Day 16: Turtles, Treasure and Electric Scooters

We started the day with breakfast overlooking the ocean. The World Cup was playing on the TV, so everyone else settled in to watch the game while I quietly escaped to a sun lounger with my book and breakfast. Sitting in the sunshine with the ocean in front of me felt like absolute bliss.

After breakfast, we jumped aboard a private glass-bottom boat for a snorkeling tour around Gili Islands.

Our first stop was with the turtles, and it was incredible. There were several large turtles gliding effortlessly through the water, and the kids absolutely loved swimming alongside them.

Next, we visited the famous underwater statues, surrounded by some of the most colourful fish we've ever seen. Every time we looked in a different direction there seemed to be another fish we'd never seen before.

Our third stop was a turtle conservation centre, where tiny baby turtles are cared for after hatching before being released into the ocean at around six months old, giving them a much better chance of survival.

Our final snorkelling stop was over a beautiful coral reef, with even more colourful fish to discover before the boat took us to a little local café for lunch.

The whole day on the water was fantastic, and Jai was an absolute superstar. Mum and Dad took turns snorkelling with the older kids while the other stayed on the boat with him, and he happily cruised around all day without a single complaint.

Back at the villa, Jai had a well-earned nap while the rest of us relaxed for a while....Well not all of us....while Jai was sleeping, the older three kids went into business with a local boy they've befriended whose dad owns the resort. They started by doing some cleaning in exchange for watermelon and then upgraded to paid work, earning $1 each. By the time they returned, they were carrying themselves like successful entrepreneurs who were already discussing future expansion plans.

Once he woke up, we headed out to hire electric scooters to explore the island.

Before we'd even collected them, however, we'd already managed to lose Henry.

While the rest of us stopped to buy a local dessert (which turned out to be an interesting combination of ice cream, jelly, bread and rice!), Henry quietly wandered off exploring. Thankfully, he wasn't far away, but it gave us all a brief moment of wondering where on earth he'd disappeared to.

Scooters finally secured, we spent the rest of the afternoon zipping around the island. We explored tiny sandy lanes, discovered little local villages, found quiet beaches we'd never have stumbled across on foot, and generally had an absolute blast.

We finished the day at a beautiful beach club, watching the sunset while the kids played in the sand and we enjoyed dinner overlooking the ocean.

Another pretty perfect day.

Trip Statistics

- Sea turtles swum with: Lots
- Baby turtles admired: Hundreds
- Colourful fish spotted: Too many to count
- Glass-bottom boat rides: 1
- Children temporarily misplaced: 1 (Found again... thankfully!)
- Electric scooters hired: 2
- Local desserts that confused us: 1
- Sunset dinners: Another magical one
- Family memories made: CountlessRead more