Sandown shares the bay with its 'posher' neighbour, Shanklin, together with a sheltered south-eastery aspect and the sunshine record for the south of England.

The towns popularity grew as a resort in company with Shanklin and Ventnor during the mid-Victorian era, particularly after the construction of the railway from Ryde and after 1867 when Dr Henry Maude extolled the virtues of the local air and low mortality rate. Lodging houses grew in their numbers and Sandown can boast that in 1847 four European monarchs stayed.

Sandown pier first opened in 1878 and 1,000 ft (305m) long, having been lenghtened in 1895. The large Pier Pavilion was built at a cost of £26,000 in 1934 and now houses an all year round entertainment complex. The view from the end of the pier is certainly worth a visit!

The esplanade in Sandown is well supplied with bars, cafes, bingo halls and amusement arcades including the Wight City Leisure Complex on the Culver Parade. There is a market on the car park of the White City Complex every Monday during the main season.

At the Yaverland end of the town are long and short, pitch and putt courses (Brown's) plus the famous zoo housed in the Granite Fort. At the northern end of the esplanade are Sandown Grounds, home to a variety of amusements, including putting, tennis and bowls.

Sandown Zoo and Big Cat Sanctuary houses tigers, black panthers, leopards and pumas. There are also many other exotic species such as lemurs, monkeys, reptiles, birds, insects and giant spiders.

In 2001 a brand new all weather purpose built interactive attraction know as Dinosaur Isle opened on the Culver Parade and incorporated the geology museum previously located in Sandown libary. Life size dinosaur models are featured in their natural landscape as well as a display of fossils found on the Isle of Wight.