Visit Tawau

I luoghi più voluto visitare, soggiornare e godere

Tawau is on the south-east coast of Sabah surround by the Sulu Sea in the east, Celebes Sea to the south and shares a border with East Kalimantan (now North Kalimantan). The town is approximately 1,904 kilometres from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur and is 540 kilometres south-east of Kota Kinabalu.The main town area is divided into three sections named Sabindo, Fajar and Tawau Lama (Old Tawau).Sabindo is a plaza, Fajar is a commercial area while Tawau Lama is the original part of Tawau. Almost 70% of the area surrounding Tawau is either high hills or mountainous.

Tawau has a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification. The climate is relatively hot and wet with average shade temperature about 26 °C (79 °F), with 29 °C (84 °F) at noon and falling to around 23 °C (73 °F) at night. The town sees precipitation throughout the year, with a tendency for November, December and January to be the wettest months, while February and March are the driest months. Tawau's mean rainfall varies from 1800 mm to 2500 mm

The Tawau International Cultural Festival is an annual event, first held in 2011, that has been promoted for its potential to attract tourists.[93] The Tawau Bell Tower in the town's park was built by the Japanese in 1921 shortly after World War I to mark the close allied relations between Japan and Great Britain.[12] Other historical attractions include the Japanese War Cemetery, Confrontation Memorial, the Public Service Memorial and the Twin Town Memorial. Tawau is one of the top cocoa production centres in Malaysia. The Teck Guan Cocoa Museum has become one of the important historical attractions for the town since it was founded in the 1970s by Datuk Seri Panglima Hong Teck Guan.[94] Varieties of cocoa products including chocolate jam and hot cocoa beverages are sold in the museum.[95]

Tawau has nearby conservation areas and areas set aside for leisure. The Tawau Hills National Park has picnic areas, a vast camping site, and cabins. It is 24 kilometres (15 miles) from Tawau and is accessible by road.[96] Bukit Gemok (also known as Fat Hill) is an approximately 428-metre (1,404 ft) hill about 11 km (7 mi) from the town. It is part of the 4.45-square-kilometre (1.72 sq mi) Bukit Gemok Forest Reserve, which was declared a forest reserve in 1984.[97][98] Tawau Harbour is used as a transit point to islands near the town including Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai, Mataking, and Indonesian islands including southern Sebatik, Tarakan and Nunukan.

The main shopping area in Tawau is the Eastern Plaza located at Mile 1 on Kuhara Street. It was built in 2005, completed in 2008 and opened in May 2009. The complex has three levels of car parking with 476 covered and 49 surface parking bays.[99][100] Sabindo Plaza was opened in January 1999 and is known as the first shopping centre built in Tawau.[101] There is a market that runs alongside Dunlop Street.[102] The Tawau Tanjung Market was established in 1999. Since then, it has expanded to house 6,000 stalls and is known as the largest indoor market in Malaysia.

The town has a sport complex with badminton, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, and two stadiums for hockey and football. In 2014, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced formation of a National Sports Institute (ISN) in Tawau. It will be the third sports satellite centre in Sabah once completed in 2015. A cross-border sporting event was held in 2014 between the town and Nunukan in Indonesia. It has been proposed to be repeated annually to strengthen ties between the towns.