Golden hour in San José
Golden hour in San José starts at 17:28 on 15 June and runs 30 minutes; on 15 December it is 30 minutes from 16:48. The calculator above is preset to San José — 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 San José
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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Runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, nothing transmitted.
Golden and blue hour in San José: all twelve months
Everything derives from the coordinates of San José (9.9281, -84.0907) and the America/Costa_Rica timezone — no estimates. The planning-relevant part: the evening window here swings between 28 minutes in March and 30 in January — schedule "an hour" and you are wrong in both.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 05:58 | 17:34 | 06:28 | 17:05 | 17:48 | 11h 36min |
| February | 05:57 | 17:46 | 06:25 | 17:17 | 17:59 | 11h 49min |
| March | 05:44 | 17:48 | 06:12 | 17:20 | 18:01 | 12h 04min |
| April | 05:27 | 17:47 | 05:55 | 17:19 | 18:00 | 12h 21min |
| May | 05:16 | 17:51 | 05:46 | 17:22 | 18:05 | 12h 35min |
| June | 05:17 | 17:59 | 05:47 | 17:28 | 18:13 | 12h 42min |
| July | 05:23 | 18:02 | 05:53 | 17:33 | 18:16 | 12h 39min |
| August | 05:28 | 17:55 | 05:57 | 17:27 | 18:09 | 12h 27min |
| September | 05:27 | 17:38 | 05:55 | 17:10 | 17:51 | 12h 11min |
| October | 05:25 | 17:20 | 05:53 | 16:52 | 17:33 | 11h 55min |
| November | 05:32 | 17:12 | 06:01 | 16:43 | 17:26 | 11h 40min |
| December | 05:46 | 17:19 | 06:16 | 16:48 | 17:33 | 11h 33min |
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 05:47 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:17.
After sunset, San José still offers the blue hour: from 18:13 to 18:22 in June (9 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 San José today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for San José from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 17:28, in mid-December at 16:48.
How long does golden hour last in San José?
Between 28 minutes (March) and 30 minutes (January) 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.