Lahad Datu travel guide
Cocoa estates, a timber port and the road to Danum Valley
Lahad Datu is a working port town in eastern Sabah that most visitors pass through on the way to Danum Valley or Tabin. One night is plenty, and March to October brings the drier forest conditions. The MDAC arrival card is needed even where no visa is.
Lahad Datu is a port town on the Dent Peninsula in eastern Sabah, surrounded by cocoa and oil palm estates and kept busy by timber shipments. Hardly anyone comes for the town. It is the jumping-off point for Danum Valley, one of the largest areas of untouched lowland rainforest left in Sabah, and for Tabin Wildlife Reserve.
Use a night here to sort out logistics. The Danum lodges and the field centre run their own transfers from town and the road in is slow, so book the reserve and the ride together before you fly. Eat at the evening stalls along Jalan Dam, where one long-running stall fries whole chickens, or start the day at the Chinese vegetarian buffet in Fajar Centre.
Security deserves a look before you book. After an armed incursion near Lahad Datu in 2013, much of Sabah's east coast was placed in a special security zone, with curfews on coastal waters at times. Check your government's current advice.
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Top things to do in Lahad Datu
A supply stop for Danum Valley and Tabin, with good evening street food.
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Best time to visit Lahad Datu
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Fewer downpours for forest walks and night drives at Danum and Tabin.
Heavy rain, leeches on the trails and slower road transfers.
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Getting there
Small airport and the coast road
Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) has limited domestic flights, so many travellers fly into Tawau or Sandakan and continue by road; Tawau is about 2.5 hours away by bus. Some guesthouses include airport pickup, and Grab covers the rest. Danum Valley and Tabin lodges collect guests in town on fixed days, so match your flight to them.
- Airport
- Lahad Datu (LDU), domestic flights
- Alternative airports
- Tawau and Sandakan, then by road
- Bus to Tawau
- About 2.5 hours
- Airport pickup
- Included by some guesthouses
- If your flight lands after the lodge transfer has left, plan on a night in town, because a private car to Danum is hard to arrange.
Where to stay
Fajar Centre, Taman Hap Heng or straight to the forest
Treat a bed in Lahad Datu as a staging post. Fajar Centre puts shops and banks on the doorstep for last-minute supplies, and the bed and breakfast in Taman Hap Heng, which collects guests from the airport, suits late arrivals and cyclists. The rooms that matter are inside Danum Valley or Tabin, booked with the transfer.
- Fajar Centre
- Shops, banks and an early-morning vegetarian buffet; busy and plain
- Asia Hotel
- A ten-storey town hotel with around 60 rooms
- Taman Hap Heng, Jalan Segama
- Bike and Tours B&B with free airport transfers; out of the centre
- Danum Valley and Tabin
- Field centre and lodges; reached only by their own transfers
Getting around
Grab, taxis and lodge transfers
Walk central Lahad Datu around Fajar Centre and Jalan Dam, and use Grab or a taxi for the airport and longer hops. No public transport serves Danum Valley or Tabin, so use the transfer your lodge arranges. A guesthouse on Jalan Segama rents bicycles and runs cycling tours through the cocoa and oil palm estates.
- On foot
- Fajar Centre and the Jalan Dam stalls are close together
- Grab
- Town hops and the airport
- Reserve transfers
- Book with your Danum or Tabin accommodation
- Bikes
- Hire and tours from a guesthouse on Jalan Segama
Know before you go
What makes Lahad Datu worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Danum Valley, deep lowland rainforest a long drive inland from town.
- Tabin Wildlife Reserve, the other big forest trip from Lahad Datu.
- Fried whole chicken on Jalan Dam, from a stall that opens in the evening.
Good to know
- Book reserve stays and transfers as one package before arriving; there is no public transport to Danum.
- Read current travel advice for Sabah's east coast, which has been under a special security zone since 2013.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Lahad Datu, month by month
Lahad Datu's wettest month is January, about 249 mm, and April its driest, about 132 mm. Expect highs of 30 to 32°C.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Lahad Datu (Climate-Data.org, via Wikipedia).
A night in Lahad Datu before Danum Valley
Book Danum Valley before you plan anything else, because no public transport reaches it. Reserve a room at the field centre or a lodge and add their road transfer from Lahad Datu, which runs on set days. If your flight lands in the afternoon, spend a night in town, stock up near Fajar Centre, and leave after breakfast.
