Sapi Island is one of several stunning islands off the coast of Malaysian Borneo’s largest city, Kota Kinabalu. If you can put up with the hordes of tourists, it’s home to beautiful beaches, incredible snorkeling, and dense rainforests – plus you have the option of arriving by zipline from Sapi’s larger neighbour, Gaya Island.

There was a sign on arrival which read ‘no drones without a permit’. I enquired at the information point where I could obtain a permit, the hostile response was, “back on the mainland”.

We spent the day snorkelling, lying on the beach, and exploring the tiny island. We’d been told there was a 4:00pm and a 5:00pm boat back to Kota Kinabalu – if we missed the 5:00pm, we’d be there for the night.

At 4:00pm, all of the several hundred tourists (mostly from mainland China) packed up and headed for the boat. We wondered if perhaps they knew something we didn’t.

An exasperated lifeguard had spent most of the afternoon blasting his whistle at oblivious snorkelers for crossing into the ‘no-swim zone’ – areas that had been roped-off in an attempt to bring the withering coral back to life. He now jumped down from his viewpoint with enthusiasm, and grabbed a football from out of his bag.

The few remaining stragglers all joined in a makeshift match on the beach. With not long left before the final boat arrived, I walked over to the lifeguard holding my drone and smiled.

“Mind if I put it up?” I said.
“You’ve got five minutes!” he replied.

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Sapi Island, Borneo