Sandakan weather by month & the best time to visit
🇲🇾 Malaysia · coastal city break · tropical rainforest climate
The best time to visit Sandakan is April — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 65/100), with January and February close behind. Sandakan averages about 2,225 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 29°C / 84°F and roughly 148 mm of rain in April.
Jump to: month-by-month table · sea temperature · nearby alternatives · embed this data
- Sun hours / year
- 2,225
- Sunniest month
- April
- Peak score
- 65/100
- Rain / year
- 2,886 mm
- Midday UV at peak
- 11 (extreme)
- Sea at warmest
- 33°C / 91°F
- Population
- 439k
- Elevation
- 12 m
When is the best time to visit Sandakan?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Sandakan is April, then January and February. The dullest month is January (64/100, 380 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Sandakan?
Sandakan gets a moderate 2,225 hours of sunshine a year. Conditions barely change through the year — only 1 Sunshine Score points separate April from January. It ranks #16 of 34 destinations in Malaysia for annual sunshine, above the national median of 2,210 hours. The year's 2,886 mm of rain spreads fairly evenly across the months, with no pronounced dry season.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV | Sea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64 | 27° / 81°F | 26° / 79°F | 380 mm | 9 | 31° / 88°F |
| February | 64 | 27° / 81°F | 25° / 77°F | 250 mm | 10 | 31° / 88°F |
| March | 64 | 28° / 82°F | 26° / 79°F | 208 mm | 11 | 31° / 88°F |
| April | 65 | 29° / 84°F | 26° / 79°F | 148 mm | 11 | 33° / 91°F |
| May | 64 | 29° / 84°F | 27° / 81°F | 156 mm | 11 | 33° / 91°F |
| June | 64 | 28° / 82°F | 26° / 79°F | 194 mm | 10 | 32° / 90°F |
| July | 64 | 28° / 82°F | 26° / 79°F | 216 mm | 10 | 31° / 88°F |
| August | 64 | 28° / 82°F | 26° / 79°F | 210 mm | 10 | 32° / 90°F |
| September | 64 | 28° / 82°F | 26° / 79°F | 230 mm | 10 | 32° / 90°F |
| October | 64 | 28° / 82°F | 26° / 79°F | 262 mm | 10 | 32° / 90°F |
| November | 64 | 28° / 82°F | 26° / 79°F | 273 mm | 9 | 32° / 90°F |
| December | 64 | 28° / 82°F | 26° / 79°F | 359 mm | 9 | 31° / 88°F |
Sea temperature in Sandakan by month
The sea off Sandakan is warmest in April at around 33°C / 91°F, and coolest in January at 31°C / 88°F. The water sits at a comfortable 21°C or warmer roughly all year round. Month-by-month sea-surface temperatures are in the Sea column of the table above.
See Sandakan on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Tawau Malaysia · 177 km · best in Jan · 2,411 h sun/yr
- Kota Kinabalu Malaysia · 222 km · best in Feb · 2,194 h sun/yr
- Tarakan Indonesia · 292 km · best in Jan · 2,242 h sun/yr
- Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei · 363 km · best in Feb · 2,273 h sun/yr
- Tanjung Redeb - Borneo Island Indonesia · 423 km · best in Aug · 1,997 h sun/yr
- Puerto Princesa Philippines · 434 km · best in Feb · 2,258 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Tomanggong Malaysia · 86 km · 2,225 h sun/yr · best in Apr
- Lahad Datu Malaysia · 101 km · 2,225 h sun/yr · best in Jan
- Kudat Malaysia · 177 km · 2,260 h sun/yr · best in Apr
- Bongao Philippines · 209 km · 2,485 h sun/yr · best in Apr
Put the Sandakan sunshine badge on your site
A compact badge showing Sandakan's sunshine at a glance — free to embed under CC BY 4.0. Paste this wherever you'd like it to appear:
Live preview — this is exactly what your readers see: