A short boat journey from Sandakan deposits you on the beach. Short stroll into the chalet which is the restaurant/ office/ gift shop. Accommodation is basic and varies depending on which building you get. But dont have high expecations! Spend the day on the beach. you can hire snorkel, fins and beach mats. You are not allowed on the beach between 6pm and 6am. After dinner everyone watches a movie on the turtles and national park, then broken up into groups. Once they turtles are spotted they call the groups. You only get a few minutes. You may have to wait quite a number of hours. So make sure you bring snacks, drinks and cards. There is next to no service from the staff.

I agree they need to be careful in relation to not disturbing the turtules, but they need to manage the expectations of the tourist. I felt uncomfortable and not welcome. We waited until the very early hours of the morning and only had 3 mins with the turtle in a group of 15.

Overall we did not find the experience enjoyable.

The main reason to visit this island is to see nesting turtles. The package usually involves leaving Sandikan by boat in the morning, having lunch at the centre - the afternoon is at leisure and we hired snorkles and fins, and relaxed on the beach. Beware of the tide going out, the water can get very very shallow above the coral, dont get caught out. Unfortunately for us, the day we went was the day they sprayed/clouded the island against mosquitos, which apparently only happened once a year!, and they did a thorough job!!
After supper, and a video about turtles, it is the wait to be called to see a nesting turtle ("Turtle Time")
We did not have to wait too long.
There is a charge to use cameras in the evening of 10 Ringits, and no flashes are allowed. Videoing is not permitted unless prior permission has been saught.
Next you see the collected eggs placed into their new nest, and then the hatchlings released.
The chalet is basic, but they make no claims that it is otherwise - quite functional.
The next morning you leave before breakfast and have it in the water village in sandakan.
We really enjoyed our visit to the island, and would highly recommend the trip.
It can get very booked up, so it is sensible to book in advance

All previous reviewers mention that the rooms on the island are very basic and the food nothing great. I would fully agree with these sentiments.

But , and this is a very big but , I would rate my night on the island amongst the highlights of my trip to Sabah.

This island itself is very pretty and the reef pretty good for snorkelling. The beach is lovely and because there is nothing else to do there except read and relax , it's very enjoyable.There's also a very convivial atmosphere.

The previous night the first mother turtle did not appear until 11.45 p.m. , so we were warned that the turtle may not appear until after midnight. Luckily our turtle appeared at 9 p.m. and laid 82 eggs. I found the experience of watching her lay her eggs extremely moving and left feeling nothing but admiration for the staff.

The rangers managed the process well , making sure that she was not disturbed and that we all got our turns getting fairy close. Then you are allowed watch while the rangers bury the eggs in the hatchery and release a basket full of hatchlings ....soo sweet.In all 15 turtles visited the island that night and laid 800 eggs !

Despite spending a fantastic 5 days on Kapalia afterwards where I saw dozens of turtles , I would still visit Turtle Island again tomorrow !

We had not booked this trip prior to arriving at Sandakan. We were incorrectly led to believe you could journey to the Island in the afternoon and be bought back to mainland later in the evening. This is not correct so we had to make a very quick decision to visit or not, luckily for us there were rooms available, this is not often the case and if you really want to go do book in advance.
The upside to this was we were tossing up about going or not (as we would lose our 2nd night booking at Hotel Sabah) and the price for the tour went down considerably as we deliberated. It started at 575rm per person and we ended up getting it for 360rm so quite a difference.
Everybody is correct when they say there is not much else to do on the island, the snorkelling is very average so its that or lie on the beach.
However this is an island dedicated to conservation and assisting an endangered species, so we are lucky to even be allowed to visit. The rangers take their job seriously and the viewing of the turtles at nighttime has to be fast and controlled or they will soon be wiped out. You are now not even allowed to handle the baby turtles or even the eggs.
Our family was extremely lucky to be on the beach about 4.30pm when the lifeguard found a wild nest of hatchlings about to be born, we were able to witness the eruption firsthand and even help out the little ones who struggled to get to the water. Then not 10 minutes later another was spotted. We had an 8yr old and 13 yr old and it is something we will never forget.
Yes the accommodation is basic and the food and drinks limited and you can wait for hours to view the turtles, but how many people can actually say they have experienced an event as amazing as this.
Keep up the great work Turtle Island.