River
Santa River
347 km from source to mouth · Peru.
PeruFlows into Pacific Ocean10th longest in Peru
In numbers
Length
347km
Average flow
200m³/s
Basin
12,200km²
Drop
4,020m
from 4,023 m to 3 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
347 km of river and 9 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmConococha Lakeat 4,023 m
- 4 kmConococha Lake1.9 km²
- 87 kmHuaraz118,836 people
- 89 kmCentenario47,581 people
- 124 kmCarhuaz5,044 people
- 151 kmYungay5,269 people
- 164 kmCaraz10,926 people
- 165 kmPilcomayo13,295 people
- 186 kmSanta Cruz Creektributary
- 343 kmPuerto Santa14,066 people
- 347 kmPacific Oceanat 3 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Peru
At the mouth it carries 199 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 13 seconds. It drops from 4,023 m to 3 m, 12 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 12,200 km², about the size of QA. 492,000 people live in it. Highest water: March; lowest: from July to October. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- HuarazLargest city on its banks · 118,836 people
- FAP Lieutenant Jaime Andres de Montreuil Morales Airport (CHM)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 117 km from the cityCar hire in TrujilloDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water5 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to July and from September to OctoberThe best months to visit
Santa River, month by month
Highest water: March
Lowest water: from July to October. Best months to visit: from May to July and from September to October.
From about 29 m³/s in the lowest month to 440 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
Santa River: the basin in numbers
11,979 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 492,000people live in the basin
- 43/km²people per km²
- 3,303maverage altitude of the basin
- 554mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 9.5°Caverage air temperature
- 34%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
- 3%glaciers
What covers the basin
- 16% Forest
- 9% Cropland
- 22% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
- 3% Ice
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
Santa River: what you find on the way
- 3WeirsRepresa Chavimochic, Bocatoma La Huaca, Bocatoma La Víbora
- 5Locks
- 12WaterfallsCascada of Pavas, Velo de Novia and 10 more
- 5Boat ramps
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Santa 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
9beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
61mountains at the sourcePeakyas
1island off the mouthIslandyas
Lakes and reservoirs (1)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Conococha Lakekm 41.9km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (9)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Playa Corralón Chico11 km away21.8°C
- Playa Coishco5.6 km away21.8°C
- Playa Los Tres Brincos7.4 km away21.8°C
- Playa Corralón Grande9.8 km away21.8°C
- Playa Brava3.4 km away21.8°C
- Playa Alconsillo23 km away21.8°C
- Playa Tres Chozas13 km away22.1°C
- Playa Viento24 km away21.8°C
1 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
Mountains at the source (61)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Caullaraju14 km away5,682m
- Tuco12 km away5,454m
- Raju Cutac12 km away5,355m
- Ichic Jeulla13 km away5,091m
- Wishka Hirka14 km away4,934m
- Rumi Wayin Punta10 km away4,600m
- Cerro Toca5.1 km away4,499m
- Inca Huagansa10 km away4,000m
53 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
Islands off the mouth (1)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Isla Blanca15 km away
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
Santa River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (3)
Also: Santa Cruz Creek, Tablachaca River, Los Cedros Creek
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q2121241) · 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 | Lakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas, 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
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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
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit