The 11 best churches in Sandakan

A beautiful local church with a fascinating and heartbreaking Australian history connected to the Sandakan prisoner of war camp from WWII.

Beautiful and historic church. The architecture is well maintained, and it still operates with weekly prayer services.

This Anglican church is the first and oldest stone church in the State of Sabah, completed build in 1925. The church is located on a hill, so walking up can be quite tiring for some. Entry fee is Rm5 and can see the interior with the supervision of the church assistant. Great architecture and design evoking Christian spirituality. It is part of the Sandakan Heritage Trail.

Beautiful majestic looking church. It was well maintained and clean. It just felt nice looking at all, I didn't manage to head in because I went there on a friday. I still enjoyed viewing the exterior of the building

Joined their Sunday English service at 7.15am. The congregation is welcoming and the worship is a mix of modern and traditional. The setting is very beautiful and God's presence and peace is real.

This is the oldest Anglican church and is charmingly built of stone. When we visited on Sunday around 1 pm, we had to wait for services to finish. There is a restaurant (closed that day), as well as a bookshop where you pay for tickets. The sum was a nominal entry fee per person, and goes to help fund church activities. There are toilets near the bookshop, but do note the ladies did not have running water when we visited. Well worth a short visit.

Just a church with very long time history, especially have translucent glass, its looks very beautiful in the sunlight.

One of the landmarks included in the Sandakan Heritage Trail, Agnes Keith’s House can be located on top of a small hill and is the next stop after finishing the 100 Steps trail. It’s an easy hike surrounded by trees and sounds of nature which can be a great walk granted that there is also a nice weather. The house itself if beautiful. It is well-maintained and does represent a point in time where the lifestyle and architecture were different compared to the modern design of houses today. There’s definitely an appeal to it and especially with its beautiful garden, I wouldn’t mind living in this one.

This residentisl house is a must to visit, it’s very clean, well preserved and supercool temp with airconditioning. Guests are requested to takeoff shoes when visiting . Its display is very well organized, not too informative. Minimal exhibition but a lot of knowledge is learned from the life of owners, pictures and their daily furniture. Outside garddn is very well maintained, it’s very worthy F or admission fee for 15 MYR (nonmalaysian)

Out of curiosity we went to the destination without expecting much , but to our surprise, we did enjoy the visit. Love the life story of Agnes, a writer since young . Though she only been in sabah for a few years, yet she love this land so much & written a book about it . Thanks for preserving the history & the building .

One of the places to visit on the City Tour. The reconstruction of the house, destroyed in the war is well done and good to preserve the history. Not a huge amount to see but the story of this family is incredible. The books should be good to read, now been to Borneo, Sandakan and Agnes's house

A NOSTALGIA THAT'S WORTH VISITING. ANYONE WHO IS A HISTORY BUFF SHOULD BE VISITING THIS HISTORIC PLACE THAT SHOWCASES THE JOURNEY OF THE FAMILY WHO I BELIEVE BROUGHT UP THE SANDAKAN AS IT IS. A STORY OF HOPE, DETERMINATION, SACRIFICE AND LOVE. DON'T FORGET TO SIT AND WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY VIDEO THAT THEY PLAY THERE. A MEMORABLE VISIT.

At first, I just wanted to come and experience the experience of enjoying an English afternoon tea like many friends who always share photos of themselves enjoying their English afternoon tea at Agnes Keith House. We arrived at the restaurant and were greeted by a calm atmosphere, surrounded by a veranda on a hill full of beautiful greenery. We chose afternoon tea for a set of 4 people, hot tea with several types of cakes and muffins complete with butter and jam, while enjoying the evening breeze around Agnes Keith's House, the atmosphere is truly unique. You will definitely feel it if you are at this restaurant. While we were at the restaurant for about an hour, we were also treated to nostalgic songs, probably Agnes Keith's family's favorite songs. If you ask me the price, you will be surprised.. I really didn't expect the price to be very, very reasonable.. After afternoon tea, we visited the Agnes Keith House museum which is just a few meters from the restaurant. An old house in the style of a Malay house.. a house with floors and wooden walls, but all the furniture was modern for that era. Oh yes.. a ticket is charged to enter this museum.. Our visit here really gave us a special experience.. as a Sabahan I feel lucky to be left with historical material like this..

I like the exterior of this house. However I was a bit uncomfortable when I was inside the house probably it was very quiet on a weekday morning.

