Getting Around Sandakan, Sabah

What is the must try food in Sandakan? What is the best place to stay in Sandakan? We would like to share our experience getting around Sandakan.

Sandakan is the second largest town in Sabah, with a population over 400 thousands within the municipal area. It is a peaceful coastal town with nice seafood, nature beauty, and friendly people. The airport is nearby the old township, the place where tourists stay. New township is now extending into the hilly area, far from the sea. We visited several tourist attractions in Sandakan, and share it in another post. 

What to Eat

The biggest attraction in Sandakan, beside orang utans, is the seafood. We tried several eateries- Sim-Sim Seafood Restaurant（森森海鲜食店）, Ocean King Restaurant, seafood noodle stall at Kampung Pukat, food stall at Sandakan Central Market, and many more.

Sim Sim Water Village is located along Buli Sim Sim Road. The water village is located around 10 minutes drive from town center. We can see a clear signage of "Kampung Seafood Sim Sim" from the main road (upper left), with locals were selling fruits along the entrance to the village (upper right). There are several restaurants located in the water village. We visited the one on the left end- Sim-Sim Seafood Restaurant H90 (lower right). The restaurant is big and clean, with very nice dining hall facing the sea.

We tried seafood noodle (upper left), prawn with butter (upper right), and seafood in thick soup (lower right). The dishes were nice with reasonable price. We could see a row of shark jaws hanging on the wall of the restaurant.

Ocean King Restaurant was originally built by the sea. The restaurant was moved to a new location after the pirates' incident. Although it is now far from the sea, around 20 minutes drive from the town center, the restaurant is still famous among the locals and tourists (upper left). We tried steamed babylonia shells (upper right), clams in soup (lower right), and fried squid. All the dishes tasted good. The price was a little bit more expensive compared to the restaurant at Sim-Sim Water Village, maybe because of the restaurant was fully air-conditioned. 

We were recommended to the seafood noodle at Kampung Pukat, around 10 minutes' drive from town center. The village entrance is similar to Sim-Sim Water Village (upper left), and the seafood noodle stall is actually a residential unit (lower right). We tried seafood noodle (lower right) and seafood in soup. Both were delicious, with big portion of prawn, squids, and oysters. The price was around RM 15 per portion.

We also took the opportunity to have afternoon tea at San Da Gen Kopitiam（三大羹）, which was nearby our hotel. The eatery was nicely decorated and fully air-conditioned (upper left). We tried several snacks, such as the salted egg croissant (upper right), tart with cream (lower right), avocado bun, and toast with black coffee. The food were special, but really not fitting our taste. 

Many local food stalls are available on the 2nd floor of Sandakan Central Market (upper left). The market is located just next to Four Seasons by Sheraton. Some of the food stalls attract many visitors (upper right). We found the stall selling "The Original Homemade Keuh Teow with Deepfried Pork" (lower right) served very nice noodle.

We visited Sandakan during the fruit season. Local fruits such as duku langsat (upper left), tarap (upper right), durian (lower right), and mangosteen were sold with very low price.

Accommodation

We would recommend to stay somewhere near to the old township area. The town area looks old and tired, with less people walking around. However, it is still the most convenient place for tourists like us to stay.

We stayed in Four Points by Sheraton for two nights. The hotel is facing the sea with nice view around Sandakan town. There is a shopping mall attached to the hotel. Attractions such as Sandakan Central Market and Sandakan Heritage Trail are located within walking distance. 

The hotel was overall good, with just little flaws such as the access card was not working consistently. We were stuck at the mall's entrance, the lift, and our room a few times. The reading lights were not working, and the bath tub was stuck. The problems were settled however, by the friendly staff. 

The drop point of Four Points (upper left). We can see the central market right behind the building. The hotel has a cozy environment (upper right), the room was big with good amenity (lower right), and the restaurant served nice international breakfast.

Nice town view from the hotel.

Sandakan Central Market can be seen from our room. This place is full with people early in the morning.

Sandakan Harbor Square is beside our hotel.

"I Love Sandakan" signage at Sandakan Harbor Square.

