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River

Dulce River

43 km from source to mouth · Guatemala.

GuatemalaGuatemalaFlows into Caribbean Sea3rd longest in Guatemala

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

43km

Average flow

340m³/s

Basin

3,435km²

Drop

1m

from 2 m to 1 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

43 km of river and 1 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

51 m1 m
Lake Izabalat 2 m0 km
Lake Izabal670 km²24 km
Caribbean Seaat 1 m43 km
010203043 km
  1. 0 kmLake Izabalat 2 m
  2. 24 kmLake Izabal670 km²
  3. 43 kmCaribbean Seaat 1 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Guatemala

At the mouth it carries 341 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 7.3 seconds. Its basin covers 3,435 km², about the size of CV. 691,000 people live in it. Highest water: from July to September; lowest: from February to May. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Dulce River, month by month

Highest water: from July to September

Lowest water: from February to May. Best months to visit: from February to March.

310
24°189 mmJan
220
24°98 mmFeb
160
26°94 mmMar
120
27°92 mmApr
170
28°193 mmMay
340
28°401 mmJun
570
28°535 mmJul
630
28°377 mmAug
620
28°397 mmSep
500
27°298 mmOct
460
25°278 mmNov
360
24°202 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 120 m³/s in the lowest month to 630 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

Dulce River: the basin in numbers

8,252 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 691,000people live in the basin
  • 84/km²people per km²
  • 713maverage altitude of the basin
  • 2,771mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 22.9°Caverage air temperature
  • 24%protected areas
  • 8.7%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 40% Forest
  • 8% Cropland
  • 35% Pasture
  • 3% 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

Dulce River: what you find on the way

  • 10Boat ramps
  • 1Ferry piersMuelle Municipal
  • 11MarinasMarina GYSA, Captain John's Marina & Bungalows, El Rellemo marina and 8 more
  • 1Boat rentalsBarco The Host (viajes a Belice)

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Dulce 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.

  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 2beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lake Izabalkm 25 · 18 m deep670km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Beaches (2)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

  1. Ensenada Nana Juanakm 25 · cove30.0°C
  2. Ensenada Los Nacionaleskm 24 · cove30.0°C

Open Coastya ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Dulce River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Dulce River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth12 km across

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

Dulce River in pictures

Rio Dulce Guatemala02
MacAllenBrothers' · CC BY-SA 2.0
Barranco del río Dulce - 01
Carlos Delgado · CC BY-SA 3.0 es
RioDulce1
BBCLCD · CC BY-SA 4.0
Green Río Dulce (Unsplash)
Lara Natalia Haenny larahaenny · CC0

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q2048161) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, Coastya — 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit