Yes, you can watch sea turtles nesting in Sabah, and Selingan Island in Turtle Islands Park is the place to do it. Booking an overnight, ranger-led visit through Sabah Parks or a licensed operator is the only way to witness a landing and hatchling release properly. Visits run under strict conservation rules, including no lights or flash photography, so the turtles come ashore undisturbed.
TL;DR:
- Turtle nesting peaks between July and October for green turtles and February to April for hawksbills, but nesting occurs year-round.
- Only Selingan Island offers overnight stays with ranger-led viewing, while Bakkungan Kechil and Gulisan are restricted to research and patrols.
- Landings usually start after sunset and are gentle processes, with eggs relocated immediately to protected hatcheries for incubation.
- Strict conservation rules prohibit lights and flash photography during nesting to prevent disturbing the turtles.
- Book chalets well in advance, pack essentials carefully, and plan for unpredictable sea conditions affecting boat transfers and visibility.
Table of Contents
- Where to watch turtles in Sabah and why Selingan matters
- When is the best time to see turtles nesting in Sabah?
- What happens during a turtle landing and hatchery process?
- Getting to Selingan Island: transfers and logistics
- What are the park rules for turtle watching?
- How does turtle conservation work in the Turtle Islands?
- Packing and practical tips for visiting Selingan
- Ready to book your turtle-watching trip in Sabah?
- Where to check the latest rules and conservation updates
- Sources
- FAQ
Where to watch turtles in Sabah and why Selingan matters
Turtle Islands Park sits roughly 40 kilometres north of Sandakan in the Sulu Sea, and it’s one of the most protected nesting grounds in South East Asia. The park covers three islands: Selingan, Bakkungan Kechil, and Gulisan, all gazetted to safeguard the sea turtles that haul themselves ashore here almost every night of the year.
Two species dominate the beaches. Green turtles are the more frequent visitors, while hawksbills, smaller and more elusive, nest in fewer numbers. Both are protected under Malaysian law, and both are why this stretch of coastline has become one of Sabah’s most significant conservation success stories. Nesting numbers across the park have tripled since the 1970s, with modern monitoring recording more than 20,000 nests annually across the region.
Here’s what sets the three islands apart:
- Selingan is the only island open to overnight visitors, with chalets, a hatchery, and ranger-led viewing sessions every night.
- Bakkungan Kechil operates as a strict research station with no public access, dedicated to scientific monitoring.
- Gulisan is similarly restricted, used mainly for ranger patrols and egg protection work.
If you’re planning turtle watching Sabah style, Selingan is where your itinerary needs to point. It’s the only spot where the public can legally witness a nesting event up close, and the island’s setup, from the hatchery pits to the jetty, exists entirely around that purpose.
When is the best time to see turtles nesting in Sabah?
Turtles nest at Turtle Islands Park throughout the year, so there’s no wrong month to visit. That said, the two protected species peak at different times, which matters if you’re chasing a specific encounter.
Green turtles nest most heavily between July and October, when you’ll find the highest density of landings on any given night. Hawksbills favour February to April instead, arriving in smaller numbers but often on quieter, calmer evenings. Outside these windows, nesting still happens, just less predictably.
Nightly timing: Landings almost always begin after dusk, once the beach has darkened fully. A female turtle typically spends a couple of hours ashore, dragging herself up the sand, digging her nest chamber, laying, then covering the eggs before heading back to the sea.
A few practical notes for choosing your dates:
- Peak months (July to October) mean higher chances of a landing but also busier chalet bookings, so reserve well ahead.
- Calmer sea conditions generally fall between March and September, which makes for a smoother Sandakan crossing.
- Rangers only confirm sightings on the night itself, so no operator can guarantee a landing on any single visit.
Booking two nights rather than one noticeably improves your odds, particularly outside the July to October peak.
What happens during a turtle landing and hatchery process?
A landing follows a set rhythm that rangers have observed extensively. Understanding the sequence helps you know what you’re looking at when it happens in near total darkness, lit only by a dim red-filtered torch.
- A female turtle emerges from the surf and crawls up the beach, often pausing several times to check for safety.
- She selects a nesting site above the tide line and begins digging a body pit, then a deeper egg chamber with her rear flippers.
