gerês's instagram star collects the price of fame every year
The Cascatas de Fecha de Barjas, popularised as the Cascatas do Tahiti (a name that stuck to the place over recent years via social media), are a series of waterfalls and pools strung along the Arado river, just before it joins the Fafião river, between the villages of Ermida and Fafião. They're inside the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês, in the parish of Vilar da Veiga, council of Terras de Bouro. The Tahiti name came from the photos: emerald-green pools at the bottom of a leafy gorge, perfect for Instagram. The result was the transformation of a tucked-away spot into one of the park's most visited points, with everything that brings.
Access is the critical part. You park by the bridge over the Arado river, on the road linking Fafião to Ermida. From there to the top of the falls is 50 metres on foot, but the first pools you reach are the small, safe ones, good for children. The main pool, the one in the photos, is around 300 metres further down, following a steep trail with extremely slippery wet rocks. The descent on the left bank is the safest. Every year there are accidents, some serious: people slipping on the polished rock or jumping into the water without checking the bottom. It's not park exaggeration: it's what actually happens.
When the flow is high (spring, autumn, after rain), the falls are impressive but the pools become more dangerous because of the current. In high summer the flow drops, the water warms up slightly, but it's still the Serra do Gerês above 1,200 metres up there, meaning cold.
In August it fills up. The bridge has cars parked on the verge as far as you can see, the trails get congested, and the 50-metre walk easily turns into 500. Anyone wanting the photo without the crowd has to go very early in the morning or in off-peak months. A few kilometres away, on the same Arado river further upstream, is the Cascata do Arado, also signposted by the park but with no swimming allowed. And the Miradouro da Pedra Bela, nearby, gives one of the best panoramic views in the Gerês over the whole mountain range.
worth knowing
- every year there are serious accidents at these falls; the surface is very slippery polished rock, especially when wet
- the main pool is around 300 metres from the parking area, on a steep descent; the left bank is the safest
- before jumping into any pool, check the bottom; there are submerged rocks and the depth varies a lot throughout the year
- in August and July weekends it fills up and the roadside parking goes a long way; before 9am it's a different place
- the water is cold all year round (it comes from the mountains above 1,200 metres) and the flow can partly dry up in August
