Gaya island off Sabah is beguiling

Peaceful place: Pulau Gaya offers serenity and a chance to get close to nature.

A reader takes us to one of the hottest destinations this year – Kota Kinabalu – and one of its ‘natural pearls’, Pulau Gaya.

FROM the deck of a speeding motor boat scuttling along at 25 knots, I saw Sabah’s capital, Kota Kinabalu, growing fainter every second until it finally blended in with the surrounding colours of blue, green and turquoise, like an artist mixing paints – only this time, it’s made by nature’s exquisite “hands”.