Tawau
Tawau is the capital of the Tawau District in Sabah, Malaysia.
It is the third-largest city in Sabah, after Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. It is located on the Semporna Peninsula in the southeast coast of the state in the administrative centre of Tawau Division, which is bordered by the Sulu Sea to the east, the Celebes Sea to the south at Cowie Bay and shares a border with North Kalimantan, Indonesia. The town had an estimated population as of 2010, of 113,809, while the whole municipality area had a population of 397,673. The municipal area had a population of 372,615 at the 2020 Census.
Getting to Tawau
- 01Tawau International Airport
Things to do
Within the region of Tawau, tourists can also dive from the islands of Roach Reefs or take an hour drive to Semporna to dive at popular destinations like Mataking, Mabul, Pompong, Kapalai and the Great Sipadan - The only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising about 5000 feet above seabed. Popular dive shops and agents in Tawau includes: Aquatastic, info@aquatastic.net.
Where to eat
Sabindo Hawker Center offers a variety of seafood stalls at Sabindo centre. From Chinese, Malay and Thai tom yum seafood stall, it is just located along the waterfront in town. The stalls offer very competitive prices for the selective catch of the day. Makanan Laut 101 serves excellent crab and shellfishes with vegetables at incredibly low prices. At night, numerous stalls set up around the town.
Getting around Tawau the local way
- Get inThe only ferry connection is to the Indonesian city of Nunukan in North Kalimantan province.
- Go nextNunukan - an island in North Kalimantan, Indonesia, is just one an hour away by ferry.
- Go nextAs of 2023, no direct ferry connection exists anymore, you have to go to Nunukan first.
From Wikivoyage: Tawau, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-03.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.