I am writing this mainly for climbers intending to tackle Damai Sentosa, as information (as of April 2026) is scarce, especially regarding the approach. I will try my best to provide as precise information about the logistics as possible. Given the quality of the granite climbing I decided to write this for MIR so that more climbers can have the confidence to climb it and hopefully help the community ease the route’s access! So here goes: Introducing the crew we have JT, a trail runner/ climber who invited me to this expedition. We also have Chang, another local crusher who has plenty of experience climbing overseas under his belt. He also is just in general a super down to earth and nice guy to talk to. Next we have Tony, a photographer/ climber and quite a superstar in the asian climbing scene. He is always wearing a smile and always seems to be enjoying life to the fullest! Last but not least we have JF, a super strong local climber with a climbing background in the UK where he completed his studies. Super chill dude and has some pretty sick climbing experiences overseas. Together our team of 5 would head to Tioman to experience some jungle-nism/ granite multipitching.
Day 1: Getting to Tioman
We left on the Thursday before Good Friday early in the morning to catch the 11.30am ferry from Mersing to Genting jetty as we could not secure a ferry directly to Mukut Jetty. We drove to Mersing and entered JB around 715am without much of a jam. It took us about slightly over 2 hours to get to Mersing and parked at the Rawa Resort office next to the Ferry Terminal. It cost about 75 rm for secure parking from Thursday to Monday. Each of us carried a big backpack of around 50-60L and a smaller bag of around 20-30L. Being in a larger group meant that we could split our load so some of us were responsible for carrying the stove for the breakfast instant noodles, the trad gear, and the rope/ quickdraws.. After a quick brunch, some grocery shopping for our breakfasts and snacks, we went to take the 2-2.5 hour ferry to Genting. We ate some more at Genting before getting our water supply in 6L bottles, some much needed beer and took a 15-minute boat ride towards Mukut Jetty. From the Jetty it was just a 10 minute walk to our accommodations, Simukut Place which was right smack at the trail head towards the Dragon Horns. Do note that the supplies in this village are available at the local grocery shop (closes at 6pm) and does not sell any form of alcohol. Simukut Place, though basic, had a communal fridge and a kettle in the room for our mission day coffee brews. After arriving we then chilled with some beer, whiskey, had dinner at probably the only eatery on our side of the island (Seaside Cafe) and slowly prepared for the first day of climbing.
For both the accommodations and boat ride from Genting to Mukut jetty, we contacted Din (+60 12-705 2884). The ferry from Mersing to Genting or Mukut can be booked online via Cataferry or Bluewater. Prices go from as cheap as 20RM to 100RM. For a direct ferry, contact Diana from Juara Mutiara Resort (+60 17-751 1504). Schedule changes every month so you can contact Diana for the month that you wanna go for. Example schedule looks like this:
Day 2: Naga 6b
Our warmup route for Damai Sentosa was the famous 8 pitch route named Naga. We woke up at around 4.30am on the morning of Good Friday and immediately started cooking maggi with tuna and some peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. For snacks we prepared peanut butter sandwiches as well (thanks to JF for this recommendation) and bags of nuts and granola bars. The teams were as such: JT and Chang were in team 1 & JF, Tony and I were in team 2. The plan was for Team 1 to route-find and place the gears (draws + trad pro) so that the second team of 3 could make up for the slower climbing. Team 1 brought Chang’s 80m rope and team 2 brought a 60m triple rated rope from the club and a 78m single rope. Team 1 held on to all the communal gear (1 full set from Chang + the club’s (0.5-1), alpine draws and anchor materials). We also had a pair of walkie talkies courtesy of JF. During the hike, Chang, Tony and I carried the ropes and our personal gear while the rest carried water and other extra communal gear. In retrospect I thought the re-partition of gear was quite optimal.
The hike to Naga was rather straightforward. We basically followed the general guidance from the existing online topos. Do note that the original climbing signage at CP7 is no longer there so remember to turn left at the CP7 sign instead of continuing up the nicely manicured path. This path will lead you through some fallen bamboo trees before arriving at the base of the climb with a wooden signage showing “Naga”. No idea why but I wasn’t expecting so much bamboo in a jungle like this. We could see a long bamboo growing on the first pitch and the morning sun was just hitting the south tower. Routefinding was rather straightforward. To save time and have a better experience, we combined pitches 2+3 and 4+5. Team 1 combined 7+8 together. We found that in a multipitch team of 3, 60m double ropes will suffice when doing these 2 combined pitches. HOWEVER, do make sure to bring alpine draws so that the ropes don’t meander too much. You don’t want the second-er to have to unexpectedly simul climb a few meters with the leader before he or she reaches the anchor. Extending your draws will ensure that the rope changes direction as few times as possible allowing for minimal rope required between anchors. One minor inconvenience of this configuration is that the pitch 5 anchor/ belay station is rather small. There is a picture of Ryan in the previous MIR trip report of him belaying on a tree anchor. In this picture, there is an anchor station around the left side of the photographer which is meant for the rappel. Belay on the trees instead as the bolts at the anchor of P5 are mainly for rappelling and would be an uncomfortable belay station. There are many sturdy trees on the right of the station which can be used to build the anchor or hang off from. Team 1 set up their anchor at the base of the trees while the second-er climbed up past the leader to a comfortable ledge to sit while anchored to the tree.
