River
Otava
112 km from source to mouth · Czechia.
CzechiaFlows into Vltava9th longest in Czechia
In numbers
Length
112km
Average flow
26m³/s
Basin
3,840km²
Drop
299m
from 652 m to 353 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
112 km of river and 40 stops on the way: 6 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmKřemelnáat 652 m
- 6 kmMlýnská kaskáda3 m
- 8 kmVodopád na Sekerském potoce4 m
- 8 kmNový vodopád10 m
- 10 kmSedelský vodopád2 m
- 10 kmVodopády na Paštěckém potoce3 m
- 28 kmDlouhoveská čp. 68 (Sušice)
- 28 kmSušice10,689 people
- 31 kmVolšovkatributary
- 35 kmOstružnátributary
- 40 kmNezdický potoktributary
- 47 kmCastle watermill
- 48 kmVodní mlýn a elektrárna v Horažďovicích
- 48 kmHoražďovice5,103 people
- 48 kmFootbridge over the Otava in Horažďovice
- 48 kmRoad bridge over the Otava in Horažďovice
- 49 kmJez Svaté Pole
- 60 kmKatovice1,338 people
- 60 kmBřezový potoktributary
- 66 kmFootbridge over the Otava in Strakonice
- 66 kmVolyňkatributary
- 66 kmStrakonice22,275 people
- 66 kmBridge of Katovická street over the Otava in Strakonice
- 66 kmChain bridge in Strakonice
- 66 kmBridge of Jan Palach
- 67 kmBlatenský most
- 83 kmBrložský potoktributary
- 87 kmZátavský most
- 91 kmDagmar Šimková Bridge
- 91 kmRailway bridge over the Otava in Písek
- 91 kmŠrámkův most
- 92 kmBlanicetributary
- 92 kmHydroelectric power plant in Písek
- 92 kmPísek31,121 people
- 92 kmPísek Stone Bridge
- 92 kmNový most
- 93 kmJiráskův most
- 97 kmGas footbridge, Vrcovice
- 98 kmČížová1,366 people
- 109 kmZvíkovský Otavský most
- 112 kmLomnicetributary
- 112 kmVltavaat 353 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in the Czech Republic
At the mouth it carries 26 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 96 seconds. It drops from 652 m to 353 m, 2.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 3,840 km², about the size of CV. 211,000 people live in it. Highest water: March; lowest: from December to February and October. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- PísekLargest city on its banks · 31,121 people
- České Budějovice South Bohemian Airport (JCL)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 45 km from the cityCar hire at PRG airport (Prague)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water6 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe10 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Otava, month by month
Highest water: March
Lowest water: from December to February and October. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 14 m³/s in the lowest month to 64 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
Otava: the basin in numbers
3,815 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 211,000people live in the basin
- 56/km²people per km²
- 608maverage altitude of the basin
- 818mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 6.8°Caverage air temperature
- 18%protected areas
- 0.5%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 46% Forest
- 31% Cropland
- 16% Pasture
- 2% 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
Otava: what you find on the way
- 85WeirsJez na Pátečeku, Na Fufernách, Panský jez and 82 more
- 6WaterfallsNový vodopád, Sedelský vodopád, Paštecký vodopád and 3 more
- 1Rapids
- 9Canoe put-insČeňkova Pila soutok, Annín, Horažďovice and 6 more
- 2Boat ramps
- 1Marinas
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Otava 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.
5waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
31mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (5)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Mlýnská kaskádakm 63m
- Vodopád na Sekerském potocekm 84m
- Nový vodopádkm 810m
- Sedelský vodopádkm 102m
- Vodopády na Paštěckém potocekm 103m
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Mountains at the source (31)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Lackenberg13 km away · prominence 263 m1,338m
- Poledník8.7 km away · prominence 185 m1,315m
- Ždánidla11 km away · prominence 110 m1,308m
- Kiesruck12 km away1,265m
- Oblík7.2 km away1,228m
- Antýgl7.5 km away · prominence 110 m1,254m
- Hahnenbogen12 km away1,257m
- Studená hora15 km away1,302m
23 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
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
Otava in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
VltavaCzechia430 km150 m³/sTributaries (14)
Also: Blanice, Volyňka, Lomnice, Vydra, Křemelná, Ostružná, Brložský potok, Březový potok, Nezdický potok, Volšovka, Losenice, Novosedelský potok, Černíčský potok, Jiher
GermanyNearby
Rivers nearby
AustriaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1507602) · 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, Peakyas — 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