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AbkhaziaWhat to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting
The Big Baryal Waterfall is also known as Machar, formed on the Machara River. It is located in a picturesque gorge and is very impressive in itself, but so far it is little known among tourists and rarely visited. We really liked it and we definitely recommend visiting it. However, in order to see it in all its glory, you will have to try a little, because it's not all that simple.
How to visit the Great Baryal Waterfall
A very important point when visiting it is that you need to find the right path to it. Some tourists come here, look at the waterfall from above, and not really seeing anything, they leave disappointed. But to fully see the gorge and the waterfall, you need to find the right path to the bottom of the gorge.
This trail is further away, you need to walk 100 meters from the top of the waterfall along the trees and the edge of the gorge, that's about where its beginning is on the map (descent to the waterfall on the map). Down here in the ground, or rather in the rock on the edge of the cliff, there is a crevice through which a steep descent into the gorge passes. The crevice is about 2 meters high, it has a metal ladder and a cable that you need to hold on to on the descent. It's not difficult for any healthy person to get down here, even for children and the elderly, but it's still worth doing it carefully. If you are not in the best physical shape, then it is desirable that someone insures from below. Going down through the crevice you will get to a normal path, which will lead you to the bottom of the gorge to the river and then to the waterfall. It will take about the same 100 meters to walk along it.
🕐 Working hours
Around the clock, visit during the day. It is full-flowing in spring and in the first half of summer, and in late summer and autumn it can dry out.
💵 Entrance fee / ticket price
Free of charge.
🚶 How to get there
Bolshoy Baryalsky or Macharsky Waterfall is located 27 kilometers from Sukhum along the Sukhum Military Road on the way to Shakuransky Waterfall (waterfall on the map). On the same road you will first come across Merheuli mineral spring, Old watchtower or lime tower, Olginsky waterfalls, Small Baryalsky waterfall, Tsebeldinsky spring and other interesting places, and you can also visit very beautiful Chernigov gorge. But this is only if you go here by yourself in your own car or with an individual guide, and we have not heard about taking group tours here.
The turn to the waterfall is not marked in any way, you need to navigate using the navigator to the point we indicated on the map. The road is good at first, there is asphalt everywhere, but the closer to the waterfall, the worse it is, so drive carefully. According to our feelings, in good weather it is easy to get here by any car.
When you get to the exit from the asphalt to the waterfall, we advise you to leave the car here on the side of the road or a primer, and then walk. 200-300 meters will remain to go through the crevice to the point of descent, and how and where to find it and the path to descend into the gorge and directly to the waterfall, we told above.
💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites: