Nothing else can get you closer to Niagara Falls like the Cave Of the Winds!!!
One of the best reasons to visit in Niagara Falls on the America side is the Cave of The Winds where you can run under and closer to the falls! They don’t have Cave of the Winds on the Canada side (but I saw a cool zip-line down to the Niagara gorge)
We did visit Cave of the Winds after we did the cruise “Maid Of the Mist”, it was about 10-15 mins walk between the 2 attractions.
Remember, Niagara Falls is made up of 3 waterfalls; The American Falls, The Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. The Horseshoe falls is also partly on the Canadian side (Canadian falls).
To visit Cave of the Winds, we are going to go under the Bridal Veil Falls. The ticket costs $17 each for one entry (you can stay as long as you want or until they close)
It was hot and slow in line as we were standing in the sun for tickets… I don’t want to complain but I almost gave up and walked away. I was thinking I should of had the discovery pass which included the Cave of The Winds, then I didn’t have to stand here, it was a short line but slow progress as most people paid by credit card and asked questions at the window.
After we got the tickets, everything else went better!
They asked us to stop for pictures in front of a blue screen (maybe green) which they are going to display for sale at the souvenir shop later.
Then they let us pick shoes (different sizes), Tim was telling me that we already had water shoes on and didn’t need them, but I just wanted it! Tim told them he didn’t want one because he didn’t want to carry his shoes in a bag.
Well, it’s complimentary shoes!!! It’s free!!! And you can keep them… Sorry Tim (I got mine)!!!
Next, we walked to get in line for the elevator, and down to 175 feet (53 meters or about 14 floors). For the elevator ride safety, they have a conductor inside at all times. So don’t jump in if there is no one in that elevator, remember all the construction here was by hand!
When we stepped out of the elevator, we walked over to the series of wooden walkways. These wooden walkways are torn down and re-built every year! It’s true! they are taken apart every Winter and rebuilt once the ice has melted in the Spring! So if you visit Niagara Falls during Winter-Spring, you would miss the Cave of the Winds.
We walked up the boardwalks to the famous “Hurricane Deck”. It was just likes its name, we stood a mere 20 feet (6 meters) from the billowing torrents of rushing Bridal Veil Falls where it creates tropical storm-like hurricane!!!
It’s so much fun to play under the water down here. As I mentioned you can stay and play in the water as long as you want or until they close.
Actually, I think we had enough of the water, the rain poncho works very well but we still got damp and started to get cold!
We walked back to take the elevator up to the ground level, and yes, we found our souvenir at the exit. We got our pictures in different backgrounds (2 poses)! We bought them in the package deal at $40 and got a free download digital picture code.
There is a large souvenir shop and a fast food shop in the area but we just needed the bathroom!
We decided to go back to the hotel but on the way back we stopped at the view point at Bridal Veil Falls (we saw it when we were under at the Cave of the Winds)
It’s a great view point, we can look down and see where we were, the hurricane deck! And we can look to the other side, the Canada side. Overall, , and we thought this would be a great place to watch the fireworks at night (which we did). we came back here to see the firework tonight!!! (Fireworks during our visit, every Monday – Friday at 10pm and it’s free!)
We went back to get fresh cloths and then go to have lunch at HardRock Cafe. After lunch, we walked back the same way to Bridal Veil Falls but we went farther to the view point at Horseshoe Falls (USA). There is another souvenir shop/food shops nearby and a restaurant that looked nice.
It’s was a full day in Niagara Falls (USA), we started with 1.Maid of the Mist, 2.Cave of the winds, 3.lunch, 4. walking to Horseshoes Falls , 5.resting and 6.walking at night for the fireworks!
(Yes, we skipped dinner because we had too many of the free chocolates from Red Coach Inn!!!)
