Cascade Waterfall in The Seychelles: A Local’s Guide

From The Authors: Gaelle was born and raised in the Seychelles while Viktor has been living here for 1+ year. Unlike many other travel blogs, we actually have first-hand knowledge and experience of the places we write about. If you have any questions, we respond quickly to comments!

The Cascade Waterfall, located of the East side of Mahé Island, is one of Seychelles hidden tourist gems – and one that only pops up occasionally.

In fact, even Gaelle in her 25 years of living in Seychelles has only been able to see the full waterfall a handful of times, making it one of Mahe’s hidden gems.

So, to make sure you guys are having an equally incredible experience, we compiled everything you’d need to know for this little hike.

👉 Things To Consider | How To Get There & The Cascade Hike

What to consider before Going

Before getting too excited to take a refreshing plunge in the soaring (and frankly cold) water, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

First and foremost, the waterfall is not active all the time. In fact, even many locals have not had the chance to experience it.

The weather is what’s going to determine whether you will be able to see it or not. Your best bet is when it has rained in the days leading up to your hike.

When we went in September, it had been raining (as is common for this time of the year in Seychelles) for the past few weeks – and especially the day prior, when it was absolutely pouring.

However, keep in mind that you shouldn’t do the hike if it’s raining. Some of the paths are quite muddy/slippery, so it’s best to wait a few hours until the ground dries up a little.

The same, by the way, also applies to the waterfall itself (Gaelle unfortunately has a few scratches and bruises to show for it lol).

If possible, you’d want to bring hiking boots to avoid slipping and getting your feet wet. That said, locals do the hike in sandals or flip flops as well, so it’s not an absolute necessity.

Also, keep an eye out for insects. While the spiders will draw all the attention (don’t worry, they’re not poisonous), the red ants (also called restless ants) are what you need to be aware of – their bites can cause a bit of discomfort.

They’ll likely crawl over your belongings when you remove them at the waterfall, so make sure to shake your clothes when you put them back on again.

If you’re a moderately fit person, then the hike up to the waterfall shouldn’t be an issue whatsoever. Back and forth from the parking lot, you’ll walk around 1.5km while gaining roughly 100m of elevation.

Lastly, and I hope that goes without saying, please refrain from jumping off the rocks. Not only is the pool below the waterfall not that deep, but the current itself is quite strong.

How to get to the Cascade Waterfall

The waterfall, much like everything else worth seeing on Mahé, is best accessed by driving up either with your own rented car or by hiring a driver.

If you drive by yourself, then please don’t solely rely on Google Maps as the single source of truth. Road information in the Seychelles isn’t always the most accurate and you may end up parking your car somewhere that’s not allowed.

That said, the drive to your parking spot should be fairly straight forward. Angel Care Hire is roughly the spot where you’d want to park your car at.

You’ll get there by taking a turn off of East Coast Road towards the street where Saint Andre Church is located.

Now, simply drive straight up that road until you roughly reach the spot of the pin (again, keep in mind that Google Maps’ drawing of the road isn’t up to date).

The location where you’d want to park your vehicle will look like this:

From there, you want to follow the road that I’ve marked with the arrow. Eventually, you’ll see a small bridge that you’d want to cross:

At the end of that bridge, there’ll be a white house. In between that house and the river is the path you need to get on in order to get to the waterfall.

By the way, most of the time you can already hear the waterfall pouring down from that location, so you’ll know whether it’s worth hiking up or not.

For the majority of the hike you simply stay on the concrete staired path. You’ll know that you’re on the right way when you cross the following house and little farm.

Eventually, you’ll hit an intersection where the left road leads you to another house. Then, take the right and continue walking up.

From there, it’s a few hundred meters to the waterfall, which’ll hopefully look somewhat like this.

If you cross the part where the pipe is located (make sure to remove your shoes before), then you can walk up further on top where you can take a plunge as well.

Again, when walking back from the waterfall, please watch your steps as some of the rocks can be quite slippery. Also, you’d want to leave before 6pm as the forest gets quite dark and not to disturb the locals living there.

Please refrain from using any strong products on your skin and hair as the water is used in some of the homes in the area. Lastly, take back any rubbish you may accumulate to keep this hidden gem clean.

Plus, some of the spots pointed towards Cerf Island will make for truly incredible views!