Cascada de San Ramón — Attraction in Altagracia (Municipio)

A few things to know before you go to the waterfall: If you don't have a small 4x4 like a Jimmy or similar don't attempt to cover the first 2 km by car. We tried our best and reached 400m with a sedan even if the guy at the ticket office sold us a car ticket (100 cordoba) and told us it was doable. If you have a quad or a dirt bike then go for it. Also with a scooter it's doable but I saw some people having trouble. From the ticket office until the waterfall it's quite an ascent, especially the road in the first part is super hot in the dry season, so you should go with a quad or a dirt bike until the parking lot at the top of the road. From there it takes you more or less 1h to the waterfall. Also know that from Moyogalpa until the Ticket office it's a 1h ride and the last ~5 km is a dirt road. The waterfall is one of the top things to do on the island but at least in May it was nothing special. There was not much water and the small pool was quite dirty/muddy. Who has been to Madeira or Switzerland will not be impressed. Nevertheless it's nice to have a cold shower when reaching the top after a hike with 35 C. and you can do some nice pictures. Again, in May the hike was nothing special either. The river is dry upon the very top. The vegetation is not the rainforest one could expect. If you are lucky you will see some monkeys and...

It’s currently dry season, so the waterfall is not much of a display of “falling water”, but it’s one of the top things to do on the island, so we went!

Things to know: It will be hot hot hot getting there. Take water. You will sweat and want to rehydrate. If possible, drive up as far as you can along the dirt and rock road. We took an ATV with 2 people - no problem. Made the hike only 45 minutes one way. Saved a lot of walking in the sun. (We saw many motorbikes make the climb but definitely not for beginning motorbikers.) The hike is some shade and some sun, but the pool at the base of the waterfall is full sun. Take sunscreen! Wear your swimsuit! You’ll want to dip in the water after the hot hike. There is no where to change after you start the hike so wear your suit! There are (free) bathrooms near the entrance. Entrance fee was 100 per person + 50 for our ATV. There was a man in the parking at the top willing to watch your helmets etc for tip. He wasn’t there when we arrived so climbed with our helmets. Wear proper “hiking” or “walking” shoes. It would be a challenging hike in flip flops due to climbing over a number of rocks. Keep your eyes open...

The hike was a solid incline from the beginning, I walked from the road and didn’t ride up to the car park. The hike was beautiful, the scramble at the end was a bit technical but not difficult. The descent was tough on the knees but easy. I kept asking people how much longer and they all kept telling me an hour. I would say once you start hearing rushing water, you might think you are close. You are not 😅 about 45 more minutes from that moment. Worth it though!

Only thing to note is the motor bike drive from Merida is kind of tough. Road ends around Merida and it becomes dirt and gravel then rocks the hilly rocks then back to dirt and gravel. I got stuck and had to be saved by a very nice local who helped push it up the hill. When I arrived at the entrance to the park, I was so exhausted, I refused to drive up the hill and chose to walk from the road. I had someone pick me up from the rental company because I was too scared and tired to do it alone. He did it with ease but did point out the dangerous areas (where I ended...