Pitches 6 and 7 were the nicest climbing in my opinion. P6 ends at a small patch of trees and is the only shady part until you reach the summit. This area makes a good lunch spot and provides refuge from the blazing sun. There isn’t a bolted anchor here, but you have plenty of trees to build an anchor from. The rappel anchor bolts can be found on the wall, left of the trees. When rappelling, it is important to aim at your 7-8 o’clock rather than going straight down as you would be too far from P6 anchor and swinging around might risk damaging the rope with the sharp rock surface. We used this lunch ledge to have both teams reunited and consolidate the gears with Team 1. With 3 ropes shared amongst 2 Teams, Team 1 left their 80m rope here, set up for rappel and used Team 2’s 60m rope to climb the remaining 2 pitches.
Pitch 7 is the most sketchy. As per most topos (except for the slightly misleading picture in the Rockerfellas topo showing pitch 7 climbing directly on the sketchy slab), proceed by walking up the right gully through an obvious path between the rock and trees before scrambling up a gully. Aim towards a white-ish short vertical wall (around 1 o’clock) with option to place a cam or 2 before you enter the crux on the face of the wall where the first bolt should be spotted by then. From the first bolt, the route traverses left. The last pitch 8 is also one of the sketchiest as it includes climbing on soil. Wet conditions will be very slippery. (imagine skiing on mud). Team 1 recommends a longer rope (>70m) to combine P7 & P8 together. A 60m rope could barely reach the P8 anchor and an intermediate anchor was used. We coiled up our ropes and left it at P8 anchor and scrambled up another 5m where the ground was flat to unload all our bags and gear, before proceeding to the iconic table rock for the mandatory summit shot. The views were amazing from the top boulder which felt like it was placed there for us. The return is rather straightforward. Make sure to saddle back the rappels if you find it difficult to see where the ropes land. Also I recommend rappelling each pitch at a time. The last thing you want is to get your rope (and knot if using 2 ropes) stuck while pulling 60+m of slack through rough and featured granite. To speed things up, while Team 2 was taking their well deserved summit break, Team 1 took both ropes and set up P8 rap with a 60m rope and P7 rap with the 78m rope, leaving both behind for Team 2 to use. From P6 onwards, each team would pull down their own ropes for rappel until the final rappel.
Route/Gear Beta:
P1: Route goes up, we placed 1 cam before the 2nd bolt as the climbing was a bit balancy. The route then goes left before traversing right and up again. The bolts should be able to be seen from point to point. Recommend skipping the bolt that makes you traverse left. It adds a lot of drag even with extended draws. Skipping the left bolt also leads to easier climbing when moving right.
P2+3: P2 trends rightwards on easy slab before going straight up on chicken heads on P3. Placed a cam in the horizontal crack before moving up on the vertical face. P3 has the longest run out and the bolts are usually out of sight until you are closer. The beta is just to head up directly and after many moments of thinking you may have missed a bolt, a bolt would be manifested. We slung a couple of the chicken heads which were pretty bomber. As the vertical face eases off to a slab, the bolts would disappear again but the anchor should be in sight (but very far). There is a bolt on the left arete but would recommend walking up the slab for lesser drag and easier climbing. Placed 1 small cam and 1 nut along this section.
P4+5: Placed 1 cam at the first crack above the anchor, then it kinda goes left right left right in a straight line before following a crackline up to the p5 anchor. (Refer to pic above for the line)
P6: Route trends around 2o’clock before going up on a bulge before leading back left on an easy slab to the tree anchors. Slung multiple trees on the traverse, another cam at the end of the trees section and placed a cam and a nut before the bulge. Option to sling a rock wedged in the crack for shits and giggles. Watch out as the soil tends to be a bit crumbly.
P7: Walk up on the right towards a shallow gully. We belayed off the last shady spot. Placed 3 cams before the first bolt (where the crux is). Once at the vertical white wall section, the bolts trend leftward. Climb up and right of the bolt before traversing left to easy terrain. Anchor should be spotted quite easily after.
