River
Belize River
290 km from source to mouth · Belize and Guatemala.
Belize and GuatemalaFlows into Gulf of Honduras1st longest in Belize
In numbers
Length
290km
Average flow
200m³/s
Basin
5,000km²
Drop
446m
from 449 m to 3 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
290 km of river and 15 stops on the way: 6 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmMaya Mountainsat 449 m
- 80 kmVaca Falls
- 100 kmSanta Elena8,587 people
- 102 kmSan Ignacio21,229 people
- 105 kmMopan Rivertributary
- 126 kmBarton Creektributary
- 138 kmMonkey Fall
- 150 kmCamelote3,132 people
- 155 kmBelmopan20,754 people
- 205 kmLabouring Creektributary
- 212 kmBig Falls
- 250 kmLittle Fall
- 279 kmLord’s Bank4,876 people
- 287 kmLadyville7,655 people
- 289 kmNew Haulover Bridge
- 289 kmHaulover Bridge
- 290 kmGulf of Hondurasat 3 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Belize
At the mouth it carries 198 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 13 seconds. It drops from 449 m to 3 m, 1.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 5,000 km², about the size of TT. 130,000 people live in it. Highest water: from August to November; lowest: from March to May. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- San IgnacioLargest city on its banks · 21,229 people
- Mundo Maya International Airport (FRS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 89 km from the cityCar hire at BZE airport (Belize City)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water3 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe7 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From February to AprilThe best months to visit
Belize River, month by month
Highest water: from August to November
Lowest water: from March to May. Best months to visit: from February to April.
From about 65 m³/s in the lowest month to 340 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Belize River: the basin in numbers
8,521 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 130,000people live in the basin
- 15/km²people per km²
- 307maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,815mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 24.2°Caverage air temperature
- 50%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 82% Forest
- 5% Cropland
- 5% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Belize River: what you find on the way
- 3Weirs
- 10WaterfallsMollejon Waterfall, Monkey Falls and 8 more
- 7RapidsMonkey Fall, Little Fall and 5 more
- 3Ferry piersBaking Pot Ferry, Nautilus Express Water Taxi
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Belize River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
4waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
5islands off the mouthIslandyas
Waterfalls (4)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Vaca Fallskm 64
- Monkey Fallkm 110
- Big Fallskm 169
- Little Fallkm 199
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Sibun Beach10 km away29.7°C
Islands off the mouth (5)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- St. George's Caye21 km away
- Caye Chapel29 km away1.1km²
- Moho Caye7.7 km away0.0km²
- Bird Island22 km away
- Long Cay23 km away12km²
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Belize River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (4)
Also: Macal River, Barton Creek, Labouring Creek
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Mexico150 km130 m³/s105 km awayNew RiverBelize132 km25 m³/s90 km awayMopan RiverBelize38 km93 m³/s95 km awayMotagua RiverGuatemala486 km310 m³/s202 km awayUlúa River
Honduras358 km440 m³/s190 km awayDulce RiverGuatemala43 km340 m³/s210 km awayPasión RiverGuatemala353 km320 m³/s270 km awayGrijalva RiverMexico480 km2,800 m³/s479 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q815650) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Coastya, Islandyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit