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Flight Experiences in Kaieteur Falls
The centrepiece of Guyana's interior, where the Potaro river drops 226 metres in a single uninterrupted fall deep in the Kaieteur National Park rainforest. High volume and great height together make it one of the most powerful single-drop waterfalls on earth, and the standard way to see it is a day flight by small plane from Georgetown over an unbroken canopy.
Why here
Kaieteur is the reason many people come to Guyana, and it earns it. The Potaro river pours over a sandstone escarpment in one clean 226-metre drop, nearly five times the height of Niagara, and unlike most giant falls it carries an enormous volume of water, which is why it is often called the world's most powerful single-drop waterfall. What makes it singular is the setting: no railings, no crowds, no town, just a handful of visitors walking to the rim through pristine rainforest. The plunge basin throws up a permanent mist that waters a micro-world found only here, home to the golden rocket frog that lives its whole life in the water trapped by giant tank bromeliads, and to swifts that nest behind the falling water and dart out through it at dusk. Guianan cock-of-the-rock flare orange in the surrounding forest. Reaching it by small plane, low over an ocean of green, is a large part of the experience.
Best months
Flights run year round from Georgetown, weather permitting, and the falls are spectacular in every season. Water volume peaks after the long rains, roughly May to August, when the spray is heaviest; the drier stretches, January to April and September to December, give the most reliable flying weather and clearer views. Day trips are usually scheduled Friday to Sunday and need a minimum number of passengers to depart, so trips can shift with demand and cloud. The rim walk is short but unfenced, on uneven rock near a huge drop, so keep well back from the edge.
Getting there & around
The day tour flies from Ogle, the Eugene F. Correia International Airport just east of Georgetown, about an hour each way in a small aircraft, with two to three hours on the ground for the guided walk to the viewpoints. Trips typically run at weekends, need around nine passengers to operate and include park entry, a guide and lunch. Weather can delay or cancel departures, so leave a buffer day. Overland treks up the Potaro to the falls exist but are multi-day expeditions; the flight is how almost everyone visits.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
Dagron Tours
OutfitterDagron Tours runs day tours from its office at 91 Middle Street in Georgetown, and its Kaieteur Falls trip is the classic way to see the waterfall: an hour's flight each way from Ogle, park entry, a guided rainforest walk and lunch, at weekends with a minimum of nine passengers. Kaieteur drops 226 metres in one uninterrupted fall and carries a huge volume of the Potaro river, one of the most powerful single-drop waterfalls on earth. Dagron also runs Essequibo and Rupununi tours.
Evergreen Adventures
OutfitterEvergreen Adventures is a Guyanese operator based at Ogle, the Eugene F. Correia International Airport east of Georgetown, running the scheduled day flight to Kaieteur Falls over unbroken rainforest. The return charter lands on the airstrip above the falls, and guides walk visitors to the viewpoints for the 226-metre single drop and to spots for the golden rocket frog and the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, both special to the Kaieteur plateau. It also runs Essequibo and Rupununi tours.