Yes. The park is built for independent visitors: you buy a ticket, you walk the circuits, you take the train to Devil’s Throat. Nothing requires a guide, and travelers who stay two or three nights in Puerto Iguazú often prefer it that way, going at their own pace, returning a second day, skipping whatever does not interest them.
Why one day is different
On a day trip the guide is not there to narrate. They are there to run the clock.
- Admission, the train and lunch are already handled, so those minutes go to the falls instead of to queues
- They know the circuit order that dodges the worst of the crowds
- They speak Spanish with park staff and operators, which matters the moment anything needs sorting out
- If a flight runs late, someone is re-planning the afternoon while you are still in the air
None of that is impressive on a three-day visit, where a lost hour is just a lost hour. On a one-day visit a lost hour is a circuit you do not see, and there is no tomorrow to move it to.
So independent is a genuinely good choice if you have the nights. If you have one day, the guide is buying time rather than information, which is also most of the answer to whether arranging it yourself is cheaper.
