not a tick-list. A welcome dinner, a few nerves admitted out loud, and the slow realisation that this is actually happening.

DAY 02
The first breath that counts
Your diving starts in the classroom and the shallows: how the gear works, how to breathe, how to stay calm when your instinct says you shouldn't be underwater. Your first real ocean session is in Jemeluk Bay, where the shore slopes off gently and the water sits flat. The only task is the next breath. Back on land by afternoon, the evening is yours to rest, eat, and let the nerves settle before tomorrow.

DAY 03
Where the fear lets go
Training dives through the day, building the two things every diver needs: buoyancy and trust in yourself. By the third dive the panic is gone and the reef stops being scenery and starts being somewhere you belong. The evening is yours on the Amed coast, with Mount Agung going pink over the water if the sky is clear.

DAY 04
The day you become a diver
Your final Open Water dives. Finish these and you walk out a certified diver, cleared to dive anywhere in the world. There is a quiet moment when it lands that you actually did the thing you came here to do. The night is a certification dinner with the group. Yesterday you were nervous in the shallows, tonight you are a diver.

DAY 05
Trade the volcano for the reef
A morning movement day. We cross to the Gilis by fast boat through Padang Bai, Bali behind you and the islands ahead. Reach Gili Trawangan by afternoon, grab cycles, and settle into the quiet sunset side. No cars, no engines. The evening is Sunset Beach, the day winding down with the people you have spent the week underwater with.

DAY 06
Everything you trained for
Graduation day in the water. Certified divers take one or two easy reef fun dives over the Gili coral (optional add-on). Everyone else joins the snorkel safari: turtles, the famous underwater statues, and a reef boat day where nobody sits it out. The whole point of today is the proof. Yesterday you became a diver, today you reached the Gilis.

DAY 07
One last morning, new self
A free morning to swim, cycle, or do nothing at all before the trip ends. The ferry back to Bali and the transfer to Denpasar for your flight home. Departures are evening only. If you dove on Day 6 you need the surface interval before flying, so the day stays slow on purpose.

Stay
Hotels we love for this route.
We sometimes use these hotels, or hotels like these, depending on dates, availability, and the final rooming plan.

Solaluna Beach Homestay
Beachfront homestay on Amed's quiet volcanic east coast, steps from Jemeluk Bay where the learn-to-dive mornings happen. Pool, on-site dive access, and the flat, sheltered water that makes Amed the calmest place in Southeast Asia to take your first breath underwater.

PinkCoco Gili Trawangan
Adults-only boutique stay on the quiet sunset side of car-free Gili Trawangan. Beachfront, a short cycle from the reef you trained for, and the right place to end the trip once you are a certified diver.
Fee & inclusions
Included
- Once in a lifetime Adventure
- Invites max 12 Curated People
- Handpicked Inclusive Experiences
- 6 breakfasts, 0 lunches and 2 dinners
- Gorgeous Airbnbs & 4-star Hotels
- Modes of Transport None
- Stay in twin-shared rooms
- Vibe facilitator with you throughout the experience
Not included
- International flights to and from Denpasar (DPS)
- Travel insurance and dive insurance
- Indonesia visa or visa-on-arrival
- Gili certified fun-dive package (optional paid add-on)
- Personal expenses, alcohol, and single-occupancy supplement
₹1,25,000
12 people
2 payments · next ₹27,000
Reviews from the tribe
The place is wild. The people make it stick.
Notes for you
Every edition is curated to 14–17 people across professions, cities, and stages of life — never 14 from the same industry. Once you confirm, you get an anonymized cohort snapshot covering roles, cities, and why each person is coming. The full WhatsApp group goes live around 30 days before departure. Median age is typically 28–38; gender ratio targets 50:50 within applicant-pool constraints. If a destination skews younger or older, the edition page says so.
Stays, on-ground transfers, curated experiences, breakfast and one other meal a day, and the host being with you for the whole edition. Not included: flights, visa fees, alcohol, and meals on free evenings. The exact inclusions/exclusions split is in the two-column section on each edition page. No surprise add-ons at checkout.
Cancellation outcomes depend on your edition's category and how close you are to departure. In the early window you receive 90% as ExCo Wallet credit (or 80% as a bank transfer if you've paid ₹50,000+); in the late window 50% wallet (or 40% bank). A flat ₹7,000 administration fee applies. ExCo Wallet credit is valid at full value for 12 months and is transferable to a friend or family member once. Wallet credit cannot be converted to cash. Insurance premiums and third-party costs already incurred remain non-refundable.
A 10% deposit at booking locks your spot — this applies across all edition categories (Visa-Heavy, Mid-Adventure, and Easy-Visa / Domestic). The remaining balance is split into scheduled payments based on the category's payment timeline, with the final payment due before the edition's cut-off. The exact schedule is shown above the deposit button on each edition page. You can pay by UPI, bank transfer, debit card, or credit card.
We're not picking the “best” applicants — we're building a room that works. Range across professions, life stages, and intent matters more than credentials. We read every application. The lens is simple: would this person make the group better, and would the group make this person's edition better.
Yes — both of you go through the same curation flow. The group balance matters more than the headcount, so we apply the same lens to your plus-one. Often both get in. Sometimes only one of you is the right fit for that specific edition, in which case we'll recommend a different edition for the other. Spot transfers between friends or family aren't allowed directly — the original booking has to be cancelled first, and any wallet credit can then be used toward a new booking.
Edition dates are fixed — the host, the cohort, and the on-ground vendors are all locked. Edition transfers are not permitted directly. If your plans change, you'll need to cancel your current booking and use any eligible ExCo Wallet credit toward a new booking. The credit is valid at full value for 12 months.
The number on the edition page is the all-in program fee for what's included — stays, on-ground transfers, curated experiences, breakfast and one other meal a day, and the host. Flights, visa fees, alcohol, and meals on free evenings are excluded. GST applies where relevant; checkout shows the final number. Editions priced in USD/EUR/JPY may convert at the prevailing rate when each scheduled payment is processed; once a payment has been processed it isn't retrospectively adjusted.
If you've confirmed for your edition and applied for your visa but are still waiting on results, you can make a partial payment of 30% and settle the balance once the visa is approved. If the visa is rejected, ExCo deducts 20% of the amount paid and the rest is credited to a future edition. If your visa status remains uncertain 31 days before the edition, you can either reschedule to a future edition free of charge, or hold your spot — in which case the 50% advance becomes non-refundable regardless of the outcome.
A prior rejection (US, UK, Schengen, or otherwise) doesn't automatically disqualify you, but it does mean we'll spend more time on documentation. Flag it during the application — our visa team has a separate intake for travellers with prior rejections so you get an honest read on your odds before you commit financially. Note: passports must remain valid for at least six months beyond the end of the edition.
About 70% of every edition comes solo. By the second dinner, no one remembers who arrived knowing whom. The whole format — shared villa, shared transport, anchor experiences — is built so groups form fast and naturally.

Bucketlist Dive: Bali & the Gilis
This could be the trip you keep bringing up.
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