Sandakan City is located in Sabah, Borneo. It has a domestic Airport and is the gateway to some amazing nature and wildlife in Sabah. We spent 2 separate nights in Sandakan City as a family with kids aged 13 and 10.
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Should you stay in Sandakan or Sepilok?
Sepilok is part of the larger Sandakan area, and this can cause some confusion. I’ve seen people who end up in Sandakan City expecting to be immersed in the rainforest.
The locations are only 25 minutes apart however, staying in them gives two very different experiences.
Sandakan City is where most people will enter the area due to the domestic airport. However, this is not where the rainforest and wildlife that bring people to this part of Sabah are found.
As Sepilok is nearby, you could visit as a day trip. If you are here for the nature, though, I strongly suggest you actually stay in Sepilok. That way, you will be surrounded by the forest and have more time to visit the centres. The Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre and Rainforest Discovery Centre are all worth a visit.
Reasons to stay in Sandakan City
It can be a good base
With the nearby airport, Sandakan City can be a good place to base yourself for the surrounding areas. While many Kinabatangan tours offer airport pick-up, the thought of trying to time it perfectly made me anxious. We landed at Sandakan airport after a flight from Kota Kinabalu and spent the afternoon and night in the city. The next day, we were picked up and driven to our Kinabatangan accommodation. After our time in Kinabatangan and Sepilok, we returned to Sandakan for one night before our flight to Kuala Lumpur.
Other day trips and tours can be taken from Sandakan, such as the Gomantong Caves. Many people also visit the nearby islands for diving or a package tour of Turtle Islands Park.
Convenience
Sepilok is a very small village with limited restaurants and cafes and no other stores. Sandakan City has convenience and grocery stores, shopping malls, and a central market. We were also able to get our washing done at a laundromat where a friendly older lady running it helped us with a smile despite not being able to communicate.
More food choices
Sandakan has a variety of restaurants and cafes across the city. Our favourites were Daily Coffee for an espresso machine latte, MOMO Oriental Kitchen for Malaysian and Thai dishes, and the central market for fresh fruit.
Where to stay in Sandakan City
We stayed at Hotel Sandakan for both of our one-night stays in Sandakan City. As we were a family with kids, we booked a room with 2 queen beds. The hotel felt very tired and in need of some maintenance, but we chose it as a low-budget option. Ormond Sandakan might be a nicer option with rooms facing the waterfront.
We chose to stay in the Sandakan City waterfront area because most of the things we wanted to see and do were nearby. A lot of the area felt the same as the hotel though, tired and rundown. It appears that people live quite poorly here. There were a few beggars, some of whom were children, which was very sad to see. It was a contrast from seeing large new apartments in Kota Kinabalu and resorts in the tourist areas of Sabah.
Perhaps this is the older area of the city, I’m not sure. Other locations appear to have larger shopping malls, so they may be more modern parts of Sandakan City.
What to do in Sandakan City
Agnes Keith House
Agnes Keith was an American author who wrote about her experiences living in Sabah, Borneo. She was married to Harry Keith, a British official working in forest conservation in Sabah. The hilltop house they lived in during their time in Sandakan is now open as a museum. Inside are photos and artefacts with information about the family and their experiences in Sandakan. There is a display of dolls made by Agnes Keith during her time in a war camp. She made notes on scrap paper and sewed them into the dolls. These notes survived the war and became one of her books, which later became a movie.
Before entering the house, you have to remove your shoes and leave them on a rack. Place them up high because Tim came out to find a shoe missing. The guard on duty rode around the grounds on his motorbike, and I eventually found it in tall grass down the hill. We suspected a dog had run off with it and must have dropped it. We now laugh about it, but Tim might not have found it funny if he had to return to the hotel with one shoe.
Sandakan Heritage Trail
The Agnes Keith House is part of the Sandakan Heritage Trail. We started at the monuments near our hotel and walked up the 100 steps to the house. Along the way is a view looking over Sandakan Bay. You can find the full map and list of locations on the Sabah Tourism Website.
Sandakan Memorial Park
The Sandakan Memorial Park is located on the site of the former Sandakan POW camp. As we had already been to the Kundasang War Memorial, we chose not to visit this one.
Stroll around the city
Our Grab driver told us that this part of Sandakan is known as ‘The Hong Kong of Borneo’ due to the densely packed apartment buildings. Sandakan also used to have a large population of immigrants from Hong Kong, and within the city is a small walkway called ‘Little Hong Kong’. You can also walk along the waterfront area of Sandakan.
Sandakan City Street Art
While strolling around, keep an eye out for street art. We spotted many pieces around the waterfront city area.
Sandakan Central Market
Located on the waterfront is Sandakan Central Market. It’s a small market but worth a walk through. We bought some fresh fruit for snacks.
Sandakan Rainforest Park
The park is a 9.5km drive from Hotel Sandakan. Our Grab driver wondered why we were going here. He said tourists don’t visit, just locals for jogging. It’s certainly not like the Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sepilok, but as nature lovers we enjoyed our time here away from Sandakan City.
To the left of the park entrance is a small garden. It wasn’t well maintained, but we enjoyed viewing the variety of pitcher plants. The park has a few trails, and we saw lots of lizards and mushrooms and some squirrels running through the trees.
Puu Jih Syh Temple
This Chinese-style Buddhist Temple is located on a hilltop overlooking Sandakan Bay.
Is it worth staying in Sandakan City?
As I stated above, if you are in the area to see nature and wildlife, then it would be better to stay in Sepilok. I probably wouldn’t intentionally add Sandakan City to an itinerary, but it is a convenient in-between base, and there are interesting places within the city.
