Sandakan travel guide
Sepilok orangutans, Kinabatangan cruises and the Death March memorial
Sandakan, Sabah's second city, is the base for Sepilok's orangutans, Kinabatangan River cruises and Gomantong Caves, and has a sobering wartime memorial. March to October is drier. Allow two to three days, more if you sleep on the river. Most visitors need no visa but fill in the MDAC arrival card.
On the east coast of Sabah, Sandakan was the capital of British North Borneo until 1946 and is now the state's second city. Most people come because it sits close to the best wildlife on this side of Borneo: orangutans at Sepilok, sun bears next door and proboscis monkeys along the Kinabatangan River.
The town has a darker history too. In 1945 the Japanese marched Allied prisoners from a camp here towards Ranau, and very few survived. Sandakan Memorial Park, 12 km out on the site of the camp, has a small museum that tells their story quietly and well. Closer in, Agnes Keith House remembers the American writer who lived here before the war.
For the view, climb to Puu Jih Syh, a hilltop Chinese temple looking over Labuk Bay. St Michael and All Angels, built in the late 19th century, is one of the oldest stone buildings in Sabah. Buli Sim Sim, 3 km east past the big mosque, is a water village on stilts, and the BaLin roof terrace on the NAK Hotel is the place for sunset.
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Top things to do in Sandakan
Wildlife within easy reach, and a town with a heavy past.
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Best time to visit Sandakan
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Drier, with easier river trips and forest trails.
North-east monsoon rain; forest trails turn muddy.
Wildlife lodges on the Kinabatangan fill up in school holidays; book river trips through a tour company in advance.
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Getting there
AirBorneo hops and the Inanam coach road
Fly into Sandakan Airport (SDK), about 13 km from the waterfront. AirAsia comes direct from Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia Airlines and AirBorneo, which took over the MASwings network in January 2026, fly from Kota Kinabalu. Express buses from the Inanam terminal take about five hours and finish at Bandar Letat Jaya, 15 minutes out.
- Sandakan Airport (SDK)
- 13 km out; Grab, taxi or a local van into town
- Bus from Kota Kinabalu
- About 5 hours from Inanam, several departures a day
- From Kinabalu Park
- Buy the full KK ticket and board at park HQ; about 4.5 hours
- Sepilok drop-off
- Ask to leave at the junction; the centre is about 4 km down the side road
- On to Semporna
- Buses from the express terminal, mostly in the morning
- Fly into Sandakan and out of Tawau, or the other way round, so you cross Sabah only once.
- Heading straight for Sepilok from KK, tell the driver when you board; taxis wait at the junction for the last 4 km.
Where to stay
Jetty grid, Mile 4 or a Sepilok lodge
Sleep in the old grid by the jetty to walk the heritage trail and the waterfront, though it empties once the shops shut. Sepilok puts you at the forest edge for an unhurried start at the orangutan centre, Mile 4 suits curry-house hunters, and a Kinabatangan trip deserves at least one night on the river.
- Town centre
- Walk to Harbour Square, the heritage trail and the bay; quiet after dark
- Sepilok
- Lodges next to the orangutan and sun bear centres; you need a car or Grab for town
- Mile 4 (Bandar Indah)
- Hotel Indah and the fish head curry shops; suburban, Grab to everything else
- Sukau, Lower Kinabatangan
- River lodges sold with the boat trips; booked through tour companies
Getting around
Walk, Grab, minivans and boats
Walk the old grid by the jetty, where a signposted heritage trail climbs to Agnes Keith House and the cathedral. Beyond it, Sandakan sprawls for miles through suburbs named by their distance from town, so use Grab. Taxis seldom use meters: fix the price, including waiting time, before heading to the Memorial Park or Sepilok.
- Grab
- Covers the whole city; simplest for the airport and the Mile 4 restaurants
- Minivans and buses
- From the centre to Sepilok, the airport and Buli Sim Sim
- Taxis
- Unmetered; agree a return fare with waiting time before leaving
- Boats
- Water taxi from Buli Sim Sim to Pulau Berhala; other bay trips through an agency
- Tours
- The practical way to the Kinabatangan and the Gomantong Caves, about 100 km by road
- Do not hire a boat on the bay from someone on the jetty; book through an agency that knows the current east coast curfew.
Know before you go
What makes Sandakan worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Sepilok, for orangutans in the rehabilitation centre's forest.
- A Kinabatangan River cruise, looking for proboscis monkeys in the mangroves and, with luck, elephants.
- Sunset from BaLin, the rooftop bar on the NAK Hotel.
Good to know
- Turtle eggs are illegal, though sold in the market; carrying them can lead to criminal charges.
- Boats in eastern Sabah follow a night curfew because of kidnapping threats from the southern Philippines.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Sandakan, month by month
Sandakan's rainiest months are December and January, at roughly 449 and 444 mm, and May is the driest at about 138 mm. Highs range from 30 to 33°C.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Sandakan (World Meteorological Organization, via Wikipedia).
