Family friendly Hotels in Gaya Island

Great resort. We stayed at ocean villa 30 for two nights. Well maintained and special place. The staff are truely amazing. A special thanks to Karl the resort manager for listining to our feedback and returning some good karma. Also many thanks to the restaurant chef for the best food we had so far in Malaysia. Some small improvements: - airconditioning is a bit too loud even in sleep mode to keep on during the night - during and after a tropical rainshower the plumbing could not take it anymore, we accept that, but not the smell it gave inside the room. The positive: - free water sports, kayak, subs - kayak to the mangrove, do it yourself - breakfast at your own jetty - very good food, best value for money - sevice orientated staff all around taking very good care of you - daily plastic cleanup from the resort. Remember it is not their waste. They do anything to minimise the plastic footprint, even providing your own drink bottles - very clean rooms, great beds, amazing bathroom - only a short boat trip from KK away Terima Kasih Echoresorts :)

We spent 3 nights at Gaya Island Resort and had a great time, I thought I would write a review because there are a few things worth considering before you go. Firstly, the place itself is amazing, the staff are super friendly and caring - probably the most professional I have ever experienced in my many years of travelling. So all in all it was a wonderful stay. The things worth noting are as follows: 1. The sunbeds, I think may have mentioned it and it's worth mentioning again - there are nowhere near enough. When you pay and arm and a leg to stay at a beautiful resort it is annoying that they haven't found a way to add more sunbeds. People get there early, throw on their towels and stay or disappear and the seat is gone for the day. This is a solvable issue and the resort should so something about it. 2. Check in is after 3 - could be later - and it's not flexible, so if you are arriving earlier be prepared to sit around waiting for your room. It would be nice if they could flex a little as waiting hours for a room without your bags is not a joy, but it is what it is. 3. Eating - you are on the resort, so you are eating in one of their restaurants - no other options available. There are a few restaurants so not really a problem (we did the hot pot restaurant and it was great), but good to be aware. By far the most expensive places we ate in Malaysia, but I guess given the quality of the resort it wasn't a surprise and the main restaurant is reasonable enough. 4. Activities - my wife and daughter did the cooking class and loved it, we did the night walk - which was fun and me and my son did the coral garden. The Coral garden was fun and I was lucky to see a big old shark. However there is a large amount of plastic floating on the surface of the water that is quite concerning and makes the whole place not feel so clean. The corals and fish look healthy so may be fine, but be prepared to swim through bottles and crisp bags to see the fish. The local resorts and local authorities should really work together to resolve and you pay the tourist tax, so not sure where that's going, but not to plastic clearance by the look of it. Hope that's helpful. all in all, it's a beautiful place to stay, could just do with a tweak here and there to make it even better

We were a little apprehensive before arrival because of some recent unfavourable reviews. However, we soon realised we were in good hands when we checked in at the resort's office on the pier in Sandakan. The staff were unfailingly friendly and helpful, the plunge pool villas were well positioned, spacious and comfortable and the food was excellent. We found it difficult to order at meal time as our stay wore on because there were so many tasty options we'd already eaten - we felt we were spoilt for choice. Portions are large and we found an appetizer to share followed by a main to share was plenty. We had little trouble with bugs, though there were obviously some around. Each evening staff place a new mosquito coil on the deck near the room's front door and load a new cake into the electrical repellant in the room. Some facilities were being refurbished during our visit (forest canopy walk, zip line and the Long House dining area) but that didn't bother us. The jungle walk was interesting and we felt it was worthwhile even though we had just come from 4 days in the Danum Valley. The jungle here is much drier and less humid than the primary rainforest. It seems inevitable these days that plastic and other rubbish will wash up on the beach. There wasn't much while we were there but staff soon cleared it away each day. The snorkeling was OK, if not spectacular, but it was worth doing. We went three times and found it best to get some distance away from the wharf and into slightly deeper water. We saw plenty of the usual colourful tropical fish but were also pleased to see a couple of turtles, moray eels and barracuda. The resort will organise a snorkeling or dive trip further afield if you want a chance to see more but the local spot was good enough for us. The sea temperature was perfect (average for May in this area is 29.7 Celsius) and the area in front of the hotel's beach is easy to access - just plain white sand and shallow shelving. We stayed 5 nights and would have been happy to stay even longer.