P8: From the anchors, scramble up towards the mud tunnel. Climb tree roots and tree trunks on chossy and loose soil until you reach the final tree anchor. Sling trees for protection. P8 is probably about 30m as we rappelled down with a 60m rope and it was just nice.
Day 3: Rest and Relax and Recce
After our successful warmup, we decided to take a day to chill and recce the approach to the base of Damai Sentosa. We took our time to have a good roti canai breakfast at the jetty and drank some more morning beer. After a slow start to the morning we packed up some more water to be stashed at CP5 for Damai Sentosa. Tony was to stay to explore Mukut while the rest of us went to clean up the approach to Damai Sentosa. Tony went to the nearby Kampung Asah Waterfall as well and was lucky to be the only one there on a Saturday. Meanwhile the rest of us, armed with a small saw JT bought recently, Chang’s machete, Din’s (the host at Simukut Place) machete and shears, we braved the tropical heat, unaware of what we were about to face. The hike to CP5 where we turn left towards Damai Sentosa went by quickly as we were carrying a significantly lighter load. In hindsight I probably should’ve still paced myself. From then on the first half an hour or so was still rather OK and the trail was obvious. At some point there was also a rope barrier to prevent us from going straight and then a fixed nylon line as well. There were many fallen and rotting trees and we had to tread on them carefully. JF used the shears to clear the thinner branches while the rest of us cleared the thicker ones with the saw and machete. We also brought our hiking poles along with us which were a massive life-saver.
Next came a series of gullies that we had to down climb. We took a long time to decide which point to start turning left and descending. We eventually decided to go down this long and really sketchy gulley with really loose soil. There were some parts with few trees to hold on to and you really had to trust your shoes for grip. This was also the part of the approach when I started to ask myself what the heck I was doing. We continued to follow each other’s cues and the crew spread out to find signs of good trails that we could continue on. At this point I was starting to get tired and could not really talk much. It did not help that during the approach we came across these super spiky ferns and palms that literally could rip your skin off. The thin ones were the worst because you can’t really see them as they graze past your body. I call them the devil’s plant and many of us drew blood from them during the approach. We made sure to clear as many of them as possible during the approach.
Then came further misdirection. One of which was turning a little too late to head towards the wall. The second was going too early towards the wall past a boulder field. To be honest I can’t really recall what went wrong but JT and JF placed markers on the right trail so kudos to them. A detailed topo has been created and posted on thecrag.com to show the critical landmarks and GPS traces. The boulder field is quite obvious as the trees become a lot less dense and passage a lot more passable with big boulders around. Once you see this boulder field, you should not be too far off. Continue finding your way left of the boulder field when facing the wall. However, try not to hug the wall as the trail is further down. Upon reaching the base of the climb we spotted 2 fixed lines leading up to the first pitch of Damai Sentosa. All of us were already so exhausted from the long search for Damai Sentosa that we just sat at the base of the climb while JT continued climbing up the fixed lines and then confirmed the condition of p1.
Once we have confirmed the location of Damai Sentosa, we immediately set off to retrace our path. Needless to say JF’s kayaking plans and my waterfall plans were long gone as it was starting to get very late. At this point in time I started to develop migraines and was told by JT that it might be early signs of heat exhaustion. Throughout the rest of the return back to Simukut I spoke little and was trying to conserve my energy. We even got lost again a few times. We also ran out of the tape Din gave us to mark the route and started using JF’s black tape. Fast forward to CP5, I started to quicken my descent in order to dip myself in the sea as soon as possible to cool myself down. I drank so much water and electrolytes that every 15 minutes I had to get up to pee. Thanks to JF’s panadol as well my migraines finally subsided. After a good shower and a short nap, we went for dinner at the usual place and downed some fried rice and chicken chops. We had spent a solid 7.5 hours out in the jungle walking close to 10k just rece-ing the approach and were super cooked, what a day.
Day 4: Damai Sentosa 6c+:
The next day we woke up at 4am to prepare for the big objective. Same drill as Naga, we made instant noodles with eggs, coffee and peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. This time we only brought enough water for the hike to CP5 as we had already stashed some water there. Only Chang, JT and I were climbing as JF had to return back to Singapore for a meeting on Monday, while Tony continued to chill around the coast. JT was to carry most of the gear while Chang and I each carried a rope (60m and 80m). I was still feeling a slight headache from the previous day but decided to carry on with the hike. If my condition worsened I would turn around while Chang and JT continue. Fortunately I felt much better as the day progressed.
