Understand
The marine park is under the administration of the Sabah Parks authority which has the mandate to oversee designated protected areas and ensure their maintenance and upkeep as reserves while catering to tourists wanting to enjoy the natural beauty that Sabah has to offer.
The largest amongst the island group is Pulau Gaya at 15sq km of untouched dense rainforest on which there is a small settlement of locals who have built wooden housing over the coastal edges while the rest is pristine jungle.
Gaya Island boasts some of the best coral and un-spoilt beaches in the entire park.
Flora and fauna
The TARP Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park islands are home to some areas of old growth forest. The Dipterocarpaceae family of tropical lowland rainforest trees can be found especially on the Gaya Island, the biggest of the group of five TARP islands. Tongkat Ali, a small everred treelet growing to 15m and Eucalyptus trees can be found on a nature walk within the islands. Mangrove trees also make up an important part of the coastal ecosystem within the park.
The Marine Park also has diverse wildlife. Some of the islands are home to wild boars, long-tailed macaques, monitor lizards and proboscis monkeys found on Gaya island. Also on Gaya island, you are likely to find green pit viper and the yellow banded mangrove snake. An albino python has also been seen there.
Landscape
All five islands are hilly and forested, with a mixture of rocky coastlines and white sand beaches. They are located closely together, well within sight of each other and of the Kota Kinabalu city on the mainland. Gaya is by far the largest of the islands, with Manukan coming in at a distant second, the remaining three are very small.