Gaya Island

Gaya Island (Malay: Pulau Gaya; Kadazan Dusun: Gayo; West Coast Bajau: Goyoh) is a sizeable island located in the West Coast Division of Kota Kinabalu District, Sabah in the South China Sea in Malaysia. With a size of 1,483 hectares (3,665 acres), the island forms part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park (TARP) with an elevation of up to 300 metres (980 ft). Several ridges rise more than 180 metres (590 ft), peaking at 300 metres (980 ft), along the backbone of the island.

Historically, Gaya Island was the settlement harbour of the British North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC). Faced with various problems with the lack of streams and rivers, infertile soils, and the island position sheltered from winds, Gaya did not flourish as expected and was further razed to the ground by local resistance leader Mat Salleh during a rebellion on 9 July 1897 and never thereafter rebuilt. It has been gazetted as a forest reserve since 1923, during the administration of British North Borneo. In 1974, the TARP became Sabah's second national park gazetted after the Kinabalu Park. Gaya is the largest island gazetted within the TARP, is closest to the state capital and is covered with dense virgin tropical forest.

The island has 20 kilometres (12 mi) of hiking trails and three five-star resorts named Gayana Marine Resort, home to the Marine Ecology Research Centre; the neighbouring Gaya Island Resort (by YTL Hotel Group); and the Bunga Raya Island Resort on the northeast part of the island. The island is known as a paradise for snorkellers, and divers while also offering paddleboarding, zip lining and guided treks on its lush forests. In the 2010s, there has been a plan to turn Gaya Island into a city island and tourism hub. A cable car line has also been proposed before to connect with the city centre. In 2024, the island has an estimated population of 30,000, with only 1,000 belonging to the original island inhabitants, while the rest were illegal immigrants arriving in the 1970s.