As we retraced our steps from the previous day’s recce, we added some more marker tapes that Din gave us. This time we were a lot quicker but somehow we still managed to get slightly lost. After reaching the base of the climb we took a long break before racking up with our sandals for the fixed lines to p1. The climb up the fixed lines required a bit of concentration and bridging especially at the end of the final fixed line. Do make sure that your rope is securely fastened/ backpack coiled to prevent any snagging. The first pitch was really nice tree climbing with plenty of places to sling around the tree for protection. I felt like Tarzan leading this pitch. The pitch ends just above the trees where there is one belay station each before and on the slabby ledge. The one on the slabby ledge offers a more comfortable belay position.
JT led p2 and started the first proper rock lead climb. From p1 belay, he climbed towards the obvious overhead crack and then traversed to the left on the slab above it. From here it gets a little tricky as it seems like we could go to the right. According to the topo we should not go too far left where there is an old bolt that is from another route. JT found a passage above with a nice crack system however it required a tricky slightly overhang crux-y section. After a few failed attempts at this crux-y section he was able to commit and pull through. The rest of the climb tends towards the right on slabby terrain with no bolts at all. Some of the topos used 2-3 placements for this entire pitch but we placed more just to be safe. Whippers while traversing on rough granite could very well shred ropes easily. It was now obvious how some previous climbers got their rope sheath shredded when jumar-ing up on Damai Sentosa. At the anchors you could see the 8a variation on the right with bolts spaced about 1m apart.
P3 was led by Chang. P3 started with some lay-backing on a nice and short crack. You could hand-jam quite nicely but unfortunately it was quite wet at that time so the layback method was preferred. Reaching a nice and obvious slope-y hold on the left and mantle up while bridging the right side of the wall will lead you to a nice standing rest. This is where the crux of the 6c+ pitch begins. Start heading towards the obvious vertical face climb on the left. The face is filled with many slope-y and crimpy pebble-like features where you had to hold them with weird grips. It was very sustained, square and unusual climbing in my opinion. You had to spend time searching for the good pebble holds, and the feet were quite hidden as well. In the end we just aided our way up this section. Nevertheless it was really good climbing but we were starting to feel the accumulated exhaustion from the previous days’ activities.
P4 was the one which I enjoyed the most and also the one I led. It starts with a sketchy left traverse followed by a slab section straight up to the next anchor. The 6c climbing was a lot more enjoyable than the previous pitch because I could recover much better in between moves on the slab even with shitty holds. I managed to only aid the first half or so route and lead properly the rest. The moves were very engaging, especially on the slab because of how runout the bolts were and the potential to shred your rope on the textured granite. Moreover the pebble-like features on the wall collected dirt and it was sketchy to place my feet on them. In fact those holds that collect dirt were actually good and positive footholds but it was just terrifying to trust them. Managing rope drag by knowing when to extend the alpine draws was also quite important and eased the climbing slightly. At the end of p4 I was greeted with a wide and comfortable belay station.
After completing p4 we decided it was time to bail as it was getting late. We were quite exhausted and happy to have climbed this far and to have experienced such nice climbing. The views were also much better than on Naga as we had unblocked views of the horizon. We were also fortunate enough to have some rain clouds graze past the other side of the island and to have shade on the majority of the climb. To come back down from p4, we had to traverse about 10m to the left to get to the rappel station. Rappelling from where we were might be too far to the right of p3 anchors.
The second rappel combined p2+p3 that brought us straight to the top of the trees at p1 anchors. After realising that we could combine pitches, we set up a 60m fixed line for Chang to get to p1 anchors before combining the original 80m rope with the fixed line for a longer rappel. The last p1 rappel brought us back down all the way to the base of the wall, past the fixed lines. A single 40m rappel using our 80m rope was just nice. Despite the last rappel going through thick foliage we managed to retrieve our rope safely by having the last climber retrieve the rope directly below the descent line from the halfway section of the fixed ropesIf using two ropes for the rappel, I suggest doing the last rappel in sections as there is a high chance for the knot to get caught in the branches.
Route/Gear Beta:
P1: Go straight up the obvious tree while slinging alpine draws around the tree trunk. Upon reaching the top of the tree, you will see a belay station on the wall face. Attach a quickdraw to climb past and over it to find a better belay station with a more comfortable stance. 1 titanium bolt and 1 expansion bolt.
