Tawau, formerly known as Tawao, is the capital of the Tawau District that belongs to the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Located on the Semporna Peninsula on the state's southeast coast, Tawau borders the Sulu Sea to the east, the Celebes Sea to the south and shares borders with the Northern Kalimantan part of Indonesia. As the third-largest city in Sabah after the bigger towns, capitals and administrative centres such as Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan, it has an area of 55.9 square kilometres and is home to 149,112 residents and while serving a municipality area of 397,673 people in general. The city shies away from the more major cities when it comes to tourism, but its ease of access to beaches and coral reefs near Semporna as well as the proximity to Maliau Basin, which is regarded as "The Lost World", makes it an ideal transit point to drop by.

When it comes to history, Tawau, just like many other areas within Borneo, was once under the control of the Bruneian Empire, which was reigning throughout the 15th century. About two centuries later, control was ceded to the Sultanate of Sulu between the 17th and 18th centuries by the Bruneian Empire, which was meant as a gift for their assistance during the Brunei Civil War. Nautical charts from the year 1857 would show the name Tawao, and there was evidence of settlement being established around the year 1879. As the Dutch began expanding their influence around the region, they began controlling the area north of Tawao. This would later become a subject of dispute with the British to establish the territorial boundaries as the area got placed under the British sphere of influence. The chain of events got kickstarter by Sultanate Sulu selling the southern part of Tawao to an Austro-Hungarian consul. Consequently, Tawao was renamed Tawau, and Alexander R. Dunlop was installed as the first British resident of the Tawau settlement, in which many of the early settlers were immigrants from Bulungan in Kalimantan and Tawi-Tawi who had fled from the Dutch and Spanish rule.

Since its early days, Tawau has developed so much and is now known as a major import-export centre for timber and top cocoa producers in Malaysia and the world. Undoubtedly, Tawau has its own charm that would make it worthwhile when you come over.

For domestic travellers within East Malaysia, it is fairly easy to access Tawau as you have the options to travel via bus or even car if you have your own. If you are coming by car from within East Coast Malaysia, you can opt to be coming in via Jalan Tawau – Keningau from Kota Kinabalu and need to be prepared for an 8-hour journey. If you are coming by bus, you can either come from Kota Kinabalu or Sandakan, as well as other major cities in Sabah. Typically the fares are charged at MYR50 to MYR80.

Nevertheless, it would be best if you always kept in mind to be careful during the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, as there could be travel restrictions being imposed and specific guidelines to adhere which can change from time to time.

Nonetheless, suppose you are an international or domestic traveller coming to Peninsular Malaysia. In that case, Tawau can be accessed by direct flights, specifically from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There is only one main airport in Tawau that typically serves both local and international travellers coming from Kuala Lumpur and other places within Malaysia: Tawau Airport. It is among the main airports in East Malaysia and an important airport that serves as the main gateway to Tawau and other nearby areas such as Kunak and Semporna, which is located about 28 kilometres northeast of the city centre of Tawau. If you are travelling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the best destination airport is typically the Tawau Airport.

Among the handful of airlines operating at this airport include AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and Malindo Air. Some of these airlines may offer nonstop or direct flights to Tawau, but this should not be an issue if you are coming from within Malaysia since most flights should be nonstop and within an hour or two of flying.

Typically, the one-way ticket price from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau would cost anywhere from MYR100 to MYR300 if you choose to book at the Traveloka website using airlines such as AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines. These would typically come with cabin baggage about 7-10 kilograms for economy class. The pricier fare in the same class would also include allowances for 25 kilograms of baggage and a free meal, and in-flight entertainment. Note that prices may increase substantially during festive seasons.

Given the landscape of the city that is close to nature and sea, Tawau has a lot to offer in terms of natural attractions to tourists. Hence there are many things to explore. Surely there are a handful of things to do in the town regardless of whether you are coming as a solo traveller, a family, or a dynamic duo. Following are the recommendations of places you can visit in Tawau and what can you do there while you are visiting the area. It is hoped that the information presented below would suffice for the road and future trips.

Established in 1979 as a water catchment protection area for the town of Tawau, the Tawau Hills National Park is 24 kilometres away from the Tawau city centre. This 279.72 square kilometres park consists of a lowland dipterocarp rainforest surrounded by oil palm and cacao plantations. Here, there are nature trails to waterfalls and hot springs, as well as camping sites and chalets as well as picnic areas even. There are rugged volcanic landscapes that make up the setup of the park too. In addition to that, there is the Gunung Magdalena which is 1,310 meters in height, being the highest point in the park. As such, it is an interesting place for adventure seekers to test their endurance, as well as an amusing place for nature lovers, for it is home to a number of animal and plant species, especially the giant tropical tree species such as the yellow meranti and elephant ear orchid that is typically endemic to Borneo. The ones who would like to hike would need to obtain a permit from Sabah Parks before they proceed to climb.

