Martvili and Okatse Canyons 2026: Tickets, Hours, Tours

From Kutaisi

50 km

Martvili ticket

40 GEL

Okatse ticket

30 GEL

Three-site combo

80 GEL

Western Georgia has more canyons than any visitor has time for, and these two are the ones the tour buses go to. That is not a reason to skip them. Martvili is a narrow limestone gorge with water the colour of a swimming pool, and Okatse is a walkway bolted to a cliff above a forested drop. Both are run by the Agency of Protected Areas, both have proper paths and ticket offices, and both have got expensive. Everything below was checked on 8 September 2026 against guru.ge, the agency's official ticket seller, which publishes the prices, the daily opening calendar and the rules; against wander-lush.org's April 2026 updates for the combo tickets, the marshrutka connections and the jeep fare; against gotrip.ge for driving distances and fixed-price driver rates; and against GetYourGuide for tour prices. USD figures use the National Bank of Georgia rate on 8 September 2026 (1 USD = 2.61 GEL).

Tickets and hours in 2026

Georgian citizens and residents pay less (12 GEL at Kinchkha, for example) but must show an ID card or passport at the gate, otherwise the reduced ticket is refused and you pay the standard price at the desk. Tickets are sold at each visitor centre for cash or card, or online at guru.ge, which lets you skip the queue in July and August; they are not refundable, so do not buy Okatse tickets in advance if the forecast is bad. Combo tickets exist and are the cheapest way to see more than one site: Okatse plus Kinchkha 40 GEL, Martvili plus Kinchkha 50 GEL, and Martvili plus Okatse plus Kinchkha 80 GEL (about $31), all per wander-lush's April 2026 list; guru.ge sells the same combos but showed no prices when we checked, so confirm at the desk. The boat at Martvili and the jeep at Okatse are always extra.

Martvili Canyon

Martvili Canyon, on the maps as Gachedili or Abasha Canyon, is a 2.4 km slot cut by the Abasha river through limestone in Samegrelo, 5 to 7 m wide and 50 to 70 m deep, with waterfalls of 12 to 15 m in its middle section. The visitor centre is at Inchkhuri on the northern edge of Martvili town. Before it was a ticketed site it was the bathing place of the Dadiani family, the princes of Samegrelo until 1867; their 30-step limestone staircase down to the pools is still there beside the trail. It became a protected area in October 2010 after an Ilia State University expedition found dinosaur footprints and bones nearby.

The visit has two parts. The paved 700 m walking loop crosses the gorge on two bridges, with platforms over the waterfalls and the Dadiani stairs off to the left; it takes 20 to 30 minutes and is easy unless it has rained, when the stone and the bridges get very slippery. The boat ride is the second part: an inflatable raft with a life jacket and an optional helmet, 300 m up the northern section of the canyon that the path does not reach, 15 to 20 minutes, and you paddle with a staff member aboard. The boats stop running when the river is high, which is common in spring and after any heavy rain, and children under 1 m tall are not allowed on them. If you skip the boat, Martvili is a pretty 30-minute walk; with it, it is the best 20 GEL you will spend in western Georgia.

Swimming is not permitted inside the ticketed canyon. Locals swim in the free stretches of the Abasha upstream and around the neighbouring Gachedili pools, with no rails, no lifeguards and a history of accidents, so treat that as a wild swim and not a beach. In summer the site stays open late and the walls and water are lit after dark, at no extra charge, with boats still running; it is a different, quieter experience than the midday crush.

Okatse Canyon

Okatse is the opposite proposition: instead of floating through a canyon you walk along the top of one. The protected section is a 2 km stretch of the Okatse river near Gordi village in Imereti, 3 to 6 m wide at the bottom and up to about 100 m deep, with a series of waterfalls, small lakes and caves along the floor. What visitors come for is the 780 m hanging trail, a metal walkway fixed to the canyon wall that ends on a 20 m platform projecting out over the drop. The view from the end takes in the whole forested gorge and, on clear days, the hills beyond Khoni.

Getting to the walkway is most of the outing. From the visitor centre in Gordi a stone-paved path runs about 2.5 km through the Dadiani historical forest to the checkpoint where the hanging trail starts; it is a pleasant, mostly shaded walk with big old trees, and it is also the reason the site quotes 890 stairs in total. If you would rather not walk it, local 4WDs shuttle visitors from the visitor centre to the checkpoint for 12 GEL. The whole circuit, forest path, walkway and back, is about 6 km and two to three hours on foot. A second path of 645 m with 989 metal steps descends from near the platform to the river at the bottom, where the canyon is only 4 m wide; it is optional, steep and worth it only if you have the legs for the climb back.

Two rules matter here. Okatse is closed whenever it rains, snows or the fog comes down, as a safety measure, and the visitor centre does not always update online listings, so ask your guesthouse to phone ahead if the sky looks doubtful. And children under 6 are not admitted at all, with a minimum height of 1.20 m for everyone else. The walkway has railings and is solid, but it is a grated metal floor with a long way down through it; if you get vertigo, Martvili is your canyon.

