seven altars

Leave your shoes, wear your flip flops and start a Nice promenade along the river with final bath under the cascade!

Let me start this by saying that it is quite a ways away from Livingston. I've walked from Livingston to Siete Altares (and back) twice. It's about 2 or 2 and a half hours each way from Livingston if you walk along the beach the entire way. I know a lot of people take a boat or a cab to the bridge and walk from there, but it's really an eye-opening walk if you go the whole way. You can see first-hand the life of the Garifuna people living along the shore, scattered in tiny settlements.Once you reach the entrance, you have the jungle to contend with. Yes, there are mosquitoes. Yes, there is a lot of humidity. Yes, the path to the falls can be hazardous, especially after the rain when everything is muddy. Wear hiking shoes or boots and know what you're getting into. You'll follow the river for most of the path, and you'll cross the river a couple of times. It may be easier, depending on the mud and the height of the river, to actually just walk through the river, but be careful as the stones are slippery. But once you arrive, once you see the falls and find the very deep pool of cool, fresh, clean water, you'll know it was worth it. Some more adventurous types will want to climb the falls using a hazardous path and jump into the pool from the top of the waterfall. You can do this, just be careful. The pool is very deep, I've heard as much as 7 meters (~23 feet) deep, so it is safe to jump. The water is cold but refreshing after a long walk along the beach and through the jungle. There are a couple of hotel-restaurants along the way to stop for a beer or food or some water if needed. Definitely bring some water with you! You will need it!!!Also, it is 20Q (~$2.50 USD) per person to enter, so remember to bring some money! There is a restroom as well as refreshments available at the entrance. The money goes towards preserving the land and helping to fund various projects in the Garifuna community. It is community-owned and operated.

This is a nice stroll and if you bringyour bathing suit you can enjoy the manyponds as they cascade down towards the ocean.Pity the beach is so littered with garbage butSeven Alters is a nice way to spend a couple hours.

From town grab a taxi to the bridge and then follow the coast north. Plenty of little restaurants / bars along the way to grab a beer, soda or water if you are so inclined.You basically hike up the side of the river to the falls which we were lucky enough to have totally to ourselves. Swam a bit, watched butterflies and hummingbirds and enjoyed the tranquility.Beautiful spot.

We hiked up to Seven Altars during our trip to Playa Blanca - it's a fun, but treacherous!, hike up to the top. I went in flip flops and was ok - I took them off when we had to wade through water (it was warm!) and went carefully over the rocks.

We arrived by boat and were overwhelmed by the beauty of the intricate jungle, a small hut with Mr. Hector Protector, in charge of the place, giving all kind of tips to enjoy the hike, and then one by one the seven water holes with water falls and enormous trees. Indispensable to use water shoes. Fantastic.

Quiet river surrounded by a luxurious forest with a nice spot to swim. Some distance to get to the spot.

Our visit to the Seven Altars last week was somewhat underwhelming. Even though it was still the rainy season, the pools had a distinct lack of water. Most of the larger areas didn't have any water flowing over the edge. We went to the back (furthest away) pool out of a sense of obligation. As many other reviews stated and we were warned, the walk along the beach is nothing but a garbage strewn mess that comes in from the ocean. It's quite depressing. Some landowners try to keep the garbage cleaned out, but they are few. We stopped at one of the hotels along the way for a snack and beer after seeing the Seven Altars. I can't imagine the effort their staff must have to put in to keep their area of the beach clean. Overall, it's pretty depressing.

Wish I had spent more time here. Only regret is that I should have arrived earlier in the day instead of later in afternoon.

We went to the Seven Altars waterfall in October 2014. Overall we were very underwhelmed by the falls, although we enjoyed swimming in the last pool (the one furthest away from the entrance). In fairness, our experience was probably affected by the awful journey we had to take to get there (nearly 2 hours of walking on plastic and rubbish all the way from Livingstone). However, I would not bother with going there again unless it was as a stop on the boat trip on the way to the clean (private) beach further up the coast (Playa Blanca).

From a taxi from town to "the bridge," it's then a 30 minutes walk on a really dirty beach (syringes, shoes, plastic bottles, any kind of trash) to the site. You should have water shoes or sport sandals for the way up the waterfall because the rocks are edgy and it can be slippery. At the last pool, there is a big waterfall that you can swim behind and dive off of from the ledge above. There are some rock and paver paths, but not a lot. ALL THIS BEING SAID, IT IS WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT. IT IS SO CALM, PEACEFUL, AND BEAUTIFUL THERE.I would go there again!

It's a 30 minutes walk on a really dirty beach (syringe, shoes, plastique bottle, any kind of trash). you should have water shoes or sport sandals for the way up the waterfall. be carefull it can be slippery. At the end there is a big waterfal and you can swim behind and sit there

We walk all the way trough the beach 20 quetzal the entrance cool clean water in small pools heading down !! I love it

The walk to the 7 altares was awefull. The whole beach was full of garbage, you partly walk just on garbage as there is no room you can view sand. Locals told us that a few weeks ago suddenly all the garbage arrived from the ocean :( its really not nice and i hope the can clean it away.Anyway- it gave us a picture of what can happen with our planet if we are not reasonable with garbage!The 7 altars are nice, i wouldnt walk over all thes garbage again to see them.

What a nice Jungle trekking path,We went from Livinston at the riverbed and took a very nice hike there,Greta jungle path with very nice views.