Transportation and Streets

We found that the easiest way to move around Sandakan is by Grab service. Grab is available almost everywhere, with very reasonable price- around RM 13 from Sandakan airport to town (20 minutes), and RM 23 from our hotel to Sepilok (35 minutes). 

Clean and modern-look airport with fully air-conditioned departure hall.

Streets in Sandakan old town. We can see the old "resident evil" like buildings along the streets. However, We found no problem walking around the town area, day and night. The street is clean and generally safe, with no zombies around.

The presence of these high buildings between narrow streets make us feel like little Hong Kong.

Sandakan is a great place for a short trip. The town is small with less people around, the seafood is really nice and cheap, and there are several beautiful conservation parks to visit. We share information on Sepilok, and places of interest nearby Sandakan Town as well.

More information about our trip in Sabah are available at:

[Sepilok Orangutans Rehabilitation Centre][Attractions in Sandakan Town]

[Getting Around Sandakan]

[Kinabalu National Park] [Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine National Park] 

[Lok Kawi Wildlife Park] [Kota Kinabalu] [Kota Kinabalu Shopping Guide]

[Places to Visit for One Day Trip in Kota Kinabalu]

[White Water Rafting at Kiulu] [Homestay at Nupungguk] 

[All Our Destinations]

Attractions in Sandakan Town

Sandakan Town is located at the northeast of Borneo Island. As a part of Borneo Island, the town is famous with its biodiversity and rain forest. As a town by the sea, the town is rich in seafood. 

We took a 3-day trip to Sandakan, visited several tourist attractions in the town. Due to time constraint, we couldn't visit every single corner of the town. So, our list of the top places to visit - Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (orang utan sanctuary), Sepilok Borneon Sun Bear Conservation Centre (sun bear sanctuary),  Sandakan Heritage Trail, and Sandakan Central Market. Sandakan is famous with seafood. Well, we will share about the food in another post. Let us start from the attractions nearby the old township area.

Sandakan Heritage Trail

Sandakan Heritage Trail is well-designed for us to walk around the town area, to see and learn more about the history of the town. The starting point of the trail- Sandakan Liberation Monument, is located in front of the town council building. The monument is located around 700 meters from our hotel- Four Points by Sheraton. From there, we walked up the 100-step staircase to Agnes Keith House and Sandakan Rotary Observation Pavilion (walked for 15 minutes), then to the remains of old staircase (walked for 10 minutes). We continued to walk for 10 minutes to St. Michael's and All Angels Church, and another 10 minutes from the church to our final stop - Malaysia Fountain. 

Agnes Keith House and St. Michael's and All Angles Church are beautiful, well preserved, and really worth a visit. The monument and the remains of old staircase on the other hand, are not well-maintained. The trail is longer than it looks on the map, but still not too bad. The whole trip took us 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The heritage trail is now managed by a group of volunteers, with the purpose to educate the younger generation about the history of Sandakan. The person-in-charge, Lai King Hang and his team are trying very hard to keep their effort moving by organizing at least one activity annually to promote the trail to local community. He is glad that the trail is now a tourist attraction. We can follow the team on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sandakanheritage/).

The trail starts right in front of the town council building (upper left), with a few memorials built at the middle of a square, commemorating the falling soldiers in World War 2 (upper right), William Pryer, the founder of Sandakan (lower right), and several Western explorers who died in Sandakan. The surrounding area was clean and tidy. The memorials however, were not well maintained. Kundasang War Memorial is an example of well maintained memorial park.  

The 100-step staircase is located on the left of the memorials. We couldn't find much history about the staircase, so we just climbed it without asking any question.

We missed the main entrance to Agnes Keith's house, and the hilly road led us to the Rotary Observation Pavilion (upper left). We found that the town view was blocked by untrimmed trees. We entered Agnes Keith House from the side entrance (upper right). The house is now conserved by the state museum. We needed to buy ticket at the administration building before entering the house. There is a very nice English tea garden beside the entrance to the house (lower right). 

Agnes Keith is a famous with her book "The Land Below the Wind". Sabah is now called the Land Below the Wind because of her book. She stayed in this house with her family before she left Borneo in 1952.

