Tamu Borneo · a guide to Sabah’s markets

Discover Tamu Across Sabah

Find local markets, explore traditional food, and plan your next visit.

Find a Tamu Explore Traditional Food

Coverage so far

  • 52Markets to exploreListed with sources
  • 21Districts coveredAcross all five divisions
  • 12Mapped locationsPositions from OpenStreetMap
  • 15Traditional-food guidesEach with its sources

Our directory is growing. Not every tamu in Sabah is listed yet.

Start exploring

Featured tamu

Swipe or use the arrows. The images are illustrations — generated artwork, not photographs of each tamu.

Market days

Listed for today

Based on published market days, not confirmed openings.

Checking today’s day in Sabah…

Across the state

Browse by district

Explore all 27 districts on the map, or pick a district with listed tamu below to see which markets run when.

Open the district map
Illustration of vegetables, papayas, pumpkins, pineapples and bananas laid out on mats and tarpaulin, traders seated among them

West Coast Division

Kudat Division

Interior Division

Sandakan Division

Tawau Division

Traditional food

What to look for at a tamu

Each guide names the tamu where a source confirms it — and says so when none does yet.

  • Illustration of tuhau relish: chopped wild ginger stems with chilli and lime, whole stems behindIllustration — generated artwork

    Relish

    Tuhau

    Pungent wild ginger stems, served fresh or as a relish.

    Confirmed at 1 tamu

  • Illustration of bambangan wild mangoes, one cut to show the yellow flesh, with slices in a bowlIllustration — generated artwork

    Fruit

    Bambangan

    Sabah’s sought-after wild mango, eaten fresh or pickled.

    Confirmed at 1 tamu

  • Illustration of domed, crisp-edged fried kuih penjaram on a plateIllustration — generated artwork

    Kuih

    Kuih penjaram

    Saucer-shaped fried cake, a tamu favourite in Kota Belud.

    Confirmed at 1 tamu

  • Illustration of hinava: slices of raw fish cured in lime juice with red chilli, shallot and ginger in a bowlIllustration — generated artwork

    Dish

    Hinava

    Raw fish cured in lime juice with chilli, shallot and ginger.

    No tamu confirmed yet

  • Illustration of bosou, fish fermented with rice, in a glass jar and a small bowlIllustration — generated artwork

    Preserved food

    Bosou

    Fish or meat fermented with rice, salt and pangi fruit.

    Some bosou is made with pork or wild boar

    Confirmed at 1 tamu

  • Illustration of linopot rice parcels wrapped in leaves, one openedIllustration — generated artwork

    Dish

    Linopot

    Rice wrapped tightly in a leaf, sometimes with yam or sweet potato.

    No tamu confirmed yet

  • Illustration of a plate of latok sea grapesIllustration — generated artwork

    Seaweed

    Latok

    Bead-like sea grapes, usually eaten raw.

    No tamu confirmed yet

  • Illustration of a bowl of puffy amplang fish crackersIllustration — generated artwork

    Snack

    Amplang

    Crunchy fish crackers from Sabah’s east coast.

    No tamu confirmed yet

All food guides
Illustration of shoppers carrying woven bags walking between market stalls in the early morning

Before you go

Plan your visit

  • Go early

    Tamu are morning markets; in Keningau traders set up from about 5am. Wikipedia

  • Bring cash

    Most tamu do not take online payments. Sabah Tourism Board

  • Plan parking

    Parking near busy tamu is limited; public transport or a ride-hailing car is easier. Sabah Tourism Board

Read the visit guide

Our method

How listings are checked

Every tamu, market day and food link names its public source — the Sabah Tourism Board, news reports, government cultural records and, clearly labelled, travel blogs and community lists. Map pins use positions mapped on OpenStreetMap; we have not surveyed them on the ground. Anything we could not verify is shown as unknown rather than guessed.

Read how we verify