Where? Gozalandia, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico

Address

Sec Lechuza, San Sebastián, 00685

Hours of operation according to their Google business page, the gate is open from 9:00AM-6:00PM

IMPORTANT: Gozalandia used to be a little known waterfall that only locals knew about. Before social media, people would learn about it by word of mouth. At the moment, the main entrance is gated, pedestrian access is prohibited through it and a restaurant has been built on site. It’s no longer absolutely required to hike down the long trek from the road. Even though, there’s still a trail that can be accessed from the Sec Lechuza road. You would have to leave the car on the side of the road at your own risk and from there, hike down to the waterfall. This path has been made by people that wander off road. Therefore, it’s a wild and poorly maintained trail.

Fee $10.00 per car.

Pets Yes, I saw people with their dogs.

Restrooms Yes. There are restrooms on site, next to the restaurant. Not necessarily very clean though. See picture above!

Food As mentioned before, a restaurant has been built on site. The restaurant is called “Sha’s” and sells traditional puertorrican cuisine.

We didn’t know there was a restaurant on site. Therefore, before heading to Gozalandia, we stopped at El Mesón, down at the town of San Sebastián, and ordered food for take out. We put it in our bags and ate it at the waterfall later on. There’s also a Frutera in the same location as El Mesón. If you’ve been following along for a while, you know I recommend La Frutera 100%. They sell smoothies made with real fruit and you can customize the ingredients however you want at no extra charge. No fake juices added!

Parking available on site. Basically, the $10.00 fee is the parking.

What to expect

Right in front of the parking is the restaurant and the paved path that leads to the waterfall.

By the restaurant entrance, there’s a big wooden chair painted with the flag of Puerto Rico for photo opps!

You pass the restaurant and continue on a boardwalk where there’s a pond with turtles, fishes and birds all around. This is a great spot for kids to sightsee turtles. It seems like people feed them because they automatically swim towards you when they see you. I didn’t ask if there was turtle feed being sold at the restaurant but if there’s not, then don’t feed the animals human food, please. Leave them wild!

After hanging out at the pond a bit, continue the path down to the waterfall. The trail becomes more narrow which can be problematic when there’s people coming both ways (and you want to social distance).

Quickly, you’ll reach a fork where you can either continue straight, go left or right.

If you take a right, you’ll arrive to smaller pools that form above the main waterfall, the one called Gozalandia (or Las Cataratas or El Roble).

If you take the left, you’ll arrive to smaller pools that form down the main waterfall. And if you continue straight, you’ll make your way exactly to Gozalandia.

The direct path to the waterfall is paved, there are real steps built in, but is very very steep. Be advised! The way in might be easy peasy but the way back will certainly leave you out of breath.

There’s an overlook where you’ll get a sneak peek of the waterfall, just before reaching the bottom.

Once at the waterfall, enjoy! It’s absolutely beautiful. The water has a soft light green hue that looks very unreal and magical.

There’s a lot of fishes swimming around that will kiss your feet and legs if you stay still enough.

The waterfall is more or less 60 feet tall. It produces a very deep pool that leads to an underwater cave. We didn’t attempt to swim to the cave since our children are still developing their swimming skills. But, it’s already on our bucket list for the future!

For safety, is not advice to climb on rocks and jump yet that’s what many people go to Gozalandia for. The upper falls, above the main one, has a rope for jumping into the pool too.

This place has become very famous. This means that it’s usually very crowded. I thought that going during a Monday (a working day) would allow me to avoid people but no, it was still packed!

If the big main pool is too crowded for your liking, you can go down the falls where other smaller pools form. Including, one with a small natural slide!

The smaller pools are better for little kids. Especially if they are still practicing their swimming skills. They have pockets that are more shallow and the deep ones are small.

Don’t forget to bring the following essentials:

Sunscreen anytime you will be exposed to the sun you should wear sunscreen. Follow the instructions for application to allow it to dry and if you have the means, please use a sunscreen that is labeled reef safe. You can read more about it here.

Waterproof shoes with good traction and support. You can bring the flip flops in a backpack.

Hat consider getting a hat from a local vendor in the island.

Floaters and/or life vests especially if the kids and adults do not know how to swim. The main pool is big enough to allow multiple people to enjoy on a floater.

Do not bring ridiculously loud speakers to play music, use your headphones for that. The admission rules state that coolers and speakers are not allowed. See picture below for more details.

I hope you have a great time visiting this beautiful place. Being in contact with nature is proven to make you feel better and happier. Let me know if you go how it goes and remember that the easiest way to stay on the loop is to follow me on insta, where I also share videos and more on my stories/highlights!

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