Sunrise & sunset times in Kingston
Sunrise in Kingston today is at 05:57 and sunset is at 17:54, giving 11h 57m of daylight (times for Thursday, 1 October 2026, in Kingston's local time zone). Evening golden hour runs 17:26 to 17:54. The moon is a waning gibbous at 67% illumination.
Live sunrise, sunset, solar noon, day length, golden hour, blue hour and moon times for Kingston, Jamaica. Pick any date to see the light for that day in local time.
On the 2026 June solstice the sun rises at 05:32 and sets at 18:45 in Kingston (13h 13m of daylight). On the December solstice it rises at 06:33 and sets at 17:36 (11h 3m).
| Event | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:11 | 18:18 | 12h 7m |
| June solstice | 05:32 | 18:45 | 13h 13m |
| September equinox | 05:56 | 18:03 | 12h 7m |
| December solstice | 06:33 | 17:36 | 11h 3m |
Full sun timeline for Kingston
Civil dawn, when the sky starts to brighten before sunrise.
The moment the top edge of the sun appears on the horizon.
End of the soft, warm morning light photographers love.
The sun reaches its highest point in the sky for the day.
Start of the warm, low evening light before sunset.
The moment the sun dips fully below the horizon.
Civil dusk, when the last usable daylight fades.
Golden hour and blue hour in Kingston
The best windows for warm and cool natural light on this date.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:41 | 17:51 | 11h 10m |
| February | 06:34 | 18:08 | 11h 34m |
| March | 06:15 | 18:17 | 12h 2m |
| April | 05:50 | 18:23 | 12h 33m |
| May | 05:34 | 18:32 | 12h 59m |
| June | 05:31 | 18:43 | 13h 12m |
| July | 05:39 | 18:46 | 13h 6m |
| August | 05:49 | 18:33 | 12h 44m |
| September | 05:55 | 18:09 | 12h 14m |
| October | 06:00 | 17:44 | 11h 44m |
| November | 06:13 | 17:30 | 11h 17m |
| December | 06:30 | 17:34 | 11h 4m |
Sun and moon in Kingston
If you are scheduling a rooftop dinner or an early hike, the daily sun and moon schedule for Kingston is easy to check here. This page shows live sunrise, sunset, solar noon, day length, morning and evening golden hour, blue hour, dawn and dusk, plus the current moon phase and the moonrise and moonset times for Kingston. Every value is calculated in the browser for the date you pick and shown in the local time of Kingston, Jamaica. Kingston sits at roughly 17.97 degrees north, in the northern hemisphere, so it sees very little seasonal change, with day length staying close to twelve hours all year and a short, fast twilight after sunset. Because the length of the day changes with the seasons, the exact sunrise and sunset in Kingston shift from week to week. Pick any date with the date picker to see how the light will fall on a specific day, which is handy for planning a shoot, an event, a wedding, a flight or simply the best moment to catch the last warm light of the evening. Golden hour, that soft warm window near sunrise and sunset, is the favourite of photographers in Kingston. Blue hour, the cooler stretch just before sunrise and just after sunset, is ideal for cityscapes and long exposures. Combined with the moon phase and moon times, this gives you a complete picture of natural light over Kingston, Jamaica for any day of the year.
What time is sunset in Kingston today?
The sun sets in Kingston at 17:54 (just after midnight) today, Thursday, 1 October 2026, in Kingston's own local time. The warm light starts well before that: evening golden hour opens at 17:26, giving 29 minutes of low golden light before the sun reaches the horizon. Sunset is not the end of the light either. Last light, the moment usable daylight ends at civil dusk, follows 22 minutes later at 18:16, and the sky is properly dark at 19:07, 1h 12m after sunset.
Tomorrow the sun sets at 17:54 in Kingston. That is 49 seconds earlier than today. Over the coming week sunset moves 5 minutes 36 seconds earlier.
Planning around the light? See golden hour in Kingston.
Is the day getting longer or shorter in Kingston right now?
Kingston gets 11h 58m of daylight today, from sunrise to sunset. Tomorrow will be 1 minute shorter. Over the next seven days Kingston loses 6 minutes 59 seconds of daylight.
That pace is not constant. In Kingston the day length changes fastest around March, near the equinox, when it moves by about 1 minute 1 second per day, and it slows almost to a stop at the solstices in June and December. The word solstice means exactly that: the sun standing still.
When are the earliest and latest sunrise and sunset in Kingston?
The earliest sunset of 2026 in Kingston falls on 24 November at 17:29, 27 days before the December solstice, and the latest on 6 July at 18:46.