We found that the clock tower in the leaflet is just a tower without a clock (upper left). The remain of the old staircase is located on the left of the Basel Christian Church (upper right). We couldn't find anything meaningful nearby (lower right), except a few wooden houses nearby the staircase. The staircase is believed to be a part of Chinese Consulate Building before the 2nd World War.

St. Michael's and All Angels Church was built by Rev. Henry Elton. The church was the first stone building in Sandakan. The construction of the church started in 1893, and the whole church was completed 32 years later in 1925. The church is a beautiful building which worth a visit. The church is now located within a school compound, so we have to go through the school security before visiting the church.

There are two Chinese temples along the heritage trail. Both temples are small and less attractive. Anyway, both temples have served the locals for a long period of time. Sam Sing Kung or Sam Sing Temple was built in 1885. It is one of the oldest temples in the town. The temple is located opposite of Padang. We could see local kids playing in front of the temple in the evening.

We could see local people were having their activities at Padang. This area is happening at night.

We reached Malaysia Fountain at last. The fountain is in the middle of a roundabout, beside Padang.

The leaflet for Sandakan Heritage Trail. The trail is longer than it looks on the map.

Sandakan Central Market, Sandakan

Sandakan Central Market is located strategically next to Four Point by Sheraton. The wet market is located at the ground floor. The first floor is designated for clothes and Muslim food, while non-Muslim food can be found at second floor. The market is extremely busy starting from 4 am till 9 am. 

The market is clean and tidy. We visited the market twice and bought some really cheap stuff- dried prawn, local snack called amplang, and fruits. There is a souvenir shop nearby the entrance of the market, selling cheap shirts and books, including the book "The Land Below the Wind".  

Fishing boats unloading fresh seafood right from the sea all day long (upper left). The market is clean and tidy (upper right), selling wide variety of local products and vegetables (lower right). Food stalls are available on first and the second floor.

Amplang (upper left), dried prawn (upper right), dried fish (lower right) and local fruits are sold with very low price.

We will share the information on nice food we have in Sandakan in our next post. Our experience in Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is available as well.

More information about our trip in Sabah are available at:

[Sepilok Orangutans Rehabilitation Centre][Attractions in Sandakan Town]

[Getting Around Sandakan]

[Kinabalu National Park] [Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine National Park] 

[Lok Kawi Wildlife Park] [Kota Kinabalu] [Kota Kinabalu Shopping Guide]

[Places to Visit for One Day Trip in Kota Kinabalu]

[White Water Rafting at Kiulu] [Homestay at Nupungguk] 

[All Our Destinations]

First Driving Experience to Kinabalu National Park

We took the opportunity to drive to Kinabalu National Park and the surrounding area middle of this year, bringing Ling Shing's parents, sister, and brother in-law for a two-day-one-night trip. Our brief itinerary- Upside down house at Tamparuli, Pekan Nabalu, Kinabalu National Park, and Ranau Town on the first day. Poring Hot Spring, Kundasang Town, and Desa Dairy Farm, before we went back to Kota Kinabalu on the second day.

Driving by our own to Kinabalu Park and the surrounding area was enjoyable. We could travel with our own pace, with our own way. Well-maintained road and clear signage made the driving easier, compared to Cameron Highlands. Although Waze couldn't be used at high altitude area, Google Map could be accessed all the time.

We rented a Toyota Innova 2.0. The MPV was big enough for a comfortable trip, but a bit under-power at some sloppy area. Anyway, the car managed to travel at 40 kmph, but we needed to use low gear and press the accelerator way down to the bottom.

We got our car rented online. The rate was cheap- RM250 per day for Toyota Innova 2.0. The car was delivered to our hotel at Kota Kinabalu 1 hour late. We checked the car on the spot and found that the third braking light (stop light) was not functioning. One of the tire was punctured as well. The staff apologized and advised us to repair the car before we departed to Kinabalu Park. Well, the car was repaired at one of the workshops along the way, with the charges paid by the car rental company. Issue solved in 30 minutes.