- She lays her clutch, typically 40 to 80 eggs though clutches can run anywhere from 40 to 200, pausing between each batch.
- Rangers approach quietly once laying is underway, measuring her shell and checking or applying a tag for the research database.
- She covers the chamber with sand, tamps it down, and makes her way back to the sea, usually within one to two hours of coming ashore.
- Rangers collect the eggs immediately afterwards and relocate them to a fenced, predator-proof hatchery pit approximating natural nest depth.
It’s worth knowing that the glistening around a nesting turtle’s eyes isn’t distress. Sabah Parks staff point out that these are salt gland secretions, a normal part of how marine turtles regulate salt, not tears from pain or fear.
Incubation in the hatchery takes several weeks before hatchlings dig themselves free and get released at the shoreline, usually at night to give them the best chance against predatory birds and fish. The scale of this programme is genuinely striking: between 1977 and 1988, Sabah Parks released millions of hatchlings from Selingan. Tagging every newly recorded turtle also feeds a long-term research database tracking growth, distribution, and return rates, which is part of why scientists can say with confidence that nesting has recovered so strongly since the 1970s.
Getting to Selingan Island: transfers and logistics
Every trip to Turtle Islands Park starts in Sandakan. Boats depart from the town jetty, and the crossing to Selingan takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour depending on sea conditions, with most operators running a single afternoon departure to time arrival before dusk.
Day trips exist, but they miss the point entirely. Nesting happens after dark, so anyone leaving before sunset will see the island’s turtle hatchery and museum but not an actual landing. Only Selingan offers overnight chalets within the park, and visitors are required to stay off the beach between sunset and sunrise except when a ranger specifically calls a viewing group down.
A few logistics worth planning around:
- Chalet numbers on Selingan are limited, so book weeks ahead for peak months and at least several days ahead otherwise.
- There are no porters on the island, and the walk from the jetty to the chalets is short but requires you to carry your own bags.
- Luggage storage is available at the mainland jetty in Sandakan if you’re travelling on afterwards and don’t need everything with you.
- Return transfers typically leave the following morning, so you get one full night on the island regardless of how many landings occur.
Pro Tip: Once you’re on the boat to Selingan, that’s it for the day; there’s no popping back to the mainland for a forgotten charger or extra layer. Pack everything you need for the crossing and the night before you board, because return trips depend on sea conditions and aren’t something you can arrange on a whim once you’ve landed.
If you’d rather not manage the jetty timings, boat booking, and chalet reservation yourself, our primer on visiting Turtle Island breaks down what independent travellers commonly get wrong.
What are the park rules for turtle watching?
Sabah Parks enforces a short, non-negotiable list of rules on Selingan, and they exist for one reason: a nervous turtle will abandon her nesting attempt and return to the sea without laying.
- No white light, torches, or flash photography anywhere near the beach during a landing.
- Visitors wait in a holding area until rangers confirm a turtle has begun laying, then move down in small, quiet groups.
- Everyone stays within the ranger-designated viewing zone and follows instructions on distance and movement.
- Phones and cameras must have flash disabled; most guides simply ask you to leave flash-capable settings off entirely.
A bright light near the nesting beach is one of the strongest deterrents for a turtle deciding whether to come ashore at all, which is why rangers cap viewing to a single turtle per group before moving everyone off the sand. It also explains the island’s zero-tolerance stance on illegal egg collection: eggs are valuable on the black market, and every visitor who follows the rules and reports irregular activity supports the enforcement effort that keeps poachers off these beaches.
How does turtle conservation work in the Turtle Islands?
The hatchery on Selingan isn’t just a holding pen for eggs; it’s a piece of applied science. Nest depth is kept close to natural conditions, and pits are shaded to manage sand temperature, because incubation temperature directly influences the sex ratio of hatchlings. Warmer sand tends to produce more females, cooler sand more males, so rangers monitor conditions closely across the season.
Long-term community engagement and hatchery science, including sand-temperature management, are credited by local researchers as central to the park’s recovery and the threefold rise in nesting since the 1970s.