If your flight lands in the afternoon, check in near the shops and spend the rest of the day on supplies. Fajar Centre has banks and stores for the things you will miss in the forest: snacks, batteries, a spare torch and leech socks. Eat early in the evening at the Jalan Dam stalls, which open around dusk.
Next morning, have breakfast at the Chinese vegetarian buffet on Lorong Fajar 4, which opens early, and be ready at the pickup point well before the stated time. Allow at least two nights in the forest. The best wildlife sightings come on dawn walks and night drives, and one night barely gives you either.
Jalan Dam stalls and the Fajar Centre buffet
Lahad Datu's restaurants cater to a working port and plantation town. In the evening, head to the stalls on Jalan Dam, where Ah Yong at stall 24 has a following for its fried chicken. For breakfast, the Unicorn Vegetarian Restaurant in Fajar Centre lays out a Chinese vegetarian buffet, and Jungle Park covers Western, Malay and Chinese food.
The evening stalls on Jalan Dam are the liveliest choice. One of them, Ah Yong at stall number 24, has a following for its fried whole chicken and Chinese dishes with local flavours, and it serves no pork.
For breakfast, the Unicorn Vegetarian Restaurant in Fajar Centre lays out a traditional Chinese vegetarian buffet from early morning until lunchtime, and will point out the vegan dishes if you ask. It is a sensible place to fill up before a long transfer.
Jungle Park, near RHB Bank and Centre Point, covers Western, Malay and Chinese food under one roof, and Conrado's Cafe in Bandar Wilayah Jasa mixes Western and Asian plates. Neither is a destination, but after a few nights of lodge buffets in Danum, a plate of something different tastes very good.
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How we research our Lahad Datu travel guide
Lahad Datu is mostly a gateway, so we focus on the Danum Valley and Tabin transfer arrangements and check them, with the rest of the page, against Tourism Malaysia, the district's official site, the MDAC page and Wikipedia's Lahad Datu entry.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of Lahad DatuMalaysia Digital Arrival CardTourism Malaysia
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Lahad Datu.
Getting there
Only by the road transfer run by the lodges and the field centre. Book it with your accommodation before you arrive.
About 2.5 hours by bus along the coast road.
Usually yes, if your flight lands after the lodge transfer leaves. One night is plenty; keep two or more for the forest, where dawn walks and night drives happen.
Cancellations & changes
Much of the coast became a special security zone, with curfews on coastal waters at times. The town itself is a normal working port, but check your government's advice before travelling.
General
Often, since both have more connections. Lahad Datu Airport (LDU) has a few domestic flights, and both alternatives are linked to the town by road.
Wet enough to slow the roads and bring out the leeches: December and January each get more than 220 mm in Lahad Datu, against about 130 mm in April.
At the Jalan Dam stalls, which open in the early evening; Ah Yong at stall 24 is the one for fried whole chicken.
Snacks, batteries, a torch and leech socks. Fajar Centre has shops and banks, and there is nowhere to buy them once you are in the forest.
You can walk the centre. Grab handles longer trips, and a guesthouse on Jalan Segama rents bicycles.
Lahad Datu is best known for:
- Danum Valley, deep lowland rainforest a long drive inland from town
- Tabin Wildlife Reserve, the other big forest trip from Lahad Datu
- Fried whole chicken on Jalan Dam, from a stall that opens in the evening
Booking
No. As with Danum Valley, arrange the road transfer through the accommodation you book inside the reserve.
Timing & weather
The best time to visit Lahad Datu is Mar to Oct. Drier than the north-east monsoon months, with firmer trails in the reserves.
- Best overall: March - October (Fewer downpours for forest walks and night drives at Danum and Tabin)
- Monsoon: November - February (Heavy rain, leeches on the trails and slower road transfers)
May is the warmest month in Lahad Datu, with average highs of 32°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 23°C. January is the wettest month, at about 249 mm of rain; April is the driest. Lahad Datu's wettest month is January, about 249 mm, and April its driest, about 132 mm.
Visa & documents
Citizens of the UK, the EU, the US, Canada, Australia and many other countries can visit Malaysia visa-free, usually for up to 90 days. All foreign visitors must complete the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) online before arrival. Sabah and Sarawak have their own immigration controls.
Health & safety
Malaysia is generally safe. Bag snatching occurs in cities, and governments advise against non-essential travel to islands off eastern Sabah.
