Belize 
In numbers.
1.3m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Sep–Dec
Best months
325m
Elevation
The water at Big Rock Falls, month by month
It roars from September to November.
The fullest months: from September to November. The thinnest: from March to April.
- 1.2 m³/sJan
- 0.8 m³/sFeb
- 0.6 m³/sMar
- 0.4 m³/sApr
- 0.8 m³/sMay
- 1.7 m³/sJun
- 1.7 m³/sJul
- 1.8 m³/sAug
- 2.0 m³/sSep
- 2.3 m³/sOct
- 2.2 m³/sNov
- 1.6 m³/sDec
From about 0.44 m³/s in the lowest month to 2.3 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from September to December.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Getting there.
- San Antonionearest town · 6.6 km in a straight line
- Parking 810 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Dangriga Airport (DGA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 80 km in a straight lineCar hire at BZE airport (Belize City)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From September to Decemberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 106 m in 3.6 km. Here the river runs about 69 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- 1car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 9other named waterfalls within 4 kmBig Rock Falls, Turpentine Falls, Pinol Cascade and 6 more
- 1caves
- 5campsitesReimer Cabins, San Miguel Campgrounds, Old Mai Gate and 2 more
- 9hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmGaia Riverlodge, Pine Ridge Lodge, Moonracer Farm and 6 more
- 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- San Antonio6.6 km in a straight line
- Cristo Rey13 km in a straight line
- Santa Elena16 km in a straight line
- San Ignacio17 km in a straight line
- San Jose Soccoths17 km in a straight line
- Esperanza17 km in a straight line
- Benque Viejo el Carmen17 km in a straight line
- Melchor de Mencos19 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 25 | 27 | 29 | 32 | 31 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 |
| Night °C | 18 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 18 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 110 | 66 | 58 | 40 | 126 | 240 | 174 | 197 | 225 | 251 | 200 | 137 |
| Wet days | 15 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 18 |
| Sun h/day | 5.5 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.7 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (325 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 134% | 87% | 82% | 19% | 172% | 135% | 65% | 73% | 110% | 88% | 460% | 121% |
| 2021 | 230% | 115% | 105% | 191% | 109% | 93% | 114% | 98% | 71% | 132% | 110% | 67% |
| 2022 | 163% | 208% | 466% | 287% | 356% | 136% | 132% | 263% | 134% | 89% | 189% | 112% |
| 2023 | 210% | 116% | 99% | 20% | 32% | 64% | 201% | 76% | 92% | 56% | 252% | 183% |
| 2024 | 79% | 21% | 393% | 85% | 13% | 180% | 158% | 135% | 85% | 240% | 219% | 199% |
| 2025 | 221% | 139% | 49% | 56% | 16% | 111% | 81% | 48% | 183% | 98% | 126% | 155% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Big Rock Falls
Belize
- —Height
- 1.3 m³/sAverage flow
- Sep–DecBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q4906231) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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