At least three islands off Sabah have been advertised for sale, while another two for a rent, via a Toronto-based private islands online marketplace.

The three include Pulau Mengalum, a turnkey private island resort off Kota Kinabalu involving 250acres at the price of US$18 million; Pandanan Island, near Semporna, involving 10 acres at US$2 million; and Montukod Island, about one kilometre off Kinarut, involving 17.2 acres at RM35 million (US$11.266million).

The others also advertised for rent are Sipadan-Kapalai Island, off Semporna, involving 50 acres and Pulau Layang Layang, involving 50 acres. The descriptions for both these were stated as "price on request".

Pulau Mengalum was once a stopover for famed voyager Ferdinand Magellan, whose supposed anchor is one of the island's relics.

Pulau Pandan gained notoriety when Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped three workers of a local tour firm in 2000 - their second after Pulau Sipadan.

They managed to escape during a firefight between the terrorist-kidnappers and Filipino troops.

Layang-Layang is Malaysia's sole claim on the disputed Spratlys chain.

Descriptions of all these islands were included in the advertisement that was posted in a Malaysian online news portal. It was not known how long they had been put up for sale nor the response.

The firm Private Islands Inc. specialises in all aspects of island sales, purchase and living.

Sources: Daily Express Sabah
Picture: Google Images