Wildlife, heritage, a night market that disappears by dawn, and a floating village with the freshest seafood in Malaysia.
There’s a city on the east coast of Sabah that most Malaysians have never visited. It doesn’t trend on Instagram. It doesn’t have a coffee shop with a 45-minute queue. What it does have is everything else. Layers of history, some of the best wildlife encounters in Southeast Asia, a floating village where families have lived for generations, and a night market that disappears before sunrise.
That city is Sandakan. And if you’ve been putting off a trip to Sabah, here’s the thing: it’s just under three hours from Kuala Lumpur on a direct AirAsia flight, or 45 minutes from Kota Kinabalu if you’re already in Sabah. There’s really no excuse anymore.
Image Credit: MONO Malaysia
What Makes Sandakan Different from the Rest of Sabah
Most visitors to Sabah head straight to Kota Kinabalu. And while Kota Kinabalu has its draws, Sandakan offers something harder to find: a city where history is still intact, still visible, still felt in the streets. At its peak, Sandakan was known as the Hong Kong of the East, once the most prosperous trading port in Southeast Asia and the world’s largest exporter of tropical hardwood in the 1930s. It had paved streets and a telegraph line to London before Singapore did. After being devastated during World War II, the city was rebuilt, and that resilience is something you feel the moment you arrive.
And now, within the town itself, there’s a new reason to stay longer. Ormond Sandakan is the latest, and long-awaited, hotel addition to the city, sitting right by the sea. Ormond positions itself as a starting point for exploration, but it’s far from just a room to pass through. The spaces are beautifully designed, the views are hard to leave, and with RASA and more in-house dining options coming soon, it’s quickly becoming a destination in its own right.
Image Credit: MONO Malaysia
What surprised us most was how much of Sandakan you can cover simply by stepping outside. Ormond sits right in the heart of town — the sea on one side, a mall, local restaurants, and the night market all within walking distance. We spent four days here and barely needed a car for the city itself. Part of what makes it so walkable is the way the town is built. The shop lots follow the old Hong Kong style, ground floor a shop, second floor a shop, and above that, homes. It’s a streetscape that was designed for people to move through. You end up stumbling into things. A kopitiam tucked behind a shophouse, a signage spot you almost missed, a view down a quiet street that makes you stop.
Image Credit: Ormond Sandakan
THE NIGHT MARKET
One of Sandakan’s most distinctive experiences, while not technically a tourist attraction, but very much one, is its daily night market. Stalls roll in around 9pm, fresh fish, vegetables, and produce brought in from across Sabah. By morning, every last trace of it is gone.
It sounds unremarkable until you’re standing there in the middle of the night, watching fishermen unload their catch as the sky turns pale. And it’s not just the sight of it, it’s the sheer variety. Sharks, rare deep-sea fish, species you wouldn’t find at any other market in Malaysia. Sandakan has no fishing restrictions, which means what comes in each night is as diverse as the waters it comes from.
Image Credit: MONO Malaysia
Sim Sim Water Village: Sandakan’s Floating Neighbourhood
A short drive from the city centre, Sim Sim Water Village is one of the oldest settlements in Sandakan. An entire community built on stilts above the sea. Families here have lived over the water for generations, and the village remains one of the most atmospheric places in all of Sabah.
There are several restaurants to choose from along the village, but we ended up at H90 — one of the largest, sitting right on the corner. What makes eating here different is that you watch the meal arrive before it’s even cooked. Fishermen pull up throughout the day, dropping off small loads of live catch, and locals crowd the edge choosing what they want. Pick yours, tell the kitchen how you’d like it done, and let them take it from there. It’s the kind of meal that doesn’t need a menu or an explanation. Just show up hungry.
Image Credit: Marina Bay Sands
Kinabatangan River: The Best Wildlife Experience in Malaysia
Kinabatangan River is widely regarded as one of the most biodiverse places on earth, and a visit here is one of the best wildlife experiences you can have anywhere in Southeast Asia, let alone Malaysia.
On a single river cruise, it’s possible to spot proboscis monkeys leaping between trees, wild orangutans, and the Borneo pygmy elephant. The world’s smallest elephant subspecies, found only in Sabah. The river moves slowly through lowland forest, and the golden hour here is unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere. We visited on a day trip, but many choose to stay for two days and one night, giving you more time on the water, more chances to spot wildlife, and a sunrise over the river that’s worth the extra night alone.
Image Credit: Marina Bay Sands
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and Sun Bear Conservation Centre
No trip to Sabah is complete without this. Located about 25 kilometres from Sandakan town, Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is one of only a handful of places in the world dedicated to returning orphaned orangutans to the wild. Right next door, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre does the same for the world’s smallest bear. Both are managed with genuine care, and a visit to both in a single morning is entirely doable from Sandakan.
Image Credit: MONO Malaysia
HOW TO GET TO SANDAKAN
AirAsia operates direct flights to Sandakan from Kuala Lumpur, making it one of the more straightforward domestic trips you can plan. The airport is about 30 minutes from the city centre, and from there, everything — the river, the wildlife centres, the floating village, is within reach.
Image Credit: Ormond Sandakan
IS SANDAKAN WORTH VISITING?
The honest answer is yes, but the longer answer is that Sandakan is the kind of place that makes you want to rethink your whole relationship with travel in Malaysia.
Maybe you think Sandakan is just a town. And it is — just a town. No glitter, no gimmick, no aesthetic carefully assembled for the camera. Just old shophouses, a fishing market, a river full of wildlife, and decades of history sitting quietly in the streets. The kind of place that doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is. Turns out, that’s more than enough.
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