Golden hour in Cape Town
Golden hour in Cape Town starts at 17:07 on 15 June and runs 38 minutes; on 15 December it is 37 minutes from 19:17. The calculator above is preset to Cape Town — pick a date and sunrise, sunset, golden and blue hour for that exact shoot day are right there, exportable as a calendar entry.
Golden hour calculator for Cape Town
Or enter coordinates
- Sunrise
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- Sunset
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- Golden hour (am)
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- Golden hour (pm)
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- Blue hour (pm)
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- Daylight
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- Sunset azimuth
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Golden and blue hour in Cape Town: all twelve months
The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Cape Town (-33.9249, 18.4241) in the Africa/Johannesburg timezone, DST included. Between June (38 minutes) and March (33 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.2.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 05:51 | 20:01 | 06:27 | 19:25 | 20:18 | 14h 10min |
| February | 06:22 | 19:41 | 06:56 | 19:07 | 19:57 | 13h 18min |
| March | 06:46 | 19:06 | 07:19 | 18:33 | 19:21 | 12h 20min |
| April | 07:09 | 18:25 | 07:43 | 17:51 | 18:40 | 11h 15min |
| May | 07:32 | 17:55 | 08:08 | 17:19 | 18:11 | 10h 23min |
| June | 07:50 | 17:45 | 08:29 | 17:07 | 18:02 | 9h 54min |
| July | 07:50 | 17:56 | 08:27 | 17:18 | 18:12 | 10h 06min |
| August | 07:27 | 18:17 | 08:01 | 17:42 | 18:33 | 10h 50min |
| September | 06:47 | 18:38 | 07:20 | 18:05 | 18:53 | 11h 51min |
| October | 06:06 | 19:00 | 06:39 | 18:26 | 19:15 | 12h 54min |
| November | 05:36 | 19:28 | 06:11 | 18:53 | 19:45 | 13h 52min |
| December | 05:30 | 19:54 | 06:07 | 19:17 | 20:12 | 14h 24min |
Fitting the window into the shoot day
The evening window is the reliable half: the crew is warmed up, the setup exists, and golden hour is the last slot before wrap. The morning window right after sunrise (until 08:29 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 07:50.
After sunset, Cape Town still offers the blue hour: from 18:02 to 18:12 in June (11 minutes). If you need both looks on one evening, everything from the start of golden hour to the end of blue hour is one continuous window — with no room for a re-rig inside it.
Frequently asked
When is golden hour in Cape Town today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Cape Town from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 17:07, in mid-December at 19:17.
How long does golden hour last in Cape Town?
Between 33 minutes (March) and 38 minutes (June) in the evening. The name misleads — it never actually reaches a full hour here.
How accurate are the times?
To about one minute (standard NOAA-style solar computation). Not included: horizon shading from buildings or hills to the west — which can genuinely shorten the window at your location.