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Kaieteur Falls from the gorge below

The Mighty Kaieteur Falls

Deep in the heart of the Potaro-Siparuni rainforest, the Potaro River gathers itself and steps off the edge of an ancient sandstone plateau — falling 741 feet in a single, thunderous drop. Kaieteur is the world's largest single-drop waterfall by volume, nearly five times the height of Niagara, and it pours into a gorge so pristine you may share the viewing ledge with no one at all.

Most visitors arrive by light aircraft from Georgetown, skimming over unbroken forest before the gorge suddenly opens beneath the wings. On the plateau, golden rocket frogs live their whole lives inside giant tank bromeliads, and at dusk thousands of swifts pour behind the curtain of falling water to roost.

There are no barriers, no crowds, no souvenir stands — only the roar of the water, the mist drifting over the rainforest, and a rainbow that rarely leaves the gorge. Day trips and overnight treks can be arranged through our tour operators, and it pairs beautifully with a journey through the interior.

Stand at the edge, and feel the heartbeat of Guyana.

741 ft
ONE SINGLE DROP
5×
THE HEIGHT OF NIAGARA
1870
FIRST RECORDED BY C. B. BROWN
0
FENCES, CROWDS OR QUEUES
THE NAME

The Legend of Old Kai

The Patamona people tell of Kai, a great chief who paddled his canoe over the falls as a sacrifice to the great spirit Makonaima, to save his people from a rival tribe. The falls have carried his name ever since — Kaieteur, "the falls of Kai."

In 1870, geologist Charles Barrington Brown became the first European to record the falls — astonished that a cataract of such scale had remained unknown to the outside world. A century and a half later, it still feels that way.

LIFE ON THE PLATEAU

A World of Its Own

The Golden Rocket Frog

Found nowhere else on Earth, this thumbnail-sized frog lives its entire life inside the water tanks of giant bromeliads growing in the spray of the falls.

The Kaieteur Swifts

At dusk, thousands of white-collared swifts spiral into the gorge and dart straight through the curtain of falling water to roost on the cliff behind it.

Potaro valley
GETTING THERE

Two Ways to the Edge

BY AIR — 1 HOUR
The Classic Day Trip

Light aircraft leave Georgetown's Eugene F. Correia Airport most mornings, crossing an hour of unbroken rainforest before circling the gorge and landing on the plateau airstrip — a ten-minute walk from the falls.

SEE DOMESTIC AIRLINES
OVERLAND — 3 TO 5 DAYS
The Adventurer's Trek

Travel by 4×4 and river boat up the Potaro, past Amatuk and Waratuk falls, then climb the old miners' trail through the gorge to sleep at the top — waking to the roar of Kaieteur at dawn.

BOOK WITH A TOUR OPERATOR
Kaieteur Falls in full flow
Kaieteur Falls from the air
The plunge over the edge
Kaieteur Falls and gorge
Kaieteur gorge in mist
Kaieteur from the gorge below
Kaieteur gorge and Potaro River
Potaro River valley from above
Guyana rainforest river
GET IN TOUCH

Begin Your
Guyana Story

Untamed rainforest, the world's tallest single-drop waterfall, wildlife found nowhere else on Earth, and a culture that welcomes you like family — Guyana is South America's last great undiscovered destination.