Sepilok mornings and Memorial Park afternoons over two or three days
Give Sandakan two days, or three with the Kinabatangan River. Spend the first morning at Sepilok, about 4 km off the main road west of town, for the orangutans and the sun bear centre next door. Start day two at Sandakan Memorial Park, 12 km out, and join a Kinabatangan tour on day three.
Arrive early, when the orangutans are more active and the forest is still cool, then walk over to the sun bear centre next door. Back in town after lunch, climb to Puu Jih Syh for the view across Labuk Bay, look in at St Michael and All Angels, one of the oldest stone buildings in Sabah, and follow the heritage trail down past Agnes Keith House. Finish on the BaLin roof terrace, eight floors up on the NAK Hotel, as the light goes over the bay.
Start day two at Sandakan Memorial Park, 12 km out on the site of the prisoner-of-war camp. Agree a taxi with waiting time and allow an hour for the small museum, which is sobering and free. Spend the afternoon at Buli Sim Sim, the stilt village 3 km east past the big mosque, then head out to Mile 4 for fish head curry. With a third day, join a tour to the Kinabatangan for proboscis monkeys at dusk, and sleep at a river lodge to avoid the drive back in the dark.
Harbour Square seafood and the Mile 4 curry houses
Sandakan eats from two kitchens, the sea and the Indian Muslim curry houses. Fish, prawns and crab arrive fresh every day, and Imperial Bay View at Harbour Square on the waterfront cooks Chinese seafood at sensible prices. The curry houses, such as Restoran Ajmeer, are mostly out in the mile suburbs.
Restoran Ajmeer, with branches at Mile 3 (Hing Lee) and Mile 4 (Bandar Prima), turns out lamb biryani, dosai, idli and vadai next to Malay-style fried dishes. Sandakan Curry House, beside Hotel Indah at Mile 4, is where locals send you for fish head curry. In town, Habeeb Restaurant on Third Avenue is the place to order roti cobra, a Sabah habit of roti topped with curried chicken and a fried egg.
Two warnings. Turtle eggs turn up quietly at the wet market; they are illegal, and customs treat anyone carrying them as a criminal case. And restaurants here change hands quickly, so ask your guesthouse which of these is still cooking before taking a Grab to Mile 4.
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How we research our Sandakan travel guide
Flights in Sabah changed hands in 2026, when AirBorneo took over the MASwings network, so this Sandakan page is rechecked against Tourism Malaysia, the city's official website, the MDAC page and Wikipedia's Sandakan entry whenever schedules move.
Last updated . Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of SandakanMalaysia Digital Arrival CardTourism Malaysia
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Sandakan.
Getting there
Local vans do run past the airport, but most arrivals take Grab or a taxi for the 13 km into the centre, which is quicker with luggage.
The orangutan centre lies about 4 km off the main Kota Kinabalu road. KK buses drop at the junction and taxis wait there.
About 100 km by road with almost no public transport, so most people go on a tour combined with a Kinabatangan cruise. Swiftlet nests are harvested from the cave roof using bamboo poles and ladders.
General
Yes, just. Spend one day at Sepilok and around town, one at the Memorial Park and Buli Sim Sim, then leave on the third for a river lodge and stay overnight.
Yes. It lies about 12 km from town, roughly 15 minutes by taxi; agree a return fare with waiting time before you set off. Entry is free and a small museum stands on the old camp site.
On the lower river around Sukau, where mangroves and flood plains line the banks. Tour companies run the cruises, and an overnight stay gives a second boat trip and a better chance of elephants.
March to October is drier, with April and May the lightest months at around 140 mm of rain. December and January each get more than 440 mm.
Yes. The signposted trail starts in the flat grid by the jetty and climbs the hill to Agnes Keith House and the cathedral, an easy half day on foot.
Walk the old grid by the jetty, where a signposted heritage trail climbs to Agnes Keith House and the cathedral. Beyond it, Sandakan sprawls for miles through suburbs named by their distance from town, so use Grab. Taxis seldom use meters: fix the price, including waiting time, before heading to the Memorial Park or Sepilok.
Sandakan is best known for:
- Sepilok, for orangutans in the rehabilitation centre's forest
- A Kinabatangan River cruise, looking for proboscis monkeys in the mangroves and, with luck, elephants
- Sunset from BaLin, the rooftop bar on the NAK Hotel
Timing & weather
About five hours from the Inanam terminal, with most departures between early morning and early afternoon. Buses arrive at a terminal about 15 minutes from downtown.
The best time to visit Sandakan is Mar to Oct. Drier months for river cruises and forest walks.
- Best overall: March - October (Drier, with easier river trips and forest trails)
- Wet months: November - February (North-east monsoon rain; forest trails turn muddy)
May is the warmest month in Sandakan, with average highs of 33°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 24°C. December is the wettest month, at about 449 mm of rain; May is the driest. Sandakan's rainiest months are December and January, at roughly 449 and 444 mm, and May is the driest at about 138 mm.
Health & safety
Book bay and island trips through tour agencies or experienced guides. Kidnapping threats from the southern Philippines have brought a night curfew on vessels in eastern Sabah waters, so check the current rules.
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.
