Gili Trawangan (main strip, near central crossing)
★ 4.4(2,156 reviews)
Big Fish Diving Gili Trawangan is the island's most popular budget PADI shop, particularly for first-time Open Water students on a backpacker budget. Prices run 15–25% below mid-market shops, group sizes are larger (often 6–8 per divemaster), and the vibe is social. You get a real PADI certification — just don't expect boutique attention.
# Big Fish Diving Gili Trawangan: The Honest Review
Big Fish Diving has been the default budget answer for Gili Trawangan dive courses for over a decade. If you're a backpacker on a tight budget who's been told "just get your Open Water in Gili T, it's cheap," Big Fish is probably the shop your hostel mate recommended.
Big Fish opened around 2010 and grew into one of the highest-volume dive operations on Gili Trawangan. Four boats, multiple daily departures, and a high-throughput model focused on Open Water certifications and one-off fun dives. They hold PADI 5-star status, which means they meet the agency's safety, ratio, and audit requirements.
This is fundamentally a different model from boutique shops. Big Fish optimizes for volume and price; boutique shops optimize for attention and pacing. Both are legitimate; you just need to know which you're buying.
PADI Open Water at Big Fish runs over 3 days with 5 dives. The course materials, pool sessions, and open water dives all meet PADI standards — the certification you walk away with is the same as what you'd get at Blue Marlin. The differences show up in the experience, not the credential.
Group sizes typically run 4–6 per divemaster in shoulder season and 6–8 in peak season (July–September). Pool sessions can have 8 students per instructor. This is at the upper end of what PADI allows, and it does affect how much individual attention you get during skills demos.
If you're a confident learner, this is fine — you'll get the certification, you'll know how to dive, you'll have fun. If you're nervous about water or struggle with skills like mask clear and regulator recovery, you may find yourself rushed through demos and feeling under-prepared.
Four boats, with departures at 8:30am, 11am, 2pm, and (less commonly) 4pm. Site selection follows standard Gili rotation. Morning boats hit the better sites; afternoon boats stay closer to home.
Boats max out at 14 divers. They genuinely fill in peak season. Surface intervals on the boat can feel crowded — bring a hat and water.
Rental gear is the budget-shop standard: functional, regularly serviced (PADI 5-star requires this), but visibly old. BCDs are typically 5–7 years into service, regulators are 4–5 years old, wetsuits are sun-faded. If something breaks on a dive (regs free-flowing, BCD inflator stuck), you'll get a backup, but you might be on a 5-year-old replacement.
Safety briefings happen but are brisker than at premium shops. Buddy checks are encouraged, not always enforced. The captains know the local currents — this is non-negotiable for Gili diving and Big Fish has it covered.
If you have your own dive computer, bring it. The shop's rental computers are very basic.
Two-tank fun dive runs 900,000 IDR (≈$57) — the lowest credible price on Gili T. Open Water is 4.5 million IDR (≈$285). Advanced is 4 million IDR. Discover Scuba is 750,000 IDR.
These prices include all gear, dives, materials, and certification fees. No hidden extras, no aggressive equipment upsells. The honesty on pricing is genuine.
Course + accommodation packages with the attached guesthouse run roughly 5.5–6 million IDR for Open Water + 4 nights basic dorm — a meaningful saving versus separate booking for budget travellers.
Big Fish does exactly what it says: cheap, social, PADI 5-star certified diving for budget travellers who want the credential at the lowest credible price. The operation is high-volume but it's not unsafe. You'll learn to dive, you'll get certified, you'll have a good time.
What you won't get is the small-group attention, the well-maintained boutique gear, the calm focused learning environment, or the patient instructor pacing. If those matter to you, pay 500k–1M IDR more at a different shop.
Book Big Fish if budget is the dominant factor and you're a confident learner who will pick up dive skills quickly. Book them if you want a social party-vibe dive shop where it's easy to meet other backpackers. Book them if you need late-afternoon departure flexibility (the 4pm boat is unique). Book them if you want a walk-in Discover Scuba experience and need same-day availability.
Skip Big Fish if you're a nervous beginner who needs patient pacing — boutique shops like Big Bubble or Vyaha will give you better outcomes. Skip them if equipment quality matters to you. Skip them if you're doing professional certification (Divemaster, IDC) and want pedigree on your record.
Walk-ins are genuinely possible for Discover Scuba and individual fun dives. For Open Water in peak season (July–September), book 3–5 days ahead via WhatsApp (+62 819 0716 4488) to lock a guaranteed spot. Deposits are 25%, balance in cash on the day.