Our first stop- the Upside Down House at Tamparuli. It is the first upside down house in Malaysia and has been listed in Malaysia Book of Record.  The house is located right on our route from Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu National Park. The entrance fees were RM10.60 for adult with MyKad, RM19.10 for adult without MyKad, while flat rate of RM5.30 applied for child below 12 years old.

It was an interesting place to visit, but it was not a must. It might not be a place that worth driving a long way to visit, but since we would pass by it, then why not? We reached the house at around 10:45 am, and stayed there for around 1 hour. More information about the house can be found at the Official Website.

We had been to Kinabalu Park and its surrounding area for many times. This time, we would like to share the photos of the places that we had visited.

10:45 am. We reached the Upside-down House. Ample of parking space provided by the management of the Upside Down House (upper left) next to the ticketing counter (upper right). The souvenir shop was comfy, but the items sold was quite expensive (lower right). Was the place a hot tourism spot? We could find the answer by looking at the buses parked in front of the ticketing area.

An upside-down rumah kampung (village house) with a nicely decorated garden. Luckily the coffee shop next to the house was not upside down, or it would be too bad for the coffee served.

Our group photo. The staff there were well-trained photographers. They were friendly and helpful.

Some upside-down mind-blowing scenery around the house. These photos were taken with absolutely zero Photoshop special effect.

Upside-down car park with an upside-down car.

We left the Upside Down House at around 11:30 am, and reached our next stop- Pekan Nabalu one hour later. We took our opportunity to hunt for souvenirs there. Pekan Nabalu was the best place for souvenirs- T-shirts, pants, scarfs, key-chains, wood crafts, hats, caps, etc. The best part was- the price could be bargained. We could get at 20 - 30% off if we bought in bulk. Read more about our experience there on our previous posts.

The condition of the road was good. The area for overtaking were built along the road. The Peak of Mt Kinabalu can be seen from afar.

Pekan Nabalu was still the best place to get our souvenir.

A nice view of Mount Kinabalu from Pekan Nabalu.

We took a 15-minute drive from Pekan Nabalu to Kinabalu National Park. Tickets were required and could be bought at the entrance. With our own car, we could explore more by driving to Timpohon gate- the deepest point reachable by car, some 20 minutes by car from  Liwagu Restaurant and Kinabalu Park Hotel. Timpohon gate is not accessible by big bus, thus not been included in most of the tour packages. We passed by the memorial built for the victims of the earthquake on our way to Timpohon. Several part of the road to Timpohon was narrow, steep, and with sharp corner. But the nice view worth the 20-minute drive from Liwagu Restaurant.

"In memory of eighteen; mountain guides and climbers, who lost their lives on Mt. Kinabalu during the Kinabalu Earthquake at 7:15 am, June 05, 2015", names of the victims follows.

Cooling temperature with lush green environment brought peace in mind.

The observation area at Timpohon was surrounded by clouds. Visitors could bring their snacks, coffee, or tea for an afternoon rest at the observation area.

Tame critters around Timpohon. These squirrels would come very close to humans, hoping to get some peanuts or fruits.

A few stretches of road to Timpohon were steep and narrow.

We took our lunch at Liwagu Restaurant, Kinabalu National Park before we went to our hotel at Ranau. We reached our hotel at around 5 pm. Ranau is a small town with some 21 km away from Kinabalu National Park. We took almost 1 hour to reach there due to the heavy rain.

We stayed in MK Hotel, with only 4 rooms. The hotel was located at the heart of the town, behind the petrol stations beside Ranau-Tamparuli Road. Although the hotel was small, the room was big and comfortable with LCD flat screen, coffee making facility, water heater, air-conditioner, and room service (upper row). A shared balcony with town view was available as well. The owner of the hotel was very friendly and helpful. He recommended nice food around Ranau to us. If you are looking for a place just to stay overnight, this hotel is the best around Ranau.

Ranau is a small town with 100 km away from Kota Kinabalu. It is a town that serves the locals rather than tourists. So we shouldn't expecting top hotels, international franchise fast food and eateries, and shopping malls to be found there. There were a few convenient shops, local banks, a small supermarket, local eateries and food court, to carter our needs. By the way, we found KFC there. The town was not busy at all, day and night. Most of the shops opened till 10 pm. A few eateries operated till mid night.

