In Reply to: Fast ferries to Gili Air posted by Mum2kids on Friday, 19. September 2014 at 08:13 Bali Time:
last month i used eka jaya. the actual ferry trip over to gili air from padang bai '(& back) was good once on board. the rest of it was pretty disorganised. once you get dropped off at padang bai you have to go to the office to get a boarding pass. your bags then get tagged with the island tour going to and taken to the jetty. once the boat pulls in and everyone on the boat alights, that's the cue for 100 people to try and get on all at once. once your on it was easy. the days i went over and back was very smooth and took about an hour each way. on the way over it stopped at gili t then gili air. on the return journey we went over to lombok before heading pack to pb.
i think the reason some ferry companies get mixed reviews on TA is that the process is not explained very well. mixed in with the balinese way of doing things, people get worried about losing luggage or missing the boat.