Fancy feeling like a celebrity? Well jump onboard your own privately charted, high-powered speed boat and zoom away from the shrinking city lights of Kota Kinabalu towards Palau Gaya and you will feel just like that. Standing at the bow, riding the waves in the dark while humid air pummels your face is certainly invigorating. Then arriving at a stylishly lit jetty, flanked with fancy gazebos and a golf buggy to collect us, I was waiting for the paparazzi to mistake me for someone famous.
Sadly in the cold light of day the resort looks a bit tired and the island was also littered which was disappointing. Still there is always a bright side! The ocean temperature was at least 25 degrees Celsius and oh so easy to walk straight into! The infinity pool and the proximity of our bungalow to the beach was also great; I could easily get used to the sound of the ocean crashing on the shore, lulling me to sleep every night.
I enjoyed walking around the resort gardens and admiring the abundance of familiar flowers. There were hibiscus, vincas, bougainvillea and many more that we have as potted colour at home. The longhouse, with its curtain enclosed dining tables, also overlooks a beautiful pond with giant pink and white lilies.
I liked the style of the open air wooden bungalows and how some of them where built around the trees to avoid damage to them. This integration of building with the environment was the same on the canopy walk where the slats are cut around the tree trunks. Borneo is definitely the place to find an abundance of canopy walks and zip lining was also a fun way to get up close and personal with the jungle on Palau Gaya.
The jungle on the island is similar to the vegetation seen at the other places visited in Borneo; the rattan vines looping around the place, strangler figs strangling and greenness everywhere.
We went for another hike in the humid rain and saw plenty of aptly named angle head lizards with spikes running down their spine. The island is also home to huge monitor lizards, proboscis monkeys, wild boar that can be seen wandering the beach at night and hornbills.
I loved seeing their black and white feathers splayed at the ends of their wings as they swoop between the trees. I also loved the tiny crabs holes on the beach with their decorative explosion of fanning sand balls.
This is a good place to relax poolside or in a hammock to a backdrop of palm trees, azure water and the outline of more tropical islands on the horizon.