At night, we tried some food at one local Chinese restaurant not far away from our hotel. There were many local customers there. However, the food was served in small portion with average taste. We personally think that the price was a bit expensive as well. Unsatisfied with the food, we decided to drive a bit further to Ranau Hakka Food Court, as recommended by MK Hotel's owner.

Ranau Hakka Food Court was located at Ranau Tambunan Road, opposite to the hospitals and clinics. It was a distance away from our hotel. Well, we could drive there by ourselves.

Ranau Hakka Food Court was big (upper left) with stalls providing many choices of food. Clay pot noodle (upper right), pork noodle (lower right), and satay were a few types that we tried. All of them tasted good. We took our breakfast the next day at this food court as well. With wide range of choices and fair price, the food court is a good place to get local dishes.

Poring is a beautiful park located at the foot of Mt. Kinabalu. We departed to Poring at around 8:40 am. We drove for 30 minutes to reach there. Poring is well-known for its hot spring and nature beauty. Without much time constraint, we decided to explore the nature beauty of Poring by visiting the butterfly garden and canopy walk. The tickets for butterfly garden and canopy walk could be bought at the entrance. More information about Poring is available in our previous sharing.

With less constraint of time, we visited the butterfly farm at Poring. The farm was just some 3 minutes walk from the bathing area.

We couldn't see much butterflies in the garden, as they released the butterfly to the surrounding environment. The garden was not big. We completed a quick round in about 15 minutes. Frankly, nothing interesting to see in the garden except some knowledge about butterfly.

The entrance to the canopy walkway is around 50 meters away from the butterfly garden.

Some jungle walk was required to reach the canopy walk. The stairs might be challenging physically.

After 10 minutes climbing up the hill, we reached the first station of canopy walk.

Walking on top of the trees was a great experience. The whole trip at the canopy walk took around 30 minutes.

Back to the bathing area, we found a big beautiful swimming pool with entrance fee was built.

 .

Well, if we don't want to pay extra, we can enjoy the hot water from the spring at one of the bath tub prepared. We stayed at Poring until 11:00 am. Bathroom and changing rooms were prepared for us, but we need to bring our own soap, shampoo, and towel.

We took a brief stop at the road-side market at Kundasang, before continued our trip to Kundasang War Memorial.

On our way back to Kota Kinabalu, we stopped at Kundasang to visit the war memorial there. The memorial is dedicated to the the prisoners of 2nd World War who lost their lives in the death marches to Ranau. The entrance of the memorial is located on the foot of the hill beside Kundasang Town (upper left). The memorial consists of several beautiful gardens.

There was an observatory platform on top of the hill. More information about the memorial is available in our previous post.

On the clear day, we can see nice view like this from the observatory platform.

After lunch at KFC, Kundasang, we continued our trip to Desa Farm. It was located around 15 minutes away from Kundasang Town. There was a stretch of steep road in between the farm and the town.

We were really lucky to see the peak of Mt. Kinabalu, every time we visited Desa Farm. The view there was really good. Cooling temperature and strong wind made our stay comfortable. The milk and the ice-cream could be bought from the farm. Must try? Definitely.

We started our descending at around 4:15 pm, and reached our hotel at Kota Kinabalu at 5:30 pm. We travelled during Hari Raya holiday in Malaysia, the traffic however was not heavy. We only used a full tank of petrol, which we filled at the beginning of our trip. The petrol stations are available at the Kundasang and Ranau. We were advised to drive carefully to avoid getting traffic ticket. We need to get the contact in case of emergency or car break down from the car rental company as well.

Drive by our own to Kinabalu Park and the surrounding area? That's a good idea to travel and sight see on our own pace. More about our previous experience in Sabah are available at:

[Kiulu River Rafting] [Nopungguk Homestay Experience, Kota Belut]

[Places to Visit in KK in One Day Trip]

[Kota Kinabalu] [Hotels in Kota Kinabalu] [Food in Kota Kinabalu]

[Shopping in Kota Kinabalu] [Lok Kawi Wildlife Park] 
[Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park]

[All Our Destinations]