Yes, it is, an Island of Indonesia. Don’t laugh, we have had a guest that did not know that they were on an Island.
You may laugh but then again, I also read people constantly saying they want to go to Gili Island. Which translates as small Island Island.
We have 17,000 Islands in Indonesia and many of them are Gili.
Gili means small Island in the Sasak Language spoken by the Lombok People.
Nusa also means Island, in the Indonesian language
So, Nusa Dua means 2 (Dua) Islands, which is due to the very small strip of land separating the very Southern part of Bali from the Main part of Bali, you can take the bridge across or the new toll road. The thinnest strip of land is only 730m across.
This very small strip of land has (had) a lot of mangroves, slowly over time filled by development such as the airport. The filling done just in the past 10 years since we have been here is shocking. The future of the Mangroves in Bali is unknown due to a plan to develop further the Benoa harbour area, protests by thousands of Balinese just this week show that the Balinese are against development that will destroy these wetlands.
So, next time you say you want to go to the ‘Gilles’, be a little more specific as Lombok itself is surrounded by many small Islands, not just the 3 main tourist Islands known as Gili (pronounced Gilly) Trawangan (Trawangan means tunnel), Gili Air (Air means water), Gili Meno (Meno means middle).
Happy Island Hoping!