Review Author: Zhou Xue &Wing

Review Date: 17 Apr 2026

Review Body: Our first stay at the Pine resort is wonderful, i would like to bring my parents come to this place again! Though the hiking is a bit rough, we still made it to the summit. Kudos for Seek Sophie to arrange a really patient and professional mountain guide for us, without him (His name is Jiro!) we probably cannot reach the summit and to see the splendid view of Mt.kinabalu. For the stay at the mountain, it's really clean and cozy, as a hiking dormitory, they even have the warm water for showering(if you are lucky enough). we also joined the short walk the torq, amazing view at the steepy rock wall with reliable equipment to make sure you are safe. For beginner climbers, i think doing some jogging exercise twice a week for at least one month before the hiking will really make some difference, you will feel much better at the journey to 4092.5 summit, it will reduce the chance of altitude sickness also. Personally, i didn't do the jog that often so i was a bit nausea and feel light headed due to my heart beat too fast on the way to the top.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Richard Selby

Review Date: 07 Aug 2025

Review Body: I booked a 3 day 2 night trip for 4 people on Mt Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Seek Sophie were perfect. Their friendly driver met us at the airport, unbothered by the flight delay. I was expecting to be consolidated with other people arriving but we had the minibus and driver all to ourselves, also on return trip to town. This meant we could stop off on request for snacks. All handovers to other parties - hotel, mountain lodge, mountain guide, Via Ferrata, were flawless. The first night hotel, Pine Resort, was a great way of settling in before the 6 hr hike to the mountain refuge. Recommend stay here rather than start super early from Kota Kinabalu which is 2 hr 15 mins away. Extra hours sleep are what you need. We booked the extra Via Ferrata activity near the summit. In the end, only 2 out of 4 of us did it. The lazy ones decided the extra 2 hrs rest meant more to us, and went back to rest in Pendant Hut refuge. The energetic ones hung off iron ropes and loved it.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Richard Wood

Review Date: 23 Jun 2024

Review Body: We had a wonderful time. Olivia truly is as wonderful as everyone states in the reviews. We went for the 2D1N trek with an extra night near the mountain before. Olivia picked us up from Kota Kinabalu and drove us back again with their driver. Our guide Ajit was great. Olivia sorted out the porter and all the matters we needed. The fact you get a very speedy reply on a WhatsApp just makes a world of difference when you’re a little unsure about a trek. 5 star service for a similar price to all the other hikes. Thank you! Highly highly recommend.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Emily

Review Date: 23 Jul 2023

Review Body: Incredible couple of days! The entire trip was organised really well. The entire experience was seamlessly run and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Unfortunately because of the weather we were unable to do the via ferrata but we did get to summit. If I could give anyone any advice for the trip it would be to pack more clothes than you think you’ll need because it got very cold and very wet and we were quite unprepared (our own fault). We had an excellent time though and would definitely recommend.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Lauren

Review Date: 12 Jul 2026

Review Body: Excellent trip - great communication from Olivia during the planning, well organised from start to finish. All drivers/guides/hosts were lovely, and we were fortunate to have a bus/tour guide exclusive to our group of three. Accomodation at Kinabalu Pine Resort and Pendant Hut was good. Would recommend! Be prepared - it’s a tough climb!!

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Matt drury

Review Date: 22 Jul 2024

Review Body: Local fixers were solid. All the rooms / cars clean and people were friendly / knew what they were doing. The Seek Sophie website was good at breaking down the trip and helping me understand what was required. Would book again !

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Bikash Pathak

Review Date: 17 Feb 2024

Review Body: I did Mount Kinabalu with Seek Sophie and would highly recommend them. Olivia, my main point of contact was fantastic. She genuinely cares and is personally invested in making sure everything is as smooth as possible.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Nick

Review Date: 26 Apr 2025

Review Body: Everything was well organised and I was very well looked after. From airport pick up to drop off and meals in between everyone was friendly and helpful. The guide was knowledable and was able to go at my own pace.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Marco

Review Date: 11 Apr 2024

Review Body: Amazing service. Olivia was fantastic, clear and super reactive. Slightly better communication about cut off times might have been appreciated

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Chris

Review Date: 16 Apr 2025

Review Body: The experience was seamless from driver pickup, to meeting your guide, settling into accommodation and induction to the chosen activities

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Felix

Review Date: 07 Oct 2023

Review Body: Knowledgeable and friendly guide. Overall impressive experience.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Tom

Review Date: 08 May 2024

Review Body: Wonderful time. Everything was as promised! Thanks

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Cecilia

Review Date: 25 Jun 2024

Review Body: the hike was an once-in-a-lifetime experience - everyone should do it at least one - it's totally worth it. we were lucky to have a good weather on our way up, the summit hike was tough, and the view was beautiful at the top the downhill journey was wet / rainy /slippery- which makes it very quite tiring Advise: climatise at 1800m level for 1 day before starting the hike, it's worth considering Altitude sickness prophylaxis (Acetazolamide) before your hike.

Review rating: 4

Review Author: EL

Review Date: 15 Aug 2026

Review Body: Make sure the transport comes on time. And information is provided to you before hand not last minute asking for passport details. Entire trip was rushed. Don’t bother buying Ferrata route if you want to see the sunrise and spend time taking photos, you can’t make it on time.

