Top 10 Waterfalls in Peru
Peru is best known for the Andes and Machu Picchu, but the eastern slopes where the mountains drop toward the Amazon — the ceja de selva, or eyebrow of the jungle — hide some of the tallest and least-visited waterfalls on earth. Cloud forest clings to near-vertical valleys, and rivers spill off escarpments in plunges of hundreds of metres. Many were barely known to the outside world until the 2000s. Most run year round, fullest in the wet season (December to March). All ten below are on the map.
1. Catarata Gocta, Amazonas
Gocta near Chachapoyas drops about 771 metres in two main tiers, making it one of the tallest waterfalls in the world. It was largely unknown beyond its local communities until a 2005 expedition publicised it. A trail of about 5 kilometres each way through cloud forest reaches the base. Fed by highland rain, it is fullest in the wet season.
2. Catarata Yumbilla, Amazonas
Yumbilla, also near Chachapoyas, drops about 896 metres in four tiers, ranking among the very tallest falls measured anywhere. It is thinner and more broken than Gocta but greater in total height. A forest trail reaches viewpoints. The Amazonas region around these two falls is one of the world's richest for tall waterfalls.
3. Catarata de Ahuashiyacu, San Martín
Ahuashiyacu near Tarapoto drops about 40 metres into a clear pool in high-jungle forest, easily reached by road and popular for swimming. Its accessibility and inviting pool make it one of the most visited falls in the San Martín region. Fed by jungle streams, it runs year round and is fullest in the rains.
4. Catarata de Sipia (Cataratas Cusco area)
The Sipia falls on the Río Cotahuasi in Arequipa drop about 150 metres within the Cotahuasi Canyon — one of the world's deepest canyons. The powerful fall churns through a narrow gorge and is reached by a trail on the canyon trekking routes. The remote setting and canyon depth make it dramatic; strongest in the wet season.
5. Catarata de Bayoz, Junín
Bayoz in the central jungle near La Merced and Satipo drops in a broad curtain into the Río Perené basin, in the Selva Central. Often visited alongside the neighbouring Velo de la Novia fall, it is a popular outing in the coffee-growing high jungle. Easily reached and fullest after rain.
6. Catarata Velo de la Novia, Junín
The Velo de la Novia (Bridal Veil) near Bayoz in the Selva Central spreads into a fine veil as it drops through jungle, the water dispersing across a wide rock face. The two falls together make a popular day trip from La Merced. Fed by Andean-Amazon rain, it runs year round.
7. Catarata de Carpish, Huánuco
In the Carpish cloud forest between Huánuco and Tingo María, numerous cascades drop through dense montane forest along the road that crosses the Carpish pass. These falls, fed by near-constant cloud-forest moisture, line a scenic route and are a highlight of the journey into the central high jungle.
8. Catarata Santa Carmen, Cusco
Near Santa Teresa in the Cusco region, on the route to Machu Picchu via the hydroelectric station, the Santa Carmen and nearby falls drop through cloud forest beside the trekking trail. Hikers on the Salkantay and alternative Inca trails pass several cascades. Fed by glacial and rain runoff; strongest in the wet season.
9. Catarata de Pumahuanca, Cusco
Pumahuanca near Urubamba in the Sacred Valley drops through a high Andean valley fed by glacial melt and snow, reached by a trek up from the valley floor. Set against the snow peaks of the Urubamba range, it offers a high-altitude waterfall experience close to the Cusco tourist circuit.
10. Catarata El Tirol, Cusco
El Tirol near Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town) is a cascade reached by a short uphill trail through cloud forest from the town, a popular leg-stretch for visitors waiting to enter Machu Picchu. The lush forest and the cascade make a quiet contrast to the crowded ruins. Fullest in the wet season.
Planning a Peru waterfall trip
The Amazonas region around Chachapoyas (Gocta, Yumbilla) is the world-class destination for tall falls, reachable by a flight to Jaén and a drive, often combined with the Kuélap fortress. San Martín (Ahuashiyacu) centres on Tarapoto. The Selva Central (Bayoz, Velo de la Novia) is reached from La Merced. The Cusco-area falls (Santa Carmen, El Tirol, Pumahuanca) slot into a Machu Picchu itinerary. The wet season (December to March) brings peak flow but muddier trails.
The tallest falls almost no one had seen
Gocta and Yumbilla illustrate something remarkable: into the 21st century, waterfalls among the very tallest on earth remained essentially unknown beyond their immediate communities. The cloud forest of northern Peru is so steep, so wet, and so thinly mapped that these giants went uncatalogued by the wider world until expeditions in the 2000s measured and publicised them. Their heights are still debated, since measuring a multi-tier fall on a near-vertical jungle slope is genuinely difficult, and rankings vary by whether broken tiers are counted as one fall. What is certain is that this corner of the Andes-Amazon transition holds a concentration of tall falls matched almost nowhere else, and much of it remains lightly visited.
Explore on the map
Every waterfall above is plotted on the interactive map — filter to plan a Chachapoyas expedition to Gocta and Yumbilla or to slot cloud-forest cascades into a Cusco and Machu Picchu trip.