All activities / River Cruising / Scenic Float / Canaima
River Cruising / Scenic Float in Canaima
The base for Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall, which drops 979 metres from the Auyantepui tableland in Canaima National Park in Venezuela's Guayana region. The village of Canaima sits on a tannin-red lagoon fed by its own line of waterfalls, and from here motorised dugout canoes run up the Carrao and Churun rivers, between sheer tepui walls, to the foot of Angel Falls.
Why here
The journey to the base of Angel Falls is one of the great river trips in South America. You fly in to Canaima, a Pemon village on a red-water lagoon ringed by its own falls, and from there travel by curiara, a long motorised dugout canoe, up the Rio Carrao and into the Canyon of the Churun. For hours the boat threads between the vertical walls of the tepuis, the flat-topped mountains that gave Canaima its Lost World name, until Auyantepui rises ahead and the thread of Angel Falls appears down its face. A short forest walk from the river camp reaches a viewpoint and a pool at the base. The trip runs in the wet season, when the rivers are high enough to pass the rapids and the falls are in full flow, and most itineraries add nights at Pemon-run lodges in the Kamarata Valley. It is remote, weather-dependent expedition travel, and reaching the tallest waterfall on earth this way earns it.
Best months
River access to the base of Angel Falls depends on water levels, so trips run mainly in the wet season from around June to November, when the Carrao and Churun are high enough for the curiaras to pass the rapids and the falls run at full volume; in the dry months the river drops and boats often cannot reach the base, though flightseeing still shows the falls. Expect heat, humidity, rain and biting insects. Canaima is reached only by light aircraft. Bring quick-drying clothes, rain protection, insect repellent and a dry bag.
Getting there & around
Travel advisory · Reconsider Travel
US State Dept Level 3 Reconsider Travel for Venezuela (crime, kidnapping, terrorism, wrongful detention, poor health infrastructure) as of 2026-07; the Level 4 Do Not Travel zones (Amazonas, Apure, the Colombia border area) do not include Canaima National Park in Bolivar state. Check your own government's guidance before booking. Canaima is reached only by light aircraft, usually via Ciudad Bolivar or Puerto Ordaz, and the base-of-falls boat trip is wet-season and water-level dependent, so let the operator set the timing and keep a buffer day for weather. Malaria precautions are advised for the region. Card and ATM access is unreliable nationwide, so carry US dollars in cash.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Angel-Eco Tours
OutfitterAngel-Eco Tours is an ecotourism operator founded in 2000, with offices in Caracas and New York, that specialises in customised expeditions into Canaima National Park. Its trips pair the motorised curiara river journey to the base of Angel Falls with stays at Pemon-run lodges at Uruyen and Kavak in the Kamarata Valley, and it supports the Fundacion Etnika and Angel Conservation foundations. Itineraries run from three to ten days and depart from Caracas.