Things to do in Sandakan
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Sandakan
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall, the Kinabatangan sweet spot and the start of the Lankayan whale shark window.
Turtles build to peak at Selingan, with school holiday crowds at Sepilok and the August memorial service.
Birder and turtle watcher peak, including the Borneo Bird Festival at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in October.
Worst window, the wettest monsoon months, rough island seas, and Lankayan closed in January and February.
What's on
- Kaamatan 30-31 May
Sabah harvest festival of the Kadazan Dusun, celebrated state wide with cultural performances.
- Sandakan Day Memorial 15 August
Morning service at Sandakan Memorial Park honouring the POWs and the local people who helped them.
- Borneo Bird Festival October, dates vary by year
Flagship birding festival at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sepilok, with guided walks and photo contests.
Best things to do in Sandakan
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
Rehabilitated orangutans return to a forest feeding platform twice daily, with a nursery viewing glass for the young ones.
Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC)
Rescued sun bears, the smallest bear species, climb and forage in forest enclosures beside the orangutan centre.
Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC)
A long canopy skywalk through the emergent layer at Sepilok, built for hornbills, pittas and bristleheads.
Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary
Wild proboscis monkey troops come to feeding platforms in a mangrove remnant, closer than anywhere else near Sandakan.
Sandakan Memorial Park
The former POW camp site, with a pavilion telling the story of the Sandakan Death Marches and the locals who helped.
Agnes Keith House
The restored hilltop home of the author of Land Below the Wind, with period rooms and a view over Sandakan Bay.
Puu Jih Shih Temple
An ornate Chinese Buddhist temple on a hill above the bay, worth the stop for its terrace panorama over Sandakan.
Sim Sim Water Village
A centuries old stilt village of boardwalk lanes over the water, where Sandakan began and its fishing life continues.
Where to stay in Sandakan
Sepilok
wildlife trips, most visitors
Forest edge lodges a short walk from the orangutan and sun bear centres and the Rainforest Discovery Centre.
Sandakan Town
early flights, heritage and food
The waterfront and hill hotels give market, restaurants and the heritage walk, at the cost of a daily Sepilok commute.
Sukau and Bilit, Kinabatangan River
river safari stays
All in lodge packages with transfers, meals and dawn and afternoon cruises are the only sensible way to do the river.
Lankayan Island
diving and castaway nights
A single resort island stay, added to an itinerary rather than used as a base for anything else.
Think twice about
- Jalan Utara Mile 4 to 7 highway strips
Budget motels along a multi lane arterial with nothing walkable, dead evenings and a Grab ride to every sight.
- Old centre blocks inland from Harbour Square
Shuttered, decaying shophouses on streets that empty and dim early, making the walk home after dinner feel desolate.
Best restaurants in Sandakan
Ocean King Seafood Restaurant
The celebration seafood address, live tanks and Cantonese cooking priced by weight in the IJM shoplots.
English Tea House & Restaurant
A restored colonial house in lawns above the bay, serving tiered afternoon teas next to Agnes Keith House.
The Lake Bistro and Bar
Sepilok best restaurant, a fairy lit lakeside deck with Malaysian and Western dishes and the area best cocktails.
Balin Roofgarden Bistro & Bar
The town rooftop over the bay at the Nak Hotel, bistro food, the fullest bar in town and a mixed local crowd.
Restoran Seafood Sim Sim 88
Seafood over the water on the stilt village boardwalks, a superb setting if you arrive early and order decisively.
D'Sandakan Seafood Paradise
A neighbourhood seafood restaurant locals use for family meals, away from the centre and Sim Sim crowds.
Kedai Makan Kong Teck
A kopitiam known for one bowl, springy house made fish noodles that sell out early in the day.
The Sim Sim breakfast stalls
Breakfast stalls on the stilt village boardwalks, noodles with seafood toppings and century egg dumplings until late morning.
Outdoor things to do in Sandakan
Kinabatangan River
Dawn and afternoon boat safaris past proboscis monkeys, hornbills and, with luck, pygmy elephants and wild orangutans.
