Monthly Climate
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Best time to visit Sandakan

January is the best time to visit Sandakan for general sightseeing, with average highs of 28 °C and about 27 wet days.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking January comfort 53/100
A beach holiday January sea 28 °C
The least cloud April 68 % average cloud cover
The least rain April 175 mm
Warmth May 30 °C
Cooler weather January 28 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days Beach
1 January 53 28 °C 27 72
2 February 52 28 °C 24 72
3 December 50 28 °C 29 70
4 March 50 29 °C 23 69
5 November 49 29 °C 29 68
6 October 47 29 °C 29 66
7 April 47 30 °C 23 64
8 July 46 30 °C 26 65
9 September 46 30 °C 27 63
10 August 46 30 °C 26 63
11 June 46 30 °C 25 64
12 May 45 30 °C 28 63

For a beach holiday

January scores highest, with a sea temperature of 28 °C and air temperatures around 28 °C. The sea never reaches 20 °C here.

Month Sea Air Sunshine Beach score
January 28 °C 28 °C 83 % 72
February 28 °C 28 °C 78 % 72
March 29 °C 29 °C 71 % 69
April 30 °C 30 °C 68 % 64
May 30 °C 30 °C 77 % 63
June 30 °C 30 °C 82 % 64
July 30 °C 30 °C 83 % 65
August 30 °C 30 °C 81 % 63
September 30 °C 30 °C 83 % 63
October 30 °C 29 °C 85 % 66
November 29 °C 29 °C 84 % 68
December 29 °C 28 °C 85 % 70

When to think twice

May scores lowest with about 28 wet days and highs near 30 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

Month Avg high Rainfall Cloud
January 27.8 °C 299 mm 83 %
February 28.0 °C 225 mm 78 %
March 28.9 °C 203 mm 71 %
April 29.9 °C 175 mm 68 %
May 30.2 °C 242 mm 77 %
June 30.1 °C 244 mm 82 %
July 30.0 °C 221 mm 83 %
August 30.2 °C 230 mm 81 %
September 30.1 °C 249 mm 83 %
October 29.5 °C 288 mm 85 %
November 28.9 °C 289 mm 84 %
December 28.4 °C 302 mm 85 %

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.