Kinchkha waterfall

Kinchkha is the third protected site on the same road, in the gorge above Okatse near Kinchkha village at about 840 m. It is a cascade of three drops, 25, 30 and 70 m, on a short 480 m trail, open 10:00 to 18:00 for 20 GEL, and since 2026 it is bundled with the canyons on the combo tickets. It is not free any more, as older guides say, and its main fall is 70 m rather than the 100 m plus you will read elsewhere. Water is the whole point: it is at its best in April and May and after autumn rain, and can be a trickle in late summer. Allow 30 to 45 minutes, and about 15 minutes' extra driving from the Okatse visitor centre.

Which one, if you only have time for one

Our honest ranking: Martvili is the prettier place and the better photograph, Okatse is the better story. Families and anyone short of time should take Martvili with the boat. Walkers and anyone who likes a bit of exposure should take Okatse and add Kinchkha. Most people do both, and the geography makes that easy.

Getting there

Kutaisi is the base. Both canyons are roughly an hour north of the city on paved roads, with the last few kilometres through village lanes that get narrow, especially through Gordi. The two visitor centres are 28 km apart by road, which is why a single day covering both works.

By rental car

The simplest way to do both canyons and Kinchkha at your own pace. Any car copes with these roads; parking is free at both visitor centres, and Martvili's car park fills on summer weekends, so arriving at 10:00 solves that too. Localrent, which we have used for years in Georgia and which usually needs no deposit, is where we would book; see our car rental guide for how it works.

By driver

GoTrip's fixed-price drivers are the option we would take for a group of two to four without a car. You book a car with a named driver at the price shown, and the price does not change with waiting time or extra stops, so a Kutaisi to Martvili Canyon to Okatse to Kinchkha to Kutaisi loop costs whatever the multi-stop quote says up front; wander-lush priced exactly that loop from 100 GEL per car in April 2026. Guesthouses in Kutaisi will also find you a driver for the day; agree the stops and the price before you leave.

By tour

Dozens of Kutaisi operators run the same loop, usually Martvili, Okatse and Prometheus Cave with a lunch stop, leaving around 09:00 or 09:30 and back by 17:00 to 19:00. Tickets and the boat and jeep are never included, so add 100 GEL or so per person to the tour price. Local operators booked through your guesthouse charge from about 80 GEL per person for a group tour (wander-lush, April 2026); the GetYourGuide listings below cost more but can be booked and cancelled online.

By marshrutka

Possible for one canyon, not for both in a day. Vans leave Kutaisi's central bus station for Martvili town about hourly from 08:00 to 18:00 and take around 1.5 hours for 4 to 5 GEL; from the town it is 5 km to the canyon, an hour on foot or about 50 GEL per car for a local taxi there and back, which is where the saving evaporates. For Okatse, take a van to Khoni and another to Gordi, about 4 GEL in total and two hours or more, then walk 2 km to the visitor centre. Our marshrutka guide covers how the stations work.

Both canyons and Kinchkha in one day

Okatse first, because it takes longest, it bakes in the afternoon in July and August, and if it is closed for weather you find out at 10:00 with the whole day left for Martvili and Prometheus Cave instead. If the forecast is properly bad, reverse the logic: Martvili is usually open in rain, and the Prometheus and Sataplia caves are the same in any weather.

What a day costs

On a budget, the honest saving is not to skip the boat but to skip a site. Okatse plus Kinchkha on the 40 GEL combo, or Martvili with the boat for 60 GEL, each make a fine half-day for well under half the price. And if the numbers still hurt, wander-lush's advice to a reader in July 2026 is the right one: sleep in Martvili and spend the day in the free canyons upstream instead.

Where to stay

Kutaisi has the hotels, the restaurants and the transport, and it is where nearly everyone bases themselves. Martvili town is the alternative if you are coming down from Svaneti, 3.5 to 4 hours from Mestia, and want the canyon at 10:00 before anyone else; it has a handful of guesthouses, of which Karma Hostel is the one wander-lush uses, plus a Friday market and a monastery worth an hour. From Zugdidi, the Samegrelo guide covers Martvili as a day out in the other direction.

Common mistakes

• Trusting old prices. Anything quoting 20 GEL a canyon or a free Kinchkha is from before 2025. Budget 100 GEL or more a person for tickets.
• Buying three single tickets. The 80 GEL combo saves 10 GEL and the queue at the second gate.
• Okatse in the afternoon. It is the long one, it is exposed, and it is the one that shuts for weather. Go at 10:00.
• Pre-buying Okatse online in doubtful weather. Tickets are non-refundable and the canyon closes for rain, snow and fog.
• Sandals. The Martvili bridges are slick when wet and the Okatse floor is a metal grate. Wear shoes with grip.
• Bringing small children to Okatse. Under 6 are not admitted and everyone needs to be 1.20 m tall. Martvili takes them free, though the boat needs 1 m.
• A day trip from Tbilisi. It is 277 km each way. Stay in Kutaisi and do the canyons, the caves and Gelati over two or three days.

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