Sun position in Honolulu

Sun times in Honolulu on 3 November 2026

Times are computed for 21.3069°, -157.8583° and refreshed every day. For any other date, an exact azimuth or a shadow drawn on the map, open the interactive sun position map for Honolulu.

The sun’s path over Honolulu

How high the sun stands and where, from sunrise to sunset: today, at both solstices and at the equinox. The higher a curve climbs, the higher the sun; where a curve meets the bottom line, the sun rises or sets at that compass bearing.

The sun through the year in Honolulu

At the June solstice the midday sun reaches 87.9° above the horizon in Honolulu and the day lasts 13 h 26 min. At the December solstice the sun climbs only to 45.3° and the day shrinks to 10 h 50 min. That difference is what decides whether a garden, a window or a solar array sees the sun in winter. The noon shadow column gives the length of the shadow of anything one metre tall.

Honolulu through 2026 at a glance

• From 27 May to 15 July the midday sun stands north of the zenith, and the rest of the year to the south: in Honolulu even a north-facing window gets the noon sun for part of the year.
• The sun passes straight overhead at solar noon on 26 May and 16 July: for a moment upright posts, people and buildings cast no shadow at all.
• The earliest sunset is on 26 November, 25 days before the shortest day (21 December), and the latest sunrise on 16 January, 26 days after it. Solar noon drifts through the year, so the darkest afternoon and the darkest morning do not fall on the shortest day.
• The longest day in Honolulu is 2 h 36 min longer than the shortest, and around the equinoxes the days grow or shrink by up to 1.2 minutes a day.

The winter solstice 2026: the moment, and the shortest and the longest day, city by city →

When the days start getting longer: the earliest sunset, the latest sunrise and lighter evenings, city by city →

Planning around the sun in Honolulu

Solar panels

At 21.3° N a fixed array facing due south collects the most over a year at a tilt of about 19°. Use the solar panel angle calculator with the coordinates 21.3069°, -157.8583° for the exact optimum, the seasonal optima and the loss from an east or west facing roof.

Buying a flat or a plot

At the December solstice the noon sun in Honolulu sits 45.3° above the horizon, so every obstacle casts a shadow 1 times its own height at midday. Check what stands to the south before you commit: place the building on the map and read the shaded hours for 21 December.

Photography

Golden hour runs 06:36–07:06 in the morning and 17:23–17:54 in the evening today, and the sun sets toward WSW (254°). The golden hour calculator gives the same windows for any date, and the map’s alignment finder shows the days when the setting sun lines up with a street.

More on planning around the sun: which way a house, garden or balcony should face, how long golden hour lasts and why the earliest sunset comes before the shortest day.

Other cities

Near Honolulu

• Sun position in San FranciscoUnited States
• Sun position in San JoseUnited States
• Sun position in StocktonUnited States
• Sun position in ModestoUnited States

On the same latitude

Honolulu lies at 21.3° N. On the same parallel the longest and the shortest day last just as long and the noon sun climbs just as high, whatever the clocks say there:

• Sun position in RaipurIndia • 21.2° N
• Sun position in JeddahSaudi Arabia • 21.5° N
• Sun position in LeónMexico • 21.1° N
• Sun position in HanoiVietnam • 21.0° N

Sunrise and sunset in all 110 cities in the United States →

See all cities with sun position data →

helpQuestions

Sun questions about Honolulu