Some waterfalls you photograph. Some you climb, swim and stand behind.
Which falls you are allowed to swim in and which the rangers keep you out of. What the park gate costs before the tour even starts. How many steps down to the pool, and whether the boat gets close enough to taste it.
Four waterfall days worth the flight on their own.
A Balinese cave fall, a Jamaican staircase you climb hand over hand, boardwalks over sixteen Croatian lakes, and a gorge an hour from Portland. What each costs and what the water is doing when you arrive.
01Bali, three falls in a dayBest of Bali Waterfalls: Tibumana, Tukad Cepung and TegenunganTibumana, Tukad Cepung and Tegenungan on one loop. Cepung falls into a cave, so the light beam only lands between about ten and noon.
02The one you climbBlue Hole and Dunn’s River Falls Private Tour from Montego BayDunn’s River is six hundred feet of limestone terraces and the way up is a human chain. Bring shoes you can soak; sandals come off in the first pool.
03Croatia, on boardwalksZadar: Plitvice Lakes Guided Day Tour with TicketsSixteen lakes falling into one another, walked on timber a foot above the water. Entry is timed and the early slots go first all summer.
04A gorge, half a dayMultnomah Falls and Columbia River Gorge Half-Day Hiking TourMultnomah drops in two tiers half an hour east of Portland, and the tour keeps going to the quieter falls further up the road.
Niagara: two countries, one waterfall, three ways to get wet.
The Canadian side owns the view, the American side gets you nearest the water, and both sell tickets for the same boat. Here is what each way in costs and where the day leaves from.
Six places where the waterfall is the entire day out.
A gorge on the US and Canadian border, a Balinese river valley, two Croatian parks built of travertine, the Atlas foothills, a Jamaican coast you climb, and Iceland’s south road. Each has a different answer to how wet you are going to get.
The best view of a waterfall is from a boat at the bottom of it.
Ouzoud runs little painted rowboats into the spray. Krka cruises the green water up to the terraces. Niagara puts you in a poncho a stone’s throw from the Horseshoe. The deck is where the photographs are, and where the noise is.
Can you swim in it, and what the dry season does to it.
Krka closed its pools to swimmers in 2021. Kravice, a couple of hours away, did not. Ouzoud runs hardest in spring on Atlas snowmelt and thins through September. Bali is the other way round: fullest from November to March, which is also when the track down is the slipperiest. Everywhere, the shoes matter more than the camera.
The waterfall days more travellers take than any other.
Every waterfall tour we have reviewed →Ouzoud sits at the top by a distance, and the rest is a fair map of where the world goes to stand in front of falling water.
1
From Marrakech: Ouzoud Waterfalls Guided Hike and Boat Trip
Travel from Marrakech to Ouzoud Waterfalls for a guided walk through olive groves, an argan oil cooperative, panoramic viewpoints, and a short boat ride below the falls. Guides such as Youssef, Hachimi, and Mohamed are praised for patient explanations and help on the steep return climb. Lunch costs extra.
From · $17
Read our review →
2
Marrakech: Atlas Mountains, Ourika Valley, Waterfall & Lunch
from $16
3
Reykjavík: South Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand & Glacier Tour
from $126
4
From Marrakech: Ouzoud Waterfalls Guided Trip with Boat Ride
from $16
5
Split: Krka Waterfalls Trip with Boat Cruise and Swimming
from $31
6
From Marrakech: Ouzoud Waterfalls Guided Tour & Boat Ride
from $18
7
From Split: Krka Waterfalls, Food & Wine Tasting Tour
from $45
8
Chiang Mai: Elephant Sanctuary, Waterfall & Bamboo Rafting
from $60
What a day at a waterfall actually costs.
Park entry is often the biggest line on the bill and it is not always in the price. Every tour on the site, sorted by what you have paid before lunch.
Half-days out of Marrakech and Chiang Mai, park tickets, and the short runs inland from Split.
The full-day standards: Plitvice from the coast, Iguazu from either side, the Niagara combinations.
