Diyaluma Falls

Diyaluma drops around two hundred and twenty metres in a single main fall visible from the road below, which makes it the second highest in Sri Lanka. What draws most people is above rather than below: a walk of about an hour from the Poonagala road reaches a set of rock pools on the stream at the lip, where the water pauses in basins before going over, with the Uva plain spread out beyond.

What's there

• The main fall - a drop of around 220 metres seen from the road below.
• The upper pools - rock basins on the stream at the lip of the fall.
• The plain view - the Uva lowlands from the top of the escarpment.
• The walk up - an hour through tea and scrub from the upper road.

When to go

January to April is the driest and safest for the upper pools. Flow is strongest after the monsoons but the rocks are then dangerous. Mornings avoid the crowds and the heat.

Good to know

The top pools are dangerous - water can sweep people over the edge and the wet rock is slippery; the last pool before the drop has no barrier of any kind. The walk up is unmarked in places. Do not go after heavy rain.

Nearby

Ella is north, and Bambarakanda is northwest.

Key facts