Palau 
In numbers.
35m
Height
OpenStreetMap
0.45m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Jun–Sep
Best months
155kW
Water power
estimate
The water at Ngardmau Waterfall, month by month
It roars from June to September.
The fullest months: from June to September.
- 0.4 m³/sJan
- 0.4 m³/sFeb
- 0.4 m³/sMar
- 0.4 m³/sApr
- 0.4 m³/sMay
- 0.5 m³/sJun
- 0.6 m³/sJul
- 0.6 m³/sAug
- 0.5 m³/sSep
- 0.5 m³/sOct
- 0.5 m³/sNov
- 0.5 m³/sDec
From about 0.36 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.61 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from June to September.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall of Palau
Ngardmau Waterfall is a waterfall in Palau. The water falls 35 m.
Getting there.
- Ngardmaunearest town · 2.9 km in a straight line
- Roman Tmetuchl International Airport (ROR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 26 km in a straight line
- From June to Septemberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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How big is it?
How big it really is.
Height of the drop as mapped in OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Buildings and the person are drawn at the same scale.
155 kW
About 0.45 m³/s falling 35 m: the power of the water as it drops.
- enough to power about 39 homes, if it were all turned into electricity
Power of falling water = density × gravity × flow × height. Average flow and height as shown above; an estimate.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 47 m in 2.4 km. Here the river runs about 74 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- —car parks
- —swimming spots
- 2picnic sites
- 1toilets
- 1information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- —other named waterfalls within 4 km
- —caves
- —campsites
- —hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 km
- —restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Ngardmau2.9 km in a straight line
- Ngerkeai6.2 km in a straight line
- Ulimang6.5 km in a straight line
- Imeong Hamlet9.9 km in a straight line
- Ngerulmud11 km in a straight line
- Melekeok Village12 km in a straight line
- Mengellang12 km in a straight line
- Ngchesar Hamlet14 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 |
| Night °C | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 216 | 197 | 183 | 177 | 279 | 331 | 375 | 303 | 284 | 236 | 239 | 246 |
| Wet days | 24 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 26 | 27 |
| Sun h/day | 6.6 | 6.8 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.3 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (32 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 73% | 88% | 56% | 108% | 107% | 88% | 58% | 98% | 54% | 115% | 97% | 145% |
| 2021 | 107% | 200% | 162% | 187% | 97% | 52% | 87% | 75% | 106% | 121% | 85% | 142% |
| 2022 | 98% | 116% | 126% | 265% | 97% | 53% | 84% | 77% | 80% | 192% | 77% | 77% |
| 2023 | 182% | 112% | 59% | 73% | 76% | 77% | 119% | 107% | 71% | 64% | 59% | 53% |
| 2024 | 109% | 65% | 35% | 162% | 132% | 78% | 115% | 74% | 98% | 87% | 52% | 115% |
| 2025 | 141% | 136% | 106% | 71% | 82% | 105% | 97% | 165% | 95% | 99% | 123% | 117% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Ngardmau Waterfall
Palau
- 35 mHeight
- 0.45 m³/sAverage flow
- Jun–SepBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q34847757) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Height of the drop | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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