Chasing Waterfalls in Baños Ecuador
One of our favorite activities in Baños was waterfall chasing! Although we didn’t jump in (the ones we visited were not swimmable), we did have a fun day discovering them. If you are in Baños, we highly recommend doing the famous “Ruta de las Cascadas” on a bicycle. This is really fun and allows you to go at your own pace and admire them. The best part…you avoid all the tourists on the Chivas!
Bikes with Ivaga Tours
We booked our bikes with Ivaga Tours. We looked around and realized that Ivaga offered excellent quality bikes and most of them were new! Their reviews on Trip Advisor also did not sway us wrong. Ivaga tours provided helmets, locks for the bikes, a city map with recommendations on the waterfall route and the best part was that they also had road side assistance. If we had any issues with our bikes or a flat tire, they gave us a number to call and they would come out to meet us and bring us new bikes. After we were all set, we jumped on our bikes and headed to the 18km waterfall route which ended at “El Pailón Del Diablo” .
Ruta de las Cascadas
The start of the route is very straight forward as you will only be riding down the big street in town. As a fair warning, you will be riding next to cars, vans and fairly large trucks. Do yourself a favor, please be careful and stay on the edge of the road. All the cars will go around you and most of them give you a polite honk to let you know they are behind you. The route is not bad and it is about 80% downhill. The other 20% can present a challenge depending on your physical health and the type of bike you rented. The bike we rented from Ivaga was an awesome 24 speed and was great for those uphills. The hills were not very though, but the type of bike really helped out. We met two girls on the ride back to Baños and one of them unfortunately got a flat tire. We highly recommend you rent your bike from a reputable company, as the last thing you want is trying to deal with a flat tire all on your own.
Along this waterfall route you will see over 7 waterfalls. Some might be a bit off the beaten track, but the best part of using a bike is that you can create your own route. We recommend you stop at each of the waterfalls and at least take a look, you may like one better than the other. Take your time and relax, there is no rush since the route can be completed in 3-5 hours. The time on the route depends on how long you spend at each spot or if you decide to do any of the crazy activities. You will find zip line, cable cars, puenting and other adventures..
The Grand Finale
Our final stop was at Pailón Del Diablo, The Mother of All Waterfalls! This waterfall was one of the reasons why we came to Ecuador in the first place! It is just wow! Make sure to have enough time to walk around and discover. Keep in mind there are two entrances to Pailón Del Diablo. Our top recommendation is to use the old entrance. You will find this entrance once you pass the bridge. Keep going straight and you will see people directing you to park your bikes for FREE. You really can’t get lost as the road will come to an end and you will not see anything else past the entrance. This is the entrance that allows you to walk down the steps and crawl through a small cave to get behind the waterfall! It was just unbelievable. The second option, is the new entrance which gives you the view from the top. It is also nice, but not as exciting and cool as the other one. The new entrance is located next to a bridge. This is also the entrance that is used by many Chivas tours. Expect a lot of people.
As you get ready to head back to Baños, look around for the transportation trucks. They are located on the main street, close to the bridge. They will charge you $2 per person to haul you and your bike in the back. Enjoy the ride!
Final Tips:
Bring water & snacks to eat along the way.
Don’t forget the SPF & mosquito spray.
Bring a waterproof jacket or raincoat, since you will get wet. We didn’t mind getting wet.
There are bathrooms along the waterfall route and at Pailón Del Diablo (just bring toilet paper).
*No, there was no money involved. This post was part of a collaboration with Ivaga Tours. All opinions and reviews are completely our own.
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