By plane
Tawau International Airport IATA: TWU, ICAO: WBKW is the second international airport of Sabah. There are flights from Kuala Lumpur 2 hr 45 min, daily, and Kota Kinabalu 45 min, daily on Malaysia Airlines (http://www.malaysiaairlin...) and AirAsia (http://www.airasia.com). In addition, there are also flights from Sandakan 40 min, daily on MASwings (http://www.maswings.com.my). The airport is about 33 km away from the town. There are ATMs and a currency exchange at the airport but if you're arriving late, it'll almost certainly be closed and the ATMs do not always work, so make sure you've got some Malaysian ringgit before you arrive as you'll need it for the taxi or the bus.
The sole international flight into the airport is operated by AirAsia to/from Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, and Singapore . This service, however, has been discontinued by AirAsia since March 2010.
Getting there/away: Airport taxis are available and charge RM45 for one way trip into town. There is also an airport bus service operated by Kasah Transport S Sdn. Bhd. Tel: +6089-950208 to the city for RM10. The departure times of the airport bus from the city to the airport are as follows: 5:40AM, 8AM, 8:30AM, 10:30AM, 1PM, 2:30PM and 5PM.
By bus
There are daily buses from Kota Kinabalu's North City Bus Station, but it's a long nine-hour journey. There are half a dozen companies and the fare is RM55.50. Tel: +6013 879 7779
There are also bus from Lahad Datu, 2.5 hours away. Departure at 3:30PM, RM15.
By ship
The main ferry connections are to the Indonesian cities of Nunukan and Tarakan, both in East Kalimantan province.
To/from Nunukan: Two departures daily from Tawau, Tawindo Express, Labuan Express, at 10 AM and 3 PM. From Nunukan, departures are at 9AM and 2PM. Tickets cost RM41 one-way and journey time is 1 hour.
To/from Tarakan: One departure daily except on Sunday from Tawau. Tawindo Express sails every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11.30am, while Indomaya Express departs every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 10.30am. Tickets cost RM140 one-way and travelling time is 3 hours.