Also known as Belfry, the Tawau Bell Tower was constructed of wood in 1921, being the oldest structure of its kind in town. The tower is meant to commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918, when Japan was an ally of Great Britain in World War I. Among the main features are a benchmark and a bell that has gone missing. Throughout the year, it got abandoned till near collapse but got restored with funds contributed by the Rotary Club of Tawau in 2006. Currently, it is not open to the public, but one can still view it from afar when they are in the area around Jalan Pos Lama and, as such, can still be appreciated from a distance.

Chocolate lovers would certainly love this place. With Tawau’s status of being the exporter of cocoa, this location certainly plays to that particular strength. Being the only one of its kind in the country, Teck Guan Cocoa Village, without doubt, is the chocolate counterpart to the abundant strawberry farms readily available in highland areas in Peninsular Malaysia and the nearby Kundasang. Upon entering this village that can be found in Quoin Hill, one can find the cocoa processing plant and manufacturing factory, which would give an up-close view of the production process of cocoa from the beans to pod harvesting to the fermentation process that leads to the creation of the unique Hoko flavours. It is open from Monday to Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM and Saturday from 8 AM to 1 PM with the admission fee of a hundred ringgit for five persons with guided tours. Note that advanced booking is necessary to prevent disappointment at the end of the day, and one can also opt to stay for the night or a couple of days here and enjoy the special cocoa lunch and famous Tawau seafood dinner.

Part of the Teck Guan Cocoa Village, the nearby Teck Guan Cocoa Museum is a museum that is focused on the history and production of cocoa. Here, one may look forward to a day trip filled with great insights into the cocoa industry and the relevant history in which part of the tour activity will take the visitors through an audiovisual room to show a short video on cocoa production history and then the display of the cocoa-producing machinery. At the end of the visit, eager museum-goers can also look forward to savouring the chance to buy cocoa products straight from the source. There is certainly a multitude of cocoa products available for purchase, ranging from hot chocolate beverages to chocolate jams. Note that the museum operates differently, opening from Monday to Saturday between 9 AM to 4 PM.

Nearby, there is also Cocoa Cultural Spring that has a 23 meters waterfall which is part of the Balung River that is magnificent insight.

Tawau has handled the pandemic really well with good vaccination rates among its population and swift and effective legislations that listen to science. While it is now much safer to go around compared to the earlier days of the pandemic where the circuit breaker is implemented, we should remember that the virus is still around and can still infect groups with high health risks. As such, it is always a wise move to continue practising 3Ws (Wear, Wash, Warn) and avoiding the 3Cs (Crowded Places, Confined Places, Close Conversations) concept. A high level of hygiene and social distancing must be observed at your best in all situations. Ensure that while we are in the midst of having fun, everyone around us remains safe as well. This is the same for both solo and group travellers. If you are travelling in a group, it is a group responsibility to ensure that everyone is maintaining social distancing and are keeping themselves hygienic at all times.

It is more important than ever to have contact tracing in place for cases in which superspreader events or an outbreak occur at specific areas, then a list of people coming in and going out of the area can be extracted and contacted separately for further actions and health inspections. In Malaysia, the MySejahtera app is the official app commissioned by the government of Malaysia to be used when going around, be it for work or leisure. Many premises would enforce checking in using MySejahtera in addition to temperature scanning and sanitising hands in order to keep track of people movement that will be beneficial to the health and safety officials should the need arise. As such, you should consider having the app installed when going to Tawau, as many premises would require you to record your presence in the app.

There is no need to do quarantine after coming to and going from Tawau since the ease of restrictions from MCO allows vaccinated travellers from around the country and even international travellers to come over to Tawau if they are fully vaccinated. However, you do need to conduct a COVID-19 test using the COVID-19 self-test kit before and after travelling. Prior to travel, if you have done the test and the results are positive, you need to adjust your travel plans to accommodate ten days of quarantine and the subsequent testing to see if you are still infected. If you are tested positive after travelling to Tawau, similarly, you need to self-quarantine at home for ten days. After ten days, you need to get tested again to see if you have recovered.

While the restrictions are eased now, there is no way of telling that things would continue to be this way or will the restrictions be lifted completely or will it get worse and MCO gets implemented again. As we learn more about the development of the pandemic around the world, the variants that emerge, the patterns that surge from areas in the world, guidelines may also change from time to time. As such, it is ever more important than ever to stay alert to the news and be aware of the new guidelines that are in place.