Devil's Pool — Attraction in Southern Province

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

SO, The Devil’s Pool. Should you do it? The answer is yes.

Like many, I had my reservations about this tour.

The tour is approximately 2-2:15hrs long. When you arrive at the marina where you take the boat to Livingstone Island you have to fill out some documents and are given a life jacket for the boat tour. At this point, the tour guide will explain to you everything that’s going to happen, and hopefully will put your mind at ease and provide full clarity on what’s going down. They explain how extreme the tour is but also provide with all the do’s and don’ts.

After the briefing you take a 5 minute incredible boat tour down the Zambezi river, meandering and crossing over the currents of the river. The boat itself felt very safe and the driver knew exactly what we was doing. It’s a beautiful boat trip so get your phones out to video it!

You take the boat to Livingstone Island, where you then take off your life jacket and walk to one side of the island to take photos of the Falls. The view is incredible and the staff are happy to help take photos.

From there, you’ll cross to the west side of the Island where the main falls are and where the Devil’s Pool is. You’ll then leave your belongings on the side of the island and hand your phone to one of the guides who puts it in a watertight bag to take over to the Devil’s Pool.

From here, you will get into the water and start to swim from Livingstone Island over to the small rock formation right beside Devil’s Pool. There’s a small current (naturally) but there’s zero chance of falling over the waterfall so don’t worry about that. The swim itself is about a minute. You basically swim upstream where you all meet in the water then join hands and slowly walk the rest of the way to the small formation beside Devil’s Pool. The water isn’t deep at all.

N.B we had heard before going to wear shoes in the water for the sharp rocks underneath but none of did. So long as you don’t jam your foot down on the riverbed you’ll be fine.

SO, once you arrive at the Rock Formation, take in the views as you’re right beside the main falls edge. It’s genuinely spectacular and even if you don’t want to get into the Devil’s Pool I would say it’s still worth making the trip over just for the views. You won’t get the same views anywhere else on either side of the border.

At this point, the guide will explain again what’s going to happen in the Devil’s Pool. You’re required to listen carefully and one by one you’ll enter the pool which easily fits about 8-10 people. There’s a strong current flowing into the Pool but there’s plenty of rock surface to grab on to, and again there’s really no chance of you being swept away over the edge.

The next thing to note is the fish in the pool. There are fish who will slightly bite your legs (eating the dead skin) and at first it can be a bit of a jump scare. But as the guide says, don’t make any dramatic movements. The bites don’t hurt, they just feel weird.

Once you’re all in the pool, you’ll then one-by-one be taken to the edge of the Devil’s Pool for the Instagram Shot. The second guide takes plenty of photos and tells you how to pose etc. You then move off and allow the next person to take photos. For the shots of you on your stomach, the guide will hold your feet for safety.

There’s absolutely ZERO pressure into doing the devils pool. If for any reason (my partner has an insane fear of heights but shockingly swam to the rock beside the devil’s pool, though didn’t actually get into the pool) you feel uncomfortable the staff was very understanding.

So what’s the pool like? It’s really not as bad as you think. The ‘ledge’ that you sit on is quite wide so you’d really have to drag yourself over the ledge to look below (and they probably won’t let you Go that far anyway). And once you get to the ledge, the current is non-existent. If you’re thinking about doing it, just do it.

The meal afterwards is genuinely excellent. We had a delicious breakfast. Also would Recommend the morning slot for the...

Definitely worth the price for this experience! The guides were very helpful, made sure we were safe throughout the entire experience. We had to scramble over some rocks at the top of the falls, but they guides were there to hold our hands and there were guide ropes in the river when we had to cross through waist-deep and a bit deeper water to get to the actual devils pool. I’d recommend chacos or some grippy water sandals that will protect your feet. I also got sunburned being out there for so long and wish I’d worn sunscreen. Recommend putting your phone or camera in a waterproof small bag, but the guides offered to carry it for me until we got to the pool and then they took pictures of us for us.

Getting from our hotel/resort in Zimbabwe (city of Victoria Falls) to the devils pool was a bit hectic. We needed our passports to cross over to Zambia (where the devils pool actually is), and we had to change cars/busses several times due to the border. This wasn’t really communicated to us ahead of time so we were just following along very adventurously. It was pretty funny actually. Ultimately, if you are down for a thrill, want to feel alive, and see Victoria Falls from a very unique viewpoint, do it. One of the coolest things...

Devil's Pool, Victoria Falls

DEVIL’S POOL After thousands of years of erosion, many rock pools have formed near the great Victoria Falls and one of them is right on the very edge! Devil’s Pool – with a steep precipice and an up-close-and-personal view of the sheer drop off the side of the Falls – is indeed the ultimate infinity pool!

It takes a rocky walk and swim in the Zambezi to reach the pool before slipping into the adrenalin-pumping swimming hole. Those fearless enough to leap into the pool get pushed to the edge by the force of the river, with the rock lip bringing them to a halt as the raging waters of the Zambezi crash over the close-by cliffs.

The view from the edge is totally exhilarating as you feel the force of the Zambezi River flowing past you and crashing down over the 100-metre / 320-foot drop!

The over 500-million litres / 132-million gallons of water that cascade over the Falls every minute are not to be messed with, so this activity is only open at certain times of the year and must be booked with a guide. It is usually accessible during low-water season from about...