Haulover Creek is a

coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

stream that runs through the center of

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, w ...

and discharges into the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. It is known for being the inlet of the

Belize River The Belize River runs through the center of Belize. It drains more than one-quarter of the country as it winds along the northern edge of the Maya Mountains to the sea just north of Belize City (). The Belize river valley is largely tropical rai ...

, and separating the northern and southern areas of Belize City. There are multiple bridges built across it such as the Swing Bridge (Belize), which is the oldest of its kind in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and the

Belcan Bridge Belcan, LLC is a global supplier of engineering, supply chain, technical recruiting and information technology (IT) services to customers in the aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial and government sectors. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, ...

, which is used as the finishing line for the annual

La Ruta Maya The Belikin La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge is an annual 4-day canoe marathon held in Belize. It is considered the biggest sporting event in the country, and typically attracts thousands of spectators. The course runs from the Hawkesworth Bri ...

river challenge.

History

This creek has been used by fishing boats to easily access the center of Belize City and the Caribbean Sea. The creek still hosts the fleet of traditional fishing wooden boats (mostly from Sarteneja, Chunox and Copper bank) moored on posts to this present day (while the remaining Belize city wooden boats known as "sandlighters" that used to dock here now anchor in the north coast of Belize city). Its name is believed to be attained from those who had to "haul" their cattle over the creek with ropes prior to the construction of the swing bridge in 1922. The creek is now famously used for easily accessing the Caribbean Sea from the city as observed by the hosting of the

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or o ...

to distant islands such as San Pedro and

Ambergris Caye Ambergris Caye ( ; Spanish: Cayo Ambergris), is the largest island of Belize, located northeast of the country's mainland, in the Caribbean Sea. It is about long from north to south, and about wide. Where it has not been modified by humans, it ...

, and the sighting of many fishing boats anchored in the stream.

Pollution and flooding

Haulover Creek is a noted high risk area for

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

and

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...

in Belize City.

References

{{reflist Rivers of Belize

History

Pollution and flooding

See also

References