Temporarily closed, i dont know what the reason. Located near Padang perbandaran and Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan (Sandakan Municipal Council). Also there is William Pryer and Sandakan Liberation Monument in the front of this building.

This museum has been permanently closed. I asked a government staff working in office upstair, she said the items have been moved to Agnes Keith's House.

The building is quite old and is hot n warm inside. Better dont drive to there as there are no parking. We make few rounds n still not manage to find any parking. So sad. At the end, we have to park at another place n climb some stair cases to reach there.

A little museum for Sandakan urbanisation record.

Several rooms closed but what you see is interesting and all relative to Sandakan. It's all from 20th century so not ancient history! Reconstructed houses and houseboat were really good.

This museum is just okay and I'm a fan of local museums. I was walking the Sandakan Heritage Trail and saw the museum across from the William Pryer Monument. Since it was just past noon, I thought I'd cool off inside. Only two rooms were air-conditioned. Most of the displays were old, grainy, black-and-white photos someone could publish in a book. No refreshments available and no gift shop. The Ministry of Tourism in Sabah, Datuk Christine Liew, needs to get better cooperation from the local businesses to promote this museum through much needed improvements. I found the traditional house models and the traditional musical instruments the most interesting exhibits. I suggest the show some clips from the movies the Martin's made in the twenties and thirties. They might even try selling copies of them on DVD.

Went there at 4.30pm today but already close. Saw thier staff waiting to go home at the staircase but no body care to inform us that the museum closes early than the actual time.

Beautiful Chinese temple in Sandakan

As TeoChew descedants like me, I felt my ancestors’ protection when praying for wealth, health, and fortune at this temple. Outside decoration looks new but the interior is original. It’s just at the sandakan sport playground.

Over approx.150 years old , very nice place to visit and to do prayers or offering.

Heritage of Sandakan. 150 years old.

Temple of the Three Saints is listed as Sam Sing Kung Temple in the Sandakan Heritage Trail. It is a Chinese temple, and faces the municipal field of Sandakan. The name "Sam Sing Kung" means "three saints temple", and refers to Kwan Woon Cheung, the saint of righteousness, the goddess Tin Hou, a deity worshipped by fishermen, and Emperor Min Cheong, a patron deity of students, worshipped for good examination results. The Sam Sing Kung Temple was built by the four main Chinese communities in Sandakan, namely the Hakka, Cantonese, Hainanese and Teochew. It was completed in 1887, making it the oldest structure still standing in Sandakan.

Opening hours 7am-3?pm. Closed when we were there

A nice little temple along the heritage trail. It's fairly small and it isn't super flashy, but it's got a lot of history and the interior is very interesting to see.

Exploring the Sandakan Heritage Trail was unplanned but was pleasant experience during our trip to this small city. We stayed in the area a day before our scheduled trip to the Kinabantangan River and had a day and enough to enjoy what the place has to offer for us. After a filling breakfast from our hotel, we went on a morning walk to which we encountered the map of the heritage trail. It has about 11 landmarks that you can visit on foot travelling from one side of Sandakan to the other. It was an interesting and enriching journey where we got to see interesting sights but also learn about the past and present of Sandakan. Although some places were left in less than ideal state, the trail still has its significance for locals and tourists alike. I hope that the heritage trail get more care and attention as history has always been an important aspect of our lives.

Nice & relaxing walk through the city to get some interesting information about the city & its history. You can do it by yourself, it‘s free and the directions with the infoboards & footsteps on the floor are good.

It is good walk on sunny morning. This sandakan heritage just next to william monument /wisma warisan. Follow the sign to Agnes & keith house (after the tea house) on left , while to chinese cemetery (to sandakan massacre memorial) on right.

Sandakan on the whole is not a pleasant place to visit. It's dirty, quite poor and has been left behind by the government. True there are a few interesting and historic buildings/places to see but this poor town needs much investment and improvements by the government. The people here have been badly let down 😭

It's a nice trail, but in some places you are forced to walk on the road. The stairs are chill and quiet path to reach the tea house and the house of Agnes Keith.

it begins the Sandakan Masjid , near the Sandakan hotel. it's pleasant from street walking on flat terrain along the signs of "feet " on the footpath. it should allow at least 2 hours to complete all lists and looking ,visit and enjoy the story telling .it's quite hot along the day sunlight, please bring umbrella, sunscreen, and bottle of drinking water. However, the historical attractions and buildings are very interesting , cleanliness of the surroundings should upgrade this activity to be highlight.

