River
Tárcoles River
111 km from source to mouth · Costa Rica.
Costa RicaFlows into Gulf of Nicoya3rd longest in Costa Rica
In numbers
Length
111km
Average flow
100m³/s
Basin
2,121km²
Drop
1,169m
from 1,169 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
111 km of river and 8 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmCordillera Centralat 1,169 m
- 0 kmCurridabat34,586 people
- 8 kmAlajuelita13,845 people
- 9 kmSan Felipe24,985 people
- 16 kmSan Rafael25,410 people
- 23 kmLa Asunción4,383 people
- 25 kmSan Antonio10,938 people
- 39 kmColón9,687 people
- 59 kmRío Virillatributary
- 111 kmGulf of Nicoyaat 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 103 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 24 seconds. It drops from 1,169 m to 0 m, 11 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,121 km², about the size of KM. 2.2 million people live in it. Highest water: from September to October; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- CurridabatLargest city on its banks · 34,586 people
- Tobías Bolaños International Airport (SYQ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 12 km from the cityCar hire at SJO airport (San José)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From December to FebruaryThe best months to visit
Tárcoles River, month by month
Highest water: from September to October
Lowest water: from January to April. Best months to visit: from December to February.
From about 19 m³/s in the lowest month to 230 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
Tárcoles River: the basin in numbers
2,144 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.2millionpeople live in the basin
- 1,044/km²people per km²
- 1,047maverage altitude of the basin
- 2,422mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 21.3°Caverage air temperature
- 14%protected areas
What covers the basin
- 79% Forest
- 6% Cropland
- 53% Pasture
- 42% 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
Tárcoles River: what you find on the way
- 4WaterfallsPiedras Negras Catarata and 3 more
- 2River beachesPlaya Azul, Playa Carrizal de Bajamar
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Tárcoles 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.
23beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
18mountains at the sourcePeakyas
2islands off the mouthIslandyas
Beaches (23)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Playa Balsal18 km away29.4°C
- Playa Jacó19 km away29.4°C
- Playa Caletas12 km away29.4°C
- Playa Blanca9.7 km away29.4°C
- Playa Herradura15 km away29.4°C
- Playa Boca de Barranca23 km away29.3°C
- Playa Azulkm 8529.3°C
- Playa Coyol13 km away29.4°C
15 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
Mountains at the source (18)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Cerro Rabo de Mico11 km away2,428m
- Cerro Pico Alto11 km away
- Cerro Tablazo8.1 km away
- Cerro Tacuatorí14 km away
- Alto del Tapezco12 km away
- Cerro San Miguel9.3 km away
- Alto del Palo de Campana7.5 km away
- Alto de las Palomas13 km away
10 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
Islands off the mouth (2)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Isla Tortuga28 km away1.8km²
- Isla Guayabo30 km away0.1km²
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
Tárcoles River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (1)
Also: Río Virilla
NicaraguaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q264925) · 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, 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
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