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AbkhaziaWhat to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting
Hashupse Grand Canyon is a natural landmark of amazing beauty. This is a narrow gorge, "cut through" for millions of years by water flows in the rocks, along the bottom of which flows the turbulent mountain river Hashepse (also Hashupsa).
This Grand Canyon is often confused with another canyon in the same places, with Small Hashupsin Canyon. Moreover, even authoritative guidebooks, whose copywriters prepare articles from home and never visit the places they talk about, sin with this confusion. We arrived at the place and figured it out ourselves.
So, the Big Khashupsinsky Canyon is much longer than the small one, the total length of its narrowest and most interesting part is about 700 meters. And this is not just an attraction where you can only admire the breathtaking creation of nature from the observation deck. It is also a place for all kinds of activities. It is on this, the Grand Canyon, that swimming on Sap surf boards is offered; and it is here that you can walk waist-deep or knee-deep in the waters of the Hashupse River along its bottom, watching with amazement as the rocks almost close overhead. And it is here that the most fascinating photos with vacationers floating on the boards are obtained, which you will see in advertising booklets with excursions. There are no such activities on the Small Canyon.
When going here, be sure to take comfortable shoes with you for a walk in the water. For example, special bathing shoes such as "aqua shoes" or even crocs are perfect. If you go for a walk along the bottom of the canyon in simple sneakers, but they will constantly jump off and, most likely, just get lost. And if you go for a walk in sneakers, then such shoes will just get wet and fall apart in the water. Well, do not forget swimsuits, and a hermetic case for a smartphone and valuables is also very desirable. For children, you can take a swimming circle or floats-armbands.
Attention! Distributors on the streets sell jeep tours to the Khashpusinsky Canyon, I show exciting photos in booklets. But in fact, sometimes it turns out that you are brought instead of the expected Grand Canyon to the Small One, where you will not be able to ride a Sap-server board or walk along the bottom of the canyon. Therefore, before buying, be sure to specify which of the two available canyons you will actually be taken to.
And also check if the Grand Canyon is fully open. The fact is that after heavy rains, the most interesting part of this canyon becomes unsafe, and therefore inaccessible. Then you can only look at it from the viewing point, and you will not be able to walk or swim on the board.
🕐 Working hours
In the daytime.
💵 Entrance fee / ticket price
Entrance is 200 rubles, descent by buggy (optional) – 400 rubles.
🚶 How to get there
Hashupse Grand Canyon is located 26 kilometers from Gagra and 8 kilometers from Tsandripsha (Hashupse Grand Canyon on the map). The easiest way to get here is with jeep tours, which are sold by distributors on the streets of resorts, the cost starts from 1600 rubles. But let's repeat once again: before buying an excursion, check whether the Grand Canyon will be exactly in the itinerary program, and not the Small One, and whether it is currently fully available for walking and swimming on boards.
There is no problem to get here on your own transport. The same road leads here as to the Small Canyon, but the turn to the big one is earlier, and there is a sign there. In order not to make a mistake, just use the navigator to set a route to the point that is indicated on our map, and you will get where you need to go. The road here is very bad, but quite passable for most cars. And do not pay attention to what the sellers of excursions will tell you about the impassability of this road, it's all not true. We were here and saw everything with our own eyes, and people drive here calmly in dry weather, even in low foreign cars.
Along the route you will reach the parking lot next to the cafe and the guest house. By the way, you can stay in this guest house at a price starting from 2000 rubles per room, but they are rented only for a period of 3 nights, i.e. you will not be able to come and spend one night here. Here you can park your car for free, pay 200 rubles for access to the canyon, and then walk a little more than 500 meters to the canyon and down, or you can be taken on ATVs for an additional fee of 400 rubles. Further along the canyon, you will have to walk waist-deep or at least knee-deep in the water, and here a swimsuit and special bathing shoes will come in handy. Sap surf boards for rent are also offered here.
There is also an alternative entrance to the canyon from the other side, but during our visit there in 2023 it was not available. This entry point is further down the road (alternative entrance on the map), there is a free parking area. When we were there, work was carried out to restore bridges and paths to the canyon, which were washed away due to bad weather.
💥 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: