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Golden Hour in Encinitas, CA

Calculated sunrise, sunset, golden hour and blue hour times for Encinitas, CA. Select a date to view the calculated light times.

The month-by-month table below is in this city's own local time. The live times above follow your device's timezone. Mountains, ridgelines and buildings can shorten the usable window — scout your horizon.

Photography planning

Terrain, buildings and weather can affect visible light. Check the horizon and conditions at the selected location.

In Encinitas, sunset ranges from 4:42 PM in November to 8:01 PM in June. Every time on this page is calculated for Encinitas's coordinates (33.037, -117.292) and shown in America/Los_Angeles.

Sunrise, sunset and golden hour in Encinitas by month

MonthSunriseSunsetGolden hour (evening)LengthDaylight
January6:52 AM5:05 PM4:28 PM – 5:05 PM37 min10h 13m
February6:32 AM5:34 PM5:00 PM – 5:34 PM34 min11h 02m
March6:59 AM6:57 PM6:24 PM – 6:57 PM33 min11h 58m
April6:19 AM7:19 PM6:46 PM – 7:19 PM33 min13h 01m
May5:49 AM7:41 PM7:06 PM – 7:41 PM35 min13h 52m
June5:40 AM7:59 PM7:23 PM – 7:59 PM36 min14h 20m
July5:51 AM7:58 PM7:22 PM – 7:58 PM36 min14h 07m
August6:12 AM7:34 PM7:00 PM – 7:34 PM34 min13h 22m
September6:32 AM6:55 PM6:22 PM – 6:55 PM33 min12h 22m
October6:53 AM6:15 PM5:42 PM – 6:15 PM33 min11h 22m
November6:20 AM4:47 PM4:11 PM – 4:47 PM36 min10h 27m
December6:44 AM4:43 PM4:06 PM – 4:43 PM37 min9h 59m

How the light changes through the year in Encinitas

Golden hour is not the same length all year in Encinitas. It is longest in January at about 37 minutes and shortest in March at about 33 minutes — a difference of 4 minutes of usable warm light per evening.

Encinitas gets 4h 21m more daylight on the longest day than the shortest. Sunset moves from 4:43 PM in December to 7:59 PM in June, so an evening shoot that works in summer will be shooting in the dark at the same clock time in winter.

Blue hour follows sunset and is worth planning for separately: in June it runs until about 8:28 PM, and in December until about 5:11 PM.

The year at a glance

  • Earliest sunset: 4:42 PM on November 26
  • Latest sunset: 8:01 PM on June 21
  • Longest day: 14h 20m on June 21
  • Shortest day: 9h 58m on December 21
  • Golden hour length: about 36 minutes in June, 37 minutes in December
  • Time zone: America/Los_Angeles

What is golden hour?

Golden hour is the period near sunrise and sunset when the sun is low. Blue hour occurs before sunrise and after sunset. Calculated times vary with location and date; weather, terrain and buildings can affect visible light.

Photography services

Kanyon Studio provides photography and video in San Diego. Location, lighting and scheduling are agreed for each shoot.