Pulau Gaya
A map of the west coast of Kota Kinabalu city and Gaya Island
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 Gaya Island
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| Geography | |
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| Coordinates | 6°1′5″N 116°2′7″E / 6.01806°N 116.03528°ECoordinates: 6°1′5″N 116°2′7″E / 6.01806°N 116.03528°E |
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 Sabah
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Gaya Island (Malay: Pulau Gaya) is a sizeable Malaysian island of 1,465 ha, just 10 minutes off Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and forms part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. Pulau Gaya derived its name from the Bajau word "Gayo" which means big and occupies an area of 15 km² (3,700 acres) with an elevation of up to 300 metres. Several ridges rise more than 600 feet (180 m), peaking at 1,000 feet (300 m), along the backbone of Pulau Gaya.
Pulau Gaya is the largest island in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, closest to downtown Kota Kinabalu (KK) and is covered with dense virgin, tropical forest. It has been a forest reserve since 1923. The island has 20 km of hiking trails and two 5 star resorts named Gayana Eco Resort, home to the Marine Ecology Research Centre, and Bunga Raya Island Resort on the north-east part of the island. Historically, Pulau Gaya was also the site of the English colonialist's British North Borneo Company's harbour, razed by the folk hero Mat Salleh on 9 July 1897.
In recent years, 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.
Before the Ice Age, it formed part of the Crocker Range mass of sandstone and sedimentary rock on the mainland. However, about one million years ago, the melting ice brought about changes in the sea level and parts of the mainland were cut off by the sea to form the islands of Gaya Island, Sapi Island, Manukan Island, Mamutik Island and Sulug Island. Evidence of this can be seen from the exposed sandstone of the coastline forming the cliffs, caves, honeycombs and deep crevices.
In 1882, the British North Borneo Company set up a trading settlement on Pulau Gaya. After destruction in 1898 the settlement was moved to the mainland in 1899 and named as Jesselton in honour of Charles Jessel, a manager of the Chartered Company. Later it was renamed to its current name, Kota Kinabalu.
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