Pass The Passport
Completed: Be In Awe Of Angel Falls

Bucket List / Travel Goals

Be In Awe Of Angel Falls

Ticked off in March 2016

Water falls nearly a kilometre from a lost-world plateau, so far that much of it turns to mist before landing.

Be In Awe Of Angel Falls

The adventure

Getting there is half the adventure. A light aircraft drops you at Canaima, beside a lagoon fed by tea-coloured waterfalls, then a motorised dugout canoe battles upriver for hours beneath the sheer walls of the tepuis, the ancient table mountains of southern Venezuela. You sleep in a hammock at a riverside camp, and next morning hike up through steamy forest to the Laime viewpoint.

Then it appears: a white thread pouring from the clouds off the edge of Auyán-tepui, 979 metres in all, with an unbroken plunge of 807 metres. In full flow, much of the water turns to drifting spray long before it reaches the bottom, soaking you from hundreds of metres away. The falls take their name from Jimmie Angel, an American pilot who landed his plane on top in 1937, got it stuck in the bog and walked eleven days to get down.

Why it’s epic

  • The world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, with a single plunge of 807 metres.
  • The Pemón name is Kerepakupai Merú; the English name honours aviator Jimmie Angel.
  • Canaima National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covers around three million hectares of tepuis, rivers and savannah.
  • The falls inspired Paradise Falls in Pixar's film Up.

What it is

Angel Falls is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, dropping 979 metres from the top of Auyán-tepui.

How to do it

Fly into Canaima, then take a motorised canoe upriver and hike to the viewpoint, usually on a two or three-night tour. Scenic flights also pass the falls.

Top tip

Check UK Foreign Office advice for Venezuela before planning a trip.

Need to know

  • River trips to the base need high water, roughly June to November; in the dry season you may only see the falls from the air.
  • The UK Foreign Office has long advised against travel to Venezuela, so check current advice and whether your insurance will cover you.
  • Canaima has no road access and is reached by light aircraft, usually from Ciudad Bolívar or Puerto Ordaz.

Plan this trip

Rough cost
£2,000 to £5,000 per person, including flights from the UK
Time needed
3 days
Best time to go
June to November, when the river is high enough
Fly into
CCS airport

Internal light-aircraft flights and a guided river trip add up quickly, on top of getting to Venezuela.

Sample itinerary

  1. Day 1Fly to Canaima and take a boat across the lagoon behind the waterfalls
  2. Day 2A dugout canoe up the Carrao and Churún rivers, then sleep in hammocks facing the falls
  3. Day 3Hike to the Laime viewpoint at the base of the falls, then back to Canaima

Do it yourself

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My experience

Ticked off, but the full story is still to be written up.

Over to you

Is “Be In Awe Of Angel Falls” on your bucket list, or have you already done it? Tell me in the comments, and if you've got a question about it, ask away and I'll answer.