A heritage walk that traced the founding of Sandakan, its diverse ethnic groups and religions and the important events such Japanese Occupation to its present day. It would be good if there were more signages along the way to guide visitors. The inscription at the places of interest were too brief. Lastly, as the prides of Sandakan, the cleanliness and its upkeep can be improved upon.

Its an interesting place to visit, seeing how others live. Some houses are quite ornate while others look close to falling into the sea. Its not a ticketed place. We didn't go there but the seafood restaurant nearby is meant to be good

What should I say…? I am sad about how sandakan changed after Covid. Last time I was there, everything was growing and clean. This is an example how dritte the water got over the years. The smell is really bad there. Even so, many locals are still so friendly, I wish this place in total would change again. In the small city of sandakan was once a nice hotel and the mall was way safer and bigger. The coast was cleaner. Sad, but I hope the future will change ist again.

It's worth a visit, however having a guide to actually explain the history and how the village works adds to just seeing houses on stilts in the sea.

The whole place is a mess. Someone needs to get a plan together and arrange a huge pick up of all the tons of rubbish lying underneath and around the village! What are we doing to our waterways and planet!!!

Do not bother to come to SIMSIM Water Village, the villagers doesn’t bother to trash the sea. Literally felt like walking into Slump Dog Millionaire movie set, and just saw a Malay man just throw a huge old half round table into the sea. Confronted them, their answer it’s a trash. Food isn’t that great either. Sandakan government, you guys need to educate the people and clean up the trash man. It’s sickening.

Dirty with plenty of rubbish especially low tides. The locals advised us to be careful when having our food there. Cleanliness and hygiene issues. Bought bananas from the aunty. Asked her where can I throw the banana skin, she replied can just throw down there. OMG

Interesting culturally but it would help with cleanup.

Ornate, colourful temple typical of Buddhist temples. The prayer hall in large with three impressive gold Buddhas. View from outside, over the Sandakan bay is scenic.

Date: Aug 2025 No ticket required for the visit. You may donate to the temple at your own desire.

What a beautiful temple. The colours and the quiet rooms just to wonder around.

Some times the gaudiness of the statues abd imagery makes it almost seem fake. But there is great wealth of faith and service evident everywhere. Definitely worth seeing and the views are fantastic too

Interesting Buddhist temple, made more sense with info from our guide, Edwin. Great view over Sandakan's southern aspect.

Best city view at Sandakan, and windy environment really boost the mood 😍

What a treat to see such a beautiful temple that has a fantastic view. There are so many religious Buddha symbols and shrines to marvel at and the people there are very friendly. I suggest you spend at least an hour there to take in the culture of this amazing temple

SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!

(Translated by Google) It seemed like people were visiting regularly. Let’s join hands🙏 (Original) 定期的に人が訪れているようだった。 合掌🙏

(Translated by Google) About 3 minutes walk from the parking lot🅿️🚶‍♀️, the cemetery is located on a hill overlooking the central market of Sandakan, and is it well maintained? The grass was mowed neatly. 🙏Place your palms together (Original) 駐車場🅿️から3分程歩く🚶‍♀️、墓地はサンダカンの中央市場を見渡せる高台に位置して綺麗は管理されてるのか？綺麗に草刈りもしてあった。🙏合掌

(Translated by Google) Continuing along the paved road of the well-maintained Chinese cemetery, there is a signboard for the entrance. If you go up the stone steps, you will find the cemetery on the hillside overlooking the sea. (Original) 綺麗に整備された中国人墓地の舗装道路をさらに進むと入口の看板がある。石段を上ると、海が見える丘の斜面に墓地があります。

A good point in city to begin heritage trail

The Church is beautiful and big. If you're traveling to Sandakan and want to attend mass, the BM mass starts at 9.15am after Rosary.

Its my first time to come here to attend my cousin wedding and this church looks so beautiful and calm. I love the environment and definitely I will come again.

Pre war water resevoir, Japanese bunker, Japanese turrets, Pitcher plants, pristine forest, beautiful Pelawan trees, great view of the bay, etc

Having our first priority going to church on Sunday nice to visit and reflection

Not a very modern church, nor a very old one.

I had a great experiences here and lots of breathtaking scenery😇😍 #stmarycathedral #sandakan

Historical Beautiful Graceful place of worship. First time attending Christmas Services here. Friendly smiley congregation. But, the homily sermon for For Christmas day could have been better for the occasion.