River
Sixaola River
146 km from source to mouth · Costa Rica and Panama.
Costa Rica and PanamaFlows into Caribbean Sea1st longest in Costa Rica
In numbers
Length
146km
Average flow
160m³/s
Basin
5,094km²
Drop
2,053m
from 2,053 m to 0 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
146 km of river and 4 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 2,053 m
- 115 kmBarranco1,398 people
- 120 kmLa Mesa1,235 people
- 128 kmGuabito1,978 people
- 129 kmSixaola1,823 people
- 146 kmCaribbean Seaat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Costa Rica
At the mouth it carries 159 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 16 seconds. It drops from 2,053 m to 0 m, 14 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 5,094 km², about the size of TT. 36,000 people live in it. Highest water: December. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- GuabitoLargest city on its banks · 1,978 people
- Changuinola Captain Manuel Niño International Airport (CHX)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 11 km from the cityCar hire at DAV airport (David)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water7 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- February and from September to OctoberThe best months to visit
Sixaola River, month by month
Highest water: December
Best months to visit: February and from September to October.
From about 110 m³/s in the lowest month to 210 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
Sixaola River: the basin in numbers
2,868 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 36,000people live in the basin
- 13/km²people per km²
- 1,099maverage altitude of the basin
- 2,934mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 20.4°Caverage air temperature
- 54%protected areas
What covers the basin
- 93% Forest
- 12% Pasture
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
Sixaola River: what you find on the way
- 3Waterfalls
- 7Ferry piersPuerto Sepecue, Puerto Amubri, Puerto Suretka and 4 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Sixaola 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.
2beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
10mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Beaches (2)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Playa Cocles22 km away29.0°C
- Playa Chiquita20 km away29.0°C
Mountains at the source (10)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Cerro Chirripó13 km away · prominence 3,727 m3,820m
- Cerro Ventisqueros14 km away
- Cerro de Terbi12 km away
- Cerro Hakk13 km away
- Cerro Deri10 km away
- Cerro Dúrika11 km away
- Cerro Eli7.8 km away
- Cerro Ena7.9 km away
2 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
Sixaola River in pictures
Nearby
Rivers nearby
NicaraguaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1742111) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point 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 | Coastya, 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