Sunrise runs on its own schedule: earliest on 4 June at 05:30, latest on 18 January at 06:41, 28 days after the December solstice. The four dates in the table below do not line up with the solstices, and they are not supposed to. Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical and its axis is tilted, so the sun runs a few minutes fast or slow against clock time through the year. That offset, the equation of time, is what pushes the earliest sunset ahead of the shortest day and the latest sunrise behind it.
| Extreme | Date | Local time | Why then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earliest sunrise | 4 Jun 2026 | 05:30 | 17 days before the June solstice |
| Latest sunrise | 18 Jan 2026 | 06:41 | 28 days after the December solstice |
| Earliest sunset | 24 Nov 2026 | 17:29 | 27 days before the December solstice |
| Latest sunset | 6 Jul 2026 | 18:46 | 15 days after the June solstice |
For the longest and shortest day themselves, see day length in Kingston.
How long does twilight last in Kingston?
First light in Kingston arrives 22 minutes before sunrise today, at 05:36. After sunset the light hangs on for another 22 minutes, until 18:16. That evening stretch is not the same all year in Kingston: it runs from 22 minutes at its shortest, in September, to 24 minutes at its longest, in June. The lower the angle at which the sun crosses the horizon, the longer twilight lasts, which is why dusk is a slow affair at high latitudes and abrupt near the equator.
Full three-band twilight tables: dawn in Kingston and dusk in Kingston.
How high does the sun get in Kingston?
At midday on the June solstice the sun stands 84.5 degrees above the horizon in Kingston. On the December solstice it climbs only 48.6 degrees. The midday sun stays high enough all year that noon shadows in Kingston are always shorter than the object casting them, about 0.88 times their height at the lowest point of the year.
Twice a year, on 11 May and 1 August, the midday sun over Kingston comes within half a degree of straight overhead, reaching 89.96 degrees at its highest. On those days an upright post casts almost no shadow at solar noon, which is why they are sometimes called zero shadow days. It can only happen between the tropics, where the sun passes directly over a place at all.
Frequently asked questions about Kingston
What time is sunrise in Kingston today?
The sun rises in Kingston, Jamaica at 05:57 on Thursday, 1 October 2026, and sets at 17:54. Use the date picker above to check sunrise for any other day. All times are given in the local time zone of Kingston.
When is golden hour in Kingston?
Kingston has two golden hours each day. On Thursday, 1 October 2026 the morning window runs from 05:57 to 06:26, and the evening window from 17:26 to 17:54, all in local time. Pick another date above to plan a shoot down to the minute.
Why do sunrise and sunset change through the year in Kingston?
Because Kingston lies in the northern hemisphere, its days are longest around June and shortest around December. In Kingston the longer solstice day runs about 13h 13m and the shorter one about 11h 3m, as shown in the table above. As Earth orbits the Sun, the point on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets moves, which lengthens or shortens the day and shifts sunrise and sunset times.
Are the times for Kingston accurate?
Yes. Times are computed with the well established SunCalc astronomy library using the coordinates of Kingston and shown in its local time zone. They are accurate to about a minute for a clear, flat horizon. Hills, tall buildings and atmospheric conditions can shift the moment you actually see the Sun by a few minutes.
Does this page show the moon phase for Kingston?
Yes. The current moon phase, the percentage of the Moon that is lit, and the moonrise and moonset times for Kingston are all shown for the selected date, so you can plan around a full moon or a dark new moon sky.
How much daylight does Kingston gain or lose each day?
Kingston has 11h 58m of daylight on Thursday, 1 October 2026 and is losing daylight: 6 minutes 59 seconds over the following seven days, with tomorrow 1 minute shorter than today. The daily change is at its largest near the March and September equinoxes and almost stops at the June and December solstices.
When is the earliest sunset in Kingston?
The earliest sunset of 2026 in Kingston is on 24 November at 17:29, 27 days before the December solstice. The earliest sunset and the shortest day are not the same date, because the sun runs a few minutes fast or slow against clock time through the year, an effect called the equation of time.
How long does it stay light after sunset in Kingston?
About 22 minutes on Thursday, 1 October 2026. The sun sets at 17:54 and usable daylight ends at civil dusk, 18:16, with full astronomical darkness at 19:07. The higher the latitude, the longer that fade takes.
Data and methodology: every time on this page is computed from Kingston's coordinates with SunCalc, an open source astronomy library, not estimated or looked up from a table. Coordinates 17.97, -76.79, time zone America/Jamaica. Accurate to about a minute for a flat, unobstructed horizon; terrain, tall buildings and atmospheric conditions can shift the moment the sun is actually visible by a few minutes. Full method on methodology.
Nearby cities
Sun and moon times for places close to Kingston. Sunrise and sunset shift as you move east, west, north or south.
Popular cities
More light tools
Understand the light
Plain-English guides to the moments that shape the day in Kingston and everywhere else.
Keep Kingston in your calendar
Subscribe to a live feed of Kingston's sunrise and sunset in your own calendar app, so today's light is always a glance away. It updates by itself, with no account.