Erawan Waterfall (Namtok Erawan)

The Erawan Waterfall was really an impressive series of seven waterfalls each with a shape and character all its own. All the waterfalls typically fell over limestone cliffs resulting in colorful plunge pools as well as interesting rounded formations reminiscent of something that appeared to belong in a cave. However, we also saw some unsigned waterfalls that seemed legitimate but didn't appear to count towards the seven.

In any case, we thought this waterfall had it all - the scenery, the swimming, and the exercise. It was no wonder why it was popular and quite busy here. Of course, given how typically hot it was in this part of Thailand, I guess the swimming or playing in the plunge pools of many of these waterfalls as well came as no surprise.

It took us about 3.5 hours to do the entire round trip to visit all seven of the Erawan Waterfalls. From the car park, the trail started off flat (there was even an option to take a tram which we didn't do) ultimately reaching the first waterfall. This one didn't seem to have many swimmers though there were a handful of people scrambling around for a closer look. And maybe the lack of people in the water here might have been a big reason why we saw lots of fish in the travertine pools further downstream of the falls. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time we had seen so much fish before a waterfall in any of our waterfalling excursions. And the travertine pools really reminded me of Havasu Falls.

A short distance later, the activity picked up and there were lots of people swimming, wading, and even scrambling into a small alcove behind the second waterfall (see photo at the top of this page). We thought this one was one of the more scenic ones given its unusual rounded underlying limestone over which the water flowed. And we had a good time taking photos from here before beginning to climb up to the waterfalls further ahead.

On the way, we were stopped at a check point where we had to register with the authorities there while I recalled having to leave some kind of collateral (Thai baht I believe) in exchange for the plastic water bottles we were carrying with us. I thought it was a good system (to minimize the amount of litter in the ecologically sensitive areas) though they probably should've charged a little more money to really make it attractive to bring the water bottles back here and get back their money.

It took a few more minutes of uphill hiking before we finally encountered the third Erawan Waterfall. And like the first waterfall, this one also had lots of fish swimming in its plunge pool. However, this one was significantly taller than the first two (possibly 20-25m I think) though not nearly as wide. It was up there with the 2nd waterfall as one of our favorites in the lot.

Further up the hike, the fourth Erawan Waterfall was more of a water slide. It also had a larger drop further downstream, but it was hard to see. We saw one person scoot himself on the rounded rock of the waterslide before finally letting gravity take over.

The 5th waterfall was just another set of cascades set amongst limestone with lots of travertine pools in the area. We saw a handful of people swimming and chilling out here, but it definitely lacked the activity of the 2nd waterfall considering this one required a little more exertion to reach.

The trail got increasingly a little rougher beyond the 5th waterfall as there started to be some sections requiring ladders while the trail narrowed even more and even required a fair bit of stream walking in a few spots. However, we did spot a few more unnamed or "unofficial" waterfalls en route, and the hike seemed more naturesque than before. But ultimately, this fairly tame part of the hike terminated at the sixth waterfall, which was a wide multitiered cascade with some lower tiers detached and further downstream. Together, they seemed to comprise the base of waterfall #7 further upstream. Plus, the plunge pool had nice color (which would've been even more pronounced had the sun penetrated through to the water).

Finally, the last bit of trail to the last Erawan Waterfall required even more adventure as it involved more stream walking, more ladders, and even a few narrow and exposed-to-minor-dropoff spots. It didn't seem like there were many people willing to go through the effort to go all the way here. But since we were already here, why not?

The trail ended right at a view of the last waterfall, which only showed its lower sections on our visit. There was supposed to be three upper segments coming down over a rounded limestone precipice that would've made the falls appear like three elephant trunks. In fact, this waterfall got its name from the theoretically three-trunk-elephant-like appearance resembling the Hindu God by the name of Erawan. Unfortunately, our guide told us that the full-flow state (with the three trunks) hadn't been witnessed in a while due to diminishing rainfall (Global Climate Change perhaps?). Obviously, it didn't happen for us when we were there, which you can see from the pictures below.

When we were done with the hike, we returned on the all-downhill path on the way that we came up.

View Larger Map

TRIP REPORTS

• December 25, 2008

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

Have You Been To This Waterfall?

Share your experience!

Click here to see visitor comments for this waterfall

Click here to see visitor comments for other waterfalls that we've visited in this region

Click here to go to the Comments Main Page