Selingan Island
An overnight on a capped visitor island where green and hawksbill turtles lay nightly and hatchlings are released.
Lankayan Island
A tiny conservation island with a house reef full of turtles and reef sharks for divers and snorkellers alike.
Gomantong Cave
A vast swiftlet and bat cave on the Kinabatangan road, visceral and guano rich, with a huge bat exodus at dusk.
Libaran Island
A lived in village island with a small turtle hatchery, mangrove activities and simple chalets, close to Sandakan.
Sandakan Golf & Country Club
A mature, tree lined local members course at Mile 6, a relaxed early round between wildlife commitments.
Danum Valley Conservation Area
Primary rainforest that has never been logged, walked on trails and a canopy walkway from a benchmark eco lodge.
Best hotels in Sandakan
Sepilok Nature Lodge
Chalets in orchid gardens around a lake, a short walk from the orangutan centre gates, with the Lake Bistro on site.
Sukau Rainforest Lodge
The benchmark Kinabatangan lodge, with Borneo Villas, a hornbill boardwalk and top naturalist guides on the river.
Lankayan Island Dive Resort
Water chalets over the reef on a one resort island, full board, with diving and turtle releases on the doorstep.
Sabah Hotel Sandakan
The town full service hotel in leafy hill grounds, with spacious rooms and the best hotel pool in Sandakan.
The Elopura Hotel
A mid range waterfront hotel on Harbour Square with sea view rooms, well placed for the market and restaurants.
Sepilok Forest Edge Resort
Garden chalets near the Rainforest Discovery Centre with a plunge pool and a well liked on site restaurant.
Sepilok Jungle Resort
The budget Sepilok base, a short walk from the orangutan centre, with a big garden and a jungle pool.
Paganakan Dii Tropical Retreat
Longhouse dorms and chalets on a forested ridge, rustic and atmospheric, with hammock decks and canopy sunrises.
Is Sandakan expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | MYR 154 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | MYR 340 a person |
| Splurge | MYR 624 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC): a few days ahead
- Kinabatangan River: weeks ahead
- Selingan Island: weeks ahead
- Lankayan Island: weeks ahead
- Libaran Island: a few days ahead
- Sandakan Golf & Country Club: a few days ahead
- Danum Valley Conservation Area: weeks ahead
- Sepilok Nature Lodge: weeks ahead
- Selingan Island is capped at about 60 overnight visitors with one operator and one boat a day, so book weeks ahead in season.
- Book Kinabatangan 3D2N lodge packages weeks ahead and confirm dawn and afternoon cruises, a night activity and transfers.
- Book Rainforest Discovery Centre night walks in person at its ticket counter, as email bookings often go unanswered.
- Lankayan closes in January and February and its whale shark window books earliest, so it cannot be a last minute add on.
Is Sandakan safe?
- A 6pm to 6am curfew on water travel operates in six eastern Sabah coastal districts, so never be on the water after dark.
- Use only licensed operators and resort scheduled daylight boats for Selingan, Lankayan and Libaran.
- Check your travel insurance covers the east coast islands before booking them.
- Never swim in the Kinabatangan River because of estuarine crocodiles, and use repellent against dengue and leeches.
Sandakan travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Kinabatangan day trip means five plus hours of driving for one afternoon cruise, the worst value product here.
- Older guides still list the Four Points by Sheraton Sandakan, which closed in 2020 and has not reopened.
- Gomantong Cave is a brilliant en route stop but a poor reason for a dedicated day trip.
- At Sim Sim 88, go before 6pm, as peak hour service collapses while the seafood stays fresh.
Getting around Sandakan: public transport and more
- Grab is the default in town and to Sepilok, about 30 minutes from town and 15 from the airport.
- For Labuk Bay, keep your Grab driver waiting by arrangement or take a tour, as pickups there are unreliable.
- Kinabatangan and Selingan packages include transfers, and that is part of what you pay for.
- Carry cash in small notes, as attraction gates and market stalls are cash first and camera fees recur.
Who Sandakan suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Sandakan your trip
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