Helicopters over the gorge, private drivers, and the Hawaii and Kauai days that swallow a whole one.
Croatia keeps its best water behind two park gates.
Plitvice is sixteen lakes stepping down a wooded canyon on timber walkways. Krka is one broad curtain of terraces an hour inland from Split. Both run timed tickets through the summer, and both are quieter and cheaper before nine in the morning.
Every Croatian waterfall day →
Bali turns three waterfalls and a scooter into a whole day.
Tibumana for the swim, Tukad Cepung for the beam of light through the cave roof, Tegenungan because it is ten minutes out of Ubud. The steps are the real cost: a few hundred down to each pool and the same back up in the heat.
- 1Ubud: Waterfalls, Water Temple & Rice Terraces Private Tourfrom $29
- 2Best of Bali Waterfalls: Tibumana, Tukad Cepung and Tegenunganfrom $53
- 3Ubud: Full-Day Rice Terrace, Monkey Forest & Waterfallfrom $23
Three waterfalls you climb, walk up or swim under.
Most falls are a viewing platform and a photograph. These three are something you physically do, and all three want proper shoes.
Climbing Dunn’s River
Six hundred feet of limestone terraces run straight down into the Caribbean, and the accepted way up is a human chain behind a guide. The rock grips where the water runs over it and turns glassy where it does not, which is why guides ask for shoes rather than sandals. The climb takes about an hour, you finish soaked, and climb groups stop well before the park itself closes.
- 1Jamaica Dunn’s River Falls Party Cruise with Snorkeling★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 997 reviews
- 2Blue Hole, Secret Falls, and Dunn’s River Falls Combo Day-Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 973 reviews
- 3Blue Hole and Dunn’s River Falls Private Tour from Montego Bay★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 420 reviews
Walking up the Sticky Waterfall
Bua Thong runs over limestone that has furred up with mineral deposit, and the surface holds a bare foot like coarse sandpaper. People walk up the face of it, against the current, with nothing but a rope handrail. Entry is free, it is an hour north of Chiang Mai, and weekends belong to the city.
- 1Chiang Mai: Elephant Sanctuary, Long Neck & Sticky Waterfall★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 2,262 reviews
- 2Chiang Mai: Sticky Waterfall & Angel Waterfall Park Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,371 reviews
- 3Chiang Mai: Bua Thong Sticky Waterfall & Huge Cave & Buffet★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,049 reviews
Swimming at Kravice
A wide horseshoe on the Trebižat river with a gravel beach at the foot of it and nothing stopping you getting in. Almost everyone arrives from Dubrovnik or Mostar on the same day trip, so the middle of the day is loud and the first hour after opening is not.
- 1From Dubrovnik: Mostar and Kravica Waterfall Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 7,228 reviews
- 2Mostar and Kravice Waterfalls Tour from Dubrovnik (Semi-Private)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,125 reviews
- 3Dubrovnik: Kravica Waterfalls, Mostar and Pocitelj Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,045 reviews
Four waterfall days that will not wait for you.
Most of this can be arranged the night before over dinner. These four run on park quotas, boat seasons and a calendar with no interest in when you land.
- 01Zadar: Plitvice Lakes Guided Day Tour with TicketsPlitvice sells timed entry against a daily cap. Through July and August the morning slots go weeks ahead and the gate turns people away.
- 02Niagara Falls Canadian Side Tour and Maid of the Mist Boat Ride OptionThe Niagara boats stop when the ice comes and do not sail again until spring. Out of season there is no way down to the water.
- 03Foz do Iguaçu: Brazil/Argentina Sides Iguazu Falls Day TourIguazu is two national parks in two countries, each with its own ticket and its own hours. The boat under the falls sells out days ahead in high season.
- 04Jamaica Dunn’s River Falls Party Cruise with SnorkelingDunn’s River sends climb groups up on a schedule and stops them long before the park shuts. Cruise-ship mornings fill first.
The waterfalls people fly for, and where each day starts.
Iguazu
Victoria Falls
Plitvice
Ouzoud
Dunn’s River
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