Destination Guide
Angel Falls & Canaima: The Complete Travel Guide
Everything you need to plan your trip to Angel Falls and Canaima — river expeditions, Roraima trek, Pemón guides, and the world's highest waterfall.
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Angel Falls and the ancient world of the tepuis
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How to get there
Scheduled CONVIASA flight from Caracas (Maiquetía), twice weekly Thu/Sun (~1h); Ciudad Bolívar & Puerto Ordaz commercial routes suspended (charter only). During the current Maiquetía disruption, verify live before booking — see our /safety page
Best for falls
Jun – Nov (high water)
Typical budget
$100–200/day (tours required)
Guided access
All tepui approaches need Pemón guides
Canaima National Park covers roughly 30,000 km² — about the size of Belgium — and contains the highest waterfall on earth, one of the world's oldest geological formations, and a Pemón indigenous culture that has inhabited this landscape for centuries. The Gran Sabana is the open savanna region within the park's southeastern portion, a separate area reached overland from Santa Elena de Uairén rather than from the Canaima lagoon. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the few places on earth that justifies the description "otherworldly."
Angel Falls (Salto Ángel) has a total height of 979 metres off the edge of Auyán-tepui — the largest of the region's flat-topped sandstone mountains — including a single clear, uninterrupted plunge of roughly 807 metres. The falls are best visited from June to November when water flow is highest; the dry season (January to May) offers clearer skies but a thinner cascade.
Canaima lagoon is the base camp: a pink-tinted lake fed by tannin-rich rivers, flanked by smaller waterfalls you can swim behind, and ringed by posadas and Pemón craft stalls. Access is by small plane only — no road connects Canaima to the outside world.
Top highlights
Angel Falls tour
2-day river journey + overland to the base
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Next step
Once you know your base and access model, build the Canaima itinerary around transfer windows, operator quality, and where you will actually sleep.
Canaima lagoon
Swim behind the Hacha and Golondrina falls
Roraima trek
Separate 6-day expedition — staged from Santa Elena de Uairén, not Canaima
Tepui climbing
Technical routes up Auyán with Pemón guides
Sunrise overflight
Small-plane flights over the tepui at dawn
Everything you need to plan your trip to Angel Falls and Canaima — river expeditions, Roraima trek, Pemón guides, and the world's highest waterfall.
The six-day route to the summit of the world's oldest plateau, staged from Santa Elena de Uairén in the Gran Sabana — a separate trip from Canaima. Permits, guides, gear list, and what it actually feels like up there.