River
Coca River
264 km from source to mouth · Ecuador.
EcuadorFlows into Napo River2nd longest in Ecuador
In numbers
Length
264km
Average flow
1,300m³/s
Basin
17,851km²
Drop
3,325m
from 3,569 m to 244 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
264 km of river and 1 stops on the way: 1 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 3,569 m
- 225 kmBoca Suno20,313 people
- 264 kmNapo Riverat 244 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Left tributary of the Napo River in Ecuador
At the mouth it carries 1,258 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 2.0 seconds. It drops from 3,569 m to 244 m, 13 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 17,851 km², about the size of KW. 200,000 people live in it. Highest water: from May to July. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- Boca SunoLargest city on its banks · 20,313 people
- Francisco De Orellana Airport (OCC)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 31 km from the cityCar hire at UIO airport (Quito)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water2 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe2 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From January to MayThe best months to visit
Coca River, month by month
Highest water: from May to July
Best months to visit: from January to May.
From about 900 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,600 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
Coca River: the basin in numbers
17,851 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 200,000people live in the basin
- 11/km²people per km²
- 1,696maverage altitude of the basin
- 2,829mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 17.7°Caverage air temperature
- 49%protected areas
What covers the basin
- 63% Forest
- 17% Cropland
- 34% 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
Coca River: what you find on the way
- 29WaterfallsTsuyuyacu, Pimpilala, Shandia and 26 more
- 2Canoe put-insWayusa, bridge above Talag
- 2Ferry piers
- 4River beachesRiver Beach, Playa de los Monos and 2 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Coca 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.
4mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Mountains at the source (4)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Quilindaña10 km away4,878m
- Cerro Quilindaña10 km away
- Predicador6.9 km away
- Cerro Laurel11 km away
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.
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Napo River
Peru1,130 km7,100 m³/sTributaries (1)
Also: Cosanga River
In the same basin
Brazil6,400 km209,000 m³/sRio NegroBrazil2,250 km30,000 m³/sMadeira RiverBrazil1,450 km31,200 m³/sMarañón RiverPeru1,737 km16,700 m³/sUcayali RiverPeru1,460 km12,600 m³/sJapurá RiverBrazil2,820 km13,900 m³/sXingu RiverBrazil1,640 km9,700 m³/sMamoré RiverBrazil1,930 km11,600 m³/sJuruá RiverBrazil3,100 km4,800 m³/sTapajós RiverBrazil1,930 km13,000 m³/sWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1104914) · 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 | 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