Recent policy has pushed this further. Sabah introduced a 2026 Sea Turtle Action Plan alongside new hatchery SOPs, aimed at tightening scientific management and running a behaviour-change campaign against egg consumption. Enforcement is catching up too: 2025 recorded five wildlife crime cases with 1,716 eggs confiscated, following seizures topping 11,142 eggs in 2023.
Technology is now part of the toolkit as well:
- Satellite tracking is mapping migration routes well beyond the nesting beaches.
- DNA analysis is helping researchers understand population structure and origin.
- A regional “Blue Corridors” approach is being used to link protected feeding grounds with nesting sites, particularly for hawksbills.
Every entry fee paid on Selingan feeds directly into this system, funding the rangers, the hatchery, and the monitoring that makes the tripling in nesting numbers possible in the first place.
Packing and practical tips for visiting Selingan
A night on Selingan is basic by design, and that’s part of the appeal. Facilities are simple, the island has no shops beyond the essentials, and the whole experience is built around waiting quietly in the dark for something extraordinary to happen.
- Pack light, breathable clothing and a light waterproof layer; sea crossings and humid evenings both call for flexibility.
- Bring seasickness tablets if you’re prone to it, since the Sandakan crossing can get choppy outside the calmer months.
- Leave flash photography gear at the chalet; a phone with flash disabled is all you need for a discreet shot once rangers give the go-ahead.
- Secure valuables and anything you won’t need overnight back on the mainland before boarding, rather than carrying it all across.
- Follow ranger distance instructions without negotiation; they’ve done this thousands of times and know exactly how close is safe.
Pro Tip: Bring a small dry bag for your phone and torch. Humidity on the crossing and the beach walk catches out more visitors than actual rain does, and a damp phone with a dead battery is the last thing you want when a turtle finally comes ashore.
Ready to book your turtle-watching trip in Sabah?
Planning a Selingan trip solo means juggling boat schedules, limited chalet availability, and Sabah Parks permits, all while hoping you land on a night with strong nesting activity. Trips through Sabah can be arranged with assistance for transfers from Sandakan, licensed ranger-led overnight stays, and a proper briefing on the conservation rules before you ever step on the beach.
Because we’re also a RAID Dive Centre and not a PADI, many guests pair their turtle-watching night with a snorkelling trip or a full diving course elsewhere in Sabah, turning one bucket-list night into a fuller marine wildlife itinerary, similar to the small-group, conservation-focused wildlife trips offered in Tromsø. If you’d like to extend the trip, our best snorkelling tours in Sabah run well alongside a Turtle Islands visit, and our RAID Open Water diver course in Kota Kinabalu is a popular add-on for first-time divers.
Chalets on Selingan are limited and peak months book out early, so get in touch now to lock in your dates before the season fills.
Where to check the latest rules and conservation updates
For permit conditions and current SOPs, check the official Sabah Parks turtle conservation page directly. The Sabah Tourism Board’s Turtle Islands Park page covers booking channels, and UK travellers should also check government travel advice for Malaysia before departure.
Sources
- Turtle Islands Park | Turtle Conservation – The Official Sabah Parks Website
- Sabah launches three initiatives to boost turtle conservation, sustainable tourism | The Star
- Sea turtle nesting in Sabah’s Turtle Islands triples since 1970s, researcher says | New Straits Times
- Turtle Islands Park – Sabah Tourism Board
FAQ
When is the best time to see turtles nesting in Sabah?
Nesting happens year-round at Turtle Islands Park, but green turtles peak from July to October and hawksbills from February to April.
Where can I see sea turtles in Malaysia?
Selingan Island in Sabah’s Turtle Islands Park is the most reliable place, since it’s the only island with overnight chalets and ranger-led nesting viewing.
Can I visit Turtle Islands Park on a day trip?
You can, but you won’t see a nesting turtle, since landings happen after dark; an overnight stay booked through Sabah Parks or a licensed operator like Borneo Dream Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd is necessary to witness one.
How many eggs does a sea turtle lay in one clutch?
A typical clutch is 40 to 80 eggs, though some clutches contain as many as 200, and eggs incubate in the hatchery for roughly 50 to 60 days.
Why are flash photography and bright lights banned on the beach?
Bright light deters nesting turtles from coming ashore and can cause a female to abandon her attempt, which is why rangers enforce a strict no-light, no-flash policy during viewing.