P2: The first 3 bolts are obvious from the anchors, the route first veers 11o’clock from the anchors before becoming a leftward traverse under the overhang to the 3rd bolt. 1-2 cams can be placed between the 2nd and 3rd bolt in the obvious crack system.. The main crux is getting past the overhang bulge with long reach-y moves on small holds to a juggy layback crack system above the 3rd bolt (the last bolt of P2). Head vertically upwards through the crack system with plenty of good placement with bigger cams (#2-3) with a good no hands stance at the exit. From here, the anchor should be in sight at the 2o’clock position. Hug the wall and trend rightwards on the slabby section until you reach the anchors. There should be many placements for smaller cams and nuts and even possible to sling some rock features. The last section is a very delicate feet only slab with no protection to the anchors. The anchor station is made of 1 titanium bolt and 1 expansion bolt. The bolts of P3 should be seen directly above the anchors with the very closely bolted 8a variation on the right..
P3: Starts with around 4m of crack. The crack is overgrown with foliage. After pulling out the foliage it becomes a thin layback crack with little opportunity for any jams. A cam was placed before the 2nd bolt for security as there is a chance that the leader would fall on the belayer before the 2nd bolt. We generally utilized the right side of the wall to bridge our way up before pressing up and stepping on the obvious good chicken headhold on the left face. Depending on the amount of slack in the system, the seconder may have to prusik up the rope or get lowered back to the anchor if you fall. From here traverse left towards the obvious white face with 3 bolts. Climb on small chicken heads sprayed across the face. Delicate and committing climbing with nice jugs on the top left at the end of the face climb. Once above the face, the route continues rightwards. We opted to stick to the ramp on the left for easier climbing to the anchors.
P4: No cams needed. Climb rightwards with runout bolts on more chicken heads. Delicate climbing with good feet on dirty chicken heads. At some point go straight up a slab. Careful attention needed to spot bolts with further runout of about 5 meters. Upon reaching the slab, climbing gets easier but still quite engaging. Reach a nice and wide belay station with 2 expansion bolts.
Descent: From the top of P4, traverse 10m left to another visible belay station. Rappel to P3 anchors to the left. From P3 anchors, make a long rappel of 60m to P1 anchors. We used the 80m rope to make a 40m rappel for the last pitch which brought us past the fixed lines and back to the ground. Rappelling off one rope means less chance for knots to get stuck in the foliage.
After getting back to ground safely, we inhaled our last liter of water in JT’s bag and the rest of our snacks and peanut butter sandwiches before heading back. We thanked our past selves for all the markers put up that led us back to CP5. During the return Chang’s and my headlamp ran out of battery but luckily we borough spares. Though somehow my spare ran out as well after CP5 but from then on it was simple hiking already so I just used my phone. Coming back we asked Tony to help us get dinner as it was already quite late and we were all exhausted. Fast forward to the end of the hike, we were greeted by clear skies full of stars, and a glorious fried rice with omelette thanks to Tony.
Looking back, the actual climbing on Damai Sentosa was actually really good. It kinda reminded me of Chamonix with big blocks of textured granite with runouts. The wall was facing west enough that the first few pitches received good shade. The only issue was the approach though I guess if you enjoy a little jungle alpinism it might suit you. On the map the distance looked short but the constant up and downhill, unstable ground and scrambling made it really tiring. A few days later we found out that another group of 3 climbers from the Philippines attempted it and they took 5 hours for the approach and climbed till the 4th pitch as well. Doing this multi-pitch will require some much needed planning. In our opinion, to give yourself the best chance of an ascent, a recce hike is necessary to 1. Familiarise the approach and 2. Stash water or gear. We will definitely come back again to repeat Damai Sentosa and I hope that more people will hop on it too. Kudos to the people who established the route (David Kaszlikowski, Stephanie Bodet, Yong Liu, Arnaud Petit & Tam Khairudin Haja).
Day 5: Rest & Relax
After packing up slowly in the morning, we went to eat breakfast at the jetty and waited for our ferry directly back to Mersing. It was pouring in the morning and looking back up at Dragon Horns it was covered in clouds. We were quite lucky to have caught the perfect weather window as the next week forecasted to have a lot of rain. After the ferry back we drove to JB to have a late lunch at a noodle place. Next we went for a sports massage and then a car wash and lastly a burger place near the checkpoint. We arrived back in Singapore safely and dropped everyone, just in time for the last few trains. Everything in this trip went very smoothly and I couldn’t be happier about the trip.
Big thanks to the crew for making this trip happen and for all the conversations we had. To anyone planning to climb Damai Sentosa, I hope you find this trip report useful, stay safe and have fun!
– Qi Yang (edited by JT)
Topos for Naga:
- Thecrag
- Rockerfellas
- Previous MIR trip report
Topos for Damai Sentosa:
- Headlampsandclusterfuck
- Planetmountain
- Verticalpirate
- Thecrag (created a link to a shared drive containing GPS traces and a detailed approach topo)
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