Review rating: 2

Review Author: Celina Schmidt-Petersen

Review Date: 09 Apr 2026

Review Body: Our hike up Mount Kinabalu was an unforgettable experience and easily one of the highlights of our trip. From start to finish, everything was incredibly well organized, and it really showed in the quality of the infrastructure and accommodation on the route. The lodge was comfortable and well maintained, which made a big difference after long hours of hiking. There are showers at the lodge, but only cold water though (to be expected 😊). Towels and soap is provided, so no need to bring this. We also had a wonderful guide, Johny. His English wasn’t great, but he was incredibly kind and paced the hike well. And then there are the views - absolutely breathtaking. As you ascend, the landscape changes dramatically, and reaching higher elevations rewards you with stunning panoramas that make every step worth it. The sunrise from near the summit is something we’ll never forget. That said, it’s definitely a strenuous hike and shouldn’t be underestimated. A good level of fitness is important to fully enjoy it without feeling overwhelmed. Also, it gets surprisingly cold near the peak, so bringing proper warm clothing is essential. Overall, we loved every minute of it. It’s a challenging but deeply rewarding adventure that we would highly recommend to anyone considering it.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Nicole_L0w

Review Date: 15 Jul 2019

Review Body: Title: challenging experience and great services. Highly recommended (tour guide, Sylvester and Andrew) HiKing mount KK was a very memorable and the most challenging experience in my life.

I went to Kota kinabalu in few days ago. Our tour guide, Sylvester and Andrew was very helpful and take care of us, specially Sylvester. At first i thought i not able to complete this challenge due to i thought my stamina has reached the limit and almost plan to give up in half way. Sylvester give me a lot of supports , motivation and helps to reach the peak. He is a very patient and good experience guide. He also help to take many nice photos of me and my team.

I highly recommended Sylvester and Andrew as they are really very very responsible mountain guide. They accompanied my friend and myself going down the mountain slowly and safety even though there's heavy raining in that moments. They also carry about 25kg++ on their back but they still accompanying and motivating us under the raining on the descend route. So...

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Lauren Abston

Review Date: 28 Sep 2024

Review Body: Climbing to the top of Mt. Kinabalu was the coolest experience I've ever had, and I think the price and experience booking through Seek Sophie were well worth it. The hike is definitely not to be underestimated; you need everything listed on the packing list, especially warm clothes. Once I booked the trip, Olivia reached out to me to give me more details and collect all the information needed. She was extremely knowledgable and also helped give advice for the rest of my trip on Borneo! The driver for my trip, Rashid, was fantastic. And my trail guide, Jiro, was amazing. It was just me so it was a very different experience than it would be if you were with a partner or a group. Everyone was very professional, and I always felt taken care of. I wouldn't highly recommend adding on the night at the Poring Hot Springs, but it was nice enough since it was in the area. I went the day before my hike, but it might have been better to have it the day after. Highly recommend this excursion!

Review rating: 5

Review Author: nliondaris

Review Date: 26 Nov 2018

Review Body: Olivia helped us to organise a 3D2N mount kinabulu Climb, followed by 2D1N Kinabatan river cruise and finished off on 3D2N Tabin wildlife safari excursion. Olivia helped to organise this trip for us wonderfully and all our driver and guides were superb! Everything flowed amazing and she was absolutely fantastic at answering all my many questions over whatsapp, in terms of professionalism I couldn't have asked for more. The climb was beautiful with some great views - also very challenging at times and you're pretty knackered by the time you get to base camp but there is lots of food to refuel you. The Kinabatan river cruise was excellent for spotting wild animals however the rooms were a but infested with insects. Tabin wildlife was lovely area to stay in and our guide was fantastic. Overall an amazing experience and beautiful part of our honeymoon.

Review rating: 5

Review Author: Bill Faries

Review Date: 21 Apr 2024

Review Body: The experience with Olivia and the Seek Sophie team was first class from start to finish. They responded quickly to all my questions and prepared us well for what was ahead. My son and I did the hike with our guide and porter, Jabadi. It's not an easy round-trip, but it was well-worth the work. One piece of advice that I got from a friend and which was a big help: take multiple changes of clothes. Even if it doesn't rain on you, you'll get extremely sweaty on the hike up and will want to get into something dry, perhaps twice. Take a Camelbak-style water bladder so you keep your hands free from carrying water bottles. And be prepared for near-freezing temperatures at the top, especially if you arrive early and are sitting to wait for the sunrise. But what a trip!

Review rating: 5

Review Author: kungfunc

Review Date: 14 Aug 2019

Review Body: Don’t look anywhere else for My Kinabalu. I called Olivia on a Sunday and the day before a holiday. I also Contacted two other tour agencies. Olivia responded that same day and the other tour operators took two days. She also had the best price for better service and same experience. She provided me with complete information and was just all-around awesome communicating with me on WhatsApp. she was very thorough and i felt confident going into my trip. Sylvester was very helpful especially on day 2 when it matters. He took great pictures of me on his phone that I didn’t even ask him to. They were better than ones that I took! Then Olivia was kind enough to send them to me that night. You can trust this company and I would absolutely use them again in a heartbeat

Review rating: 5

Itinerary Day 1

Itinerary Summary: Today you'll hike up to Laban Rata at 3,353m and see a variety of incredible landscapes along the way

Itinerary Description: 6:30AM Depart for Kinabalu National Park 8:30AM Arrive and register at the park HQ 9:30AM Begin Climb 2:00PM Arrive to Panalaban Base Camp 6:00PM Dinner

Itinerary Day 2

Itinerary Summary: Today you will summit Mt Kinabalu at sunrise, then head back down to the Base Camp

Itinerary Description: 2:00AM Begin summit climb 5:00AM Reach summit for sunrise 8:00AM Breakfast at Panalaban Base Camp 3:00PM Arrive back to Timpohon Gate 5:00PM Arrive back to Kota Kinabalu