Skip to main content

Waterfall · Balda, Martvili Municipality, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Georgia

Oniore Waterfall

A 67-metre waterfall in the Toba gorge above Balda, fed by an underground river that emerges from a cave, reached on a half-day forest walk from Balda Monastery.

  • waterfall
  • cave
  • hiking
  • natural monument
  • toba gorge
  • askhi massif
  • samegrelo

Why visit

Oniore Waterfall — ონიორეს ჩანჩქერი — drops 67 metres in the Toba gorge, in the southern part of the Askhi massif about five kilometres north-east of Meore Balda in Martvili Municipality. What makes it unusual is where the water comes from: an underground river flows out of Toba First Cave and becomes the waterfall fifteen metres later. Georgia's Agency of Protected Areas treats the cave and the fall as a single natural monument for that reason, and the same karst system continues inside, where a second waterfall of about twenty-one metres falls seventy metres in from the cave entrance. This is the most demanding of XTOUR's hidden gems so far, and the walk is the point rather than an obstacle before it. The route runs through forest above the Abasha, crosses the Toba river several times on foot, and passes trunk bridges and stretches of trail that nobody maintains. It is not a roadside waterfall and it is not a family stroll. The reward is a tall, narrow fall in a wooded gorge with a pool at the bottom, and — if you have walked the longer loop — Toba's waterfall on the same day. The cave mouth above the falls is visible and is best left that way; reaching it is a climb, not a scramble.

Getting there

The approach is the same as for Kaghu Waterfall: drive to Balda Monastery, about nine and a half kilometres and twenty minutes from Martvili town, and park there. The made road becomes a dirt track shortly beyond the monastery, so this is where walking starts. Two routes are documented and they are not the same walk. The Agency of Protected Areas describes 6.1 km of marked hiking trail from Pirveli Balda to the monument, taking about an hour and a half. A specialist trekking source describes a 13.8 km loop starting at the monastery, five to six hours with around 630 metres of ascent, which reaches Toba as well as Oniore. Whichever you take, expect several crossings of the Toba river on foot, trunk bridges, and sections of path that are unmaintained — one report found the trail buried under fallen trees. Waymarking exists but is old.

Best time to visit

A warm, settled day between late spring and early autumn, when the river crossings are low and the walk is comfortable.

Through the year

The documented season runs from April to November, and the limiting factor is the river rather than the trail: the route crosses the Toba on foot several times, so water level decides whether the day works. That argues against the shoulders of the window — early spring carries snowmelt and November means wading in cold water — which is why the months below are narrower than the full range. Rain matters as much as season, both for the crossings and for a path that is unmaintained in places. Summer is also when the pool at the bottom is a plausible idea rather than an ordeal.

Water and swimming

There is a pool at the base of the falls, and firsthand accounts describe getting into it and standing under the water, which is consistently reported as very cold. What could not be found is any official position on swimming here: no statement from the protected areas agency that manages the monument, no posted rule, no published depth and no water-quality information. So this records that people do swim without claiming anyone has said they may. After a wet spell the volume coming off a 67-metre fall is worth respecting from the edge rather than testing.

Safety

The trail is the hazard here, not the waterfall. Sections are unmaintained, the waymarking is old, and one account found the route buried under fallen trees and had to find a way around; on the northern part of the loop there are short exposed stretches where a misstep would have real consequences. Carry an offline map and be willing to turn back rather than improvise a line — getting lost is the most likely thing to go wrong on this walk. The Toba is crossed on foot several times. The crossings are described as shallow, but that is a statement about normal conditions, not about the day after heavy rain; a pole and footwear you do not mind soaking make both the crossings and the wet rock easier. The water is cold. The cave mouth above the falls should be looked at, not visited. One experienced account is explicit that reaching it is very difficult and should not be attempted without a rope and someone who knows how to climb. Treat it as scenery.

Combine it with

Kaghu Waterfall shares this trailhead and is about twenty minutes' walk from the same parking, which makes it the one thing that genuinely fits alongside Oniore in a day. Toba's waterfall is on the longer loop and is the natural pairing if you are walking that. Balda Monastery is where you park, and Balda Canyon is close by. Martvili Canyon is only eleven kilometres away and does not belong in the same day as this walk. After five to six hours in the gorge, a ticketed canyon with a boat queue is a poor use of what is left of the afternoon; give it its own morning.

Local tips

Navigate to Balda Monastery rather than to the waterfall, and download the area for offline use before you leave signal. Take a walking pole and shoes or sandals you can wade in, plus dry socks for afterwards. Carry all your water and food: there are cafes near Kaghu at the start, but nothing along the route. Tell someone your plan, since this is a walk where you can be out of contact for hours, and start early enough that route-finding problems do not turn into a walk out in the dark.

Photography

It is a tall, narrow fall in a wooded gorge, which means the interesting frame is usually vertical and the difficulty is contrast between bright water and dark forest. Overcast days handle that better than sun. Spray carries a long way from a fall this height, so a cloth for the lens is worth more here than a filter. Nothing reliable is documented about the light at particular hours in the gorge, so no claim is made about a best time of day.

Specific hazards

  • Unstable trail
  • Cold water

Base yourself nearby

Town and Nature Base

Martvili

Martvili is a small town in Samegrelo surrounded by limestone canyons, waterfalls, forested river valleys, historic churches and some of western Georgia's most distinctive Megrelian food traditions.

Explore Martvili

Related guides

Turquoise water between the mossy limestone walls of Martvili Canyon, a waterfall falling on the right and a small boat of visitors upstream.

Martvili Canyon Guide: Tickets, Boat Ride, Best Time and How to Get There

Martvili Canyon is a short, managed canyon visit in western Georgia: a 700-metre paved loop above the Abasha River, plus an optional boat ride through the narrow water-level section. It is genuinely photogenic and takes about ninety minutes. It is not a wilderness hike, you cannot swim in it, and the boat stops running in bad weather. This guide sets out what it costs now that prices have risen, when the water actually looks turquoise, how to reach it from Kutaisi, Batumi or Tbilisi, and how it compares with Okatse.

Read guide →
All XTOUR hidden gems