Damajagua Waterfalls — Attraction in Imbert

We visited at the end of February 2025 as part of an organised tour arranged on our cruise ship, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). We spent a couple of hours in the area immediately next to the cruise terminal and then met up with our tour guide and about 50 other guests of all shapes and sizes. I mention that because of the walking involved once you get to Damajagua Waterfalls, but I'll come back to that.

We boarded our coach transfer immediately outside the cruise terminal and headed up into the hills, a journey that took around 30 minutes. A little longer on our return as we returned during what appeared to be rush hour.

A modern coach was provided for our transfer to the waterfalls, during the journey we received some information from our 'familia' guide. Who told us a little history about the port, the town, the island and the falls.

Our tour had been sold to us as an opportunity to see 27 waterfalls, but due to limited time on the day we were told that we'd only be able to see 7. So that was a bit disappointing.

On our arrival it was well organised, clear direction, clear instruction and information about the equipment, the walk and facilities available on site. So that was good. Water shoes were available to rent for $8, though like most guests we had our own. There was a charge of $8 for a locker, which pretty much everyone needed. You could only take limited items with you, waterproof cameras and mobile phones if in a suitable case, so a locker was a must.

The guides were then introduced to us, all friendly and quite jovial. We then headed out, a walk, or should I say hike of about 45 minutes. We were each provided with two bottles of fresh water due to the walk and the humidity and told that there would be several stops as it was quite steep.

And it was fairly steep. We stopped at least 3 to 4 times before reaching the top after about 45 to 50 minutes. It was quite tough for some of the older guests, and there were older guests on the tour, with a lady in front of us 74, plus a guy who was 75. They managed the hike but openly admitted that it was quite tough (no category A calls on this hike).

Once at the top we had to use the bins to dispose of our water bottles. A rather cute donkey was at the top, he's used as a pack mule, and transports the empty bottles and rubbish down each day to keep the area clean and tidy. The tracks and pathways are all pretty well maintained.

We then headed down, the other side of the hill to a rather steep set of stairs down to the first of the waterfalls and the start of our 'adventure'. The guides were all very good, safety conscious and were happy to help anyone that needed it.

A guy told us that he'd visited two years before, and that the first set up stairs had, just two years ago been the top of a good few metres jump down into the fall below, telling us that the water was a good 6' to 7' deep back then but now it's a descent only via steps down into the stream, with the water being now no more than 2' deep on the day that we visited; so no jumping now! I don't know if this is due to the time of the year that we visited, global warming or simply falling water levels, either way it definitely wasn't something that you could jump down into unless you wanted to seriously hurt yourself. So again that was disappointing.

We were then able to see the waterfalls behind this area, which was quite impressive, plus we were able to swim in the cold yet refreshing water & pool before heading on down to another waterslide, then on to a further couple of slides and jumps. 1 jump was about 5m, which was good, but the last one was about 2 metres; I've certainly jumped off higher and more impressive waterfalls in the French Alps, but it was still enjoyable. The last jump was into a man-made pool, as the edge of the pool had been dammed to create the depth to enable us to be able to jump into it. We were advised to bend our knees on entry because it wasn't very deep.

So good overall but I do wonder how much water there will be in 2 years. Check out my...

One of the most touristic natural attractions in the Dominican Republic. The best way is to arrive to the location by yourself, with your own/rental car or a bus from the city. The organized tours increase the price but add no value other than the transportation, so bear that in mind when you see one of those in TripAdvisor, GetYourGuide, etc. once at the entrance you'll have a huge dirt parking lot to park your car or where the bus will park, and then you can head to the ticket office to get either the $24 USD ticket including 7 waterfalls and a lunch meal or $43 USD including the above plus a couple of ziplines. Honestly, unless you crave for the ziplines, the $24 is the better option. There are only 7 waterfalls open out of the 27 due to the low water levels, and it is actually 5 falls or waterfalls that you'll jump or slide, not 7; they count the ponds, not the waterfalls, remember that the name of the natural area is the '27 charcas del Damajagua', and if you don't know Spanish look up what 'charca' means. They have lockers for an extra USD and they'll provide you with a helmet and a PFD, other than the tour guides. You can also pay for a photography service but some people dare to bring their phones with them into the water. Once a group of people is ready you will hike up like 30 min including stops, so bear in mind to wear some shoes that work both for the dirt and the water, but the group stops several times to make sure we are all together. Once you'll be close to the first and highest waterfall, there may be a bit of line as people may be slightly afraid of going down; bear in mind that on the big waterfalls there is a possibility to go down on a wooden ladder next to it, although it almost looked as scary as the waterfall itself. After you have completed the 5 falls/slides you will be regrouped and led back to the entrance area with multiple stops to make sure all the group goes together, so take advantage of this time to observe the nature or think/talk about how much you liked the adventure. After that, a buffet type meal with several options of vegetables, meat, pasta, etc and a bottle of water will be available in the main open canopy in the entrance area. In my opinion, it is worth the price and gives you the right amount of adventure, with a total time of around 2h, so you don't get bored, or cold to be in the water...

This is long but worth the read.

We did this excursion through our Virgin Voyages cruise ship on December 30,2024. The best way I can put my point across is our entire group ended up calling this excursion a “survivors trip”

Our excursion was supposed to be 10:30-3pm and include lunch. Our ship was supposed to be all aboard, with the ship leaving DR at 5pm. We didn’t get back from our excursion until 6pm!

It was one of the worst experiences we ever had along with the other 50+ sailors who were with us. The excursion company overbooked (supposedly another cruise ship arrived late) and we waited hours in line to even get to the “waterfalls.”

Upon first arriving my husband had to ask for 3 different helmets as the straps were broken, then they ran out of lockers, because again, overbooked. So sailors had to put their belongings unlocked in the office.

Once we completed the hike, we waited around 3 hours in long lines to get down into the water. We didn’t enter the water till 4pm. (Past our excursion time, no water, and supposed to be back onboard in 30 mins)

After we completed the first “slide” , you rounded a corner and we were then hoarded with other swimmers where we couldn’t touch the bottom and water was pelting on us and people were panicking and they wouldn’t not let us out of the water.

We did not complete the waterfall until 5pm then had to hike back to the excursion point. During that hike, my husband felt faint from not eating or drinking all day. So I asked a guide how much further and he responded “no English.” What would happen if there was a true medical emergency?

We then return to the white bridge and before crossing, our guides stop us to remind us about tipping them. We understand it wasn’t their fault. But we had been on the excursion since the morning with no food or drink and waiting in lines for hours.

We return to the excursion point at about 5:30pm- they load us onto the buses without even offering a granola bar or even a water (even though we were supposed to get...