What Time Is Sunset in San Diego? (Month by Month)

The short answer: in late June, sunset in San Diego is around 8:00 p.m., the latest of the year, and it pulls back from there to about 7:15 p.m. by the start of September, 6:15 p.m. by mid-October, and right around 5:00 p.m. once the clocks change on November 1. The earliest sunsets, near 4:43 p.m., come in the first week of December. We have lived in San Diego for 25 years, and after that many years of planning beach evenings and bluff-top picnics around the light, here is the month-by-month breakdown of when the sun actually goes down, plus golden hour timing, which way the sun sets, and where we go to watch it.

Updated June 2026.

The short answer: San Diego’s latest sunset is about 8:02 p.m. in late June and early July; the earliest is about 4:43 p.m. in early December. Summer evenings run long (sunset near 8:00 p.m. through early July), then shorten through fall, with a sudden drop to about 5:00 p.m. on November 1 when Daylight Saving Time ends. The sun sets to the west-northwest in summer, so west-facing coast like Sunset Cliffs and Windansea lines up best. Plan to arrive 30 to 60 minutes early for parking and golden hour.

San Diego sunset times by month

Here is the month-by-month picture for San Diego (times are Pacific, rounded to the minute, and shift a touch year to year). We give the 1st and 15th of each month so you can see how fast the light is moving.

Date	Sunset (Pacific)	What is happening
Jan 1	4:55 p.m.	Climbing back from the December low
Jan 15	5:07 p.m.	Evenings noticeably longer
Feb 1	5:23 p.m.	Past 5:20, real after-work daylight
Feb 15	5:35 p.m.
Mar 1	5:47 p.m.	Last days before the clocks change
Mar 15	6:58 p.m.	Daylight Saving jumped it an hour (Mar 8)
Apr 1	7:10 p.m.
Apr 15	7:20 p.m.	Long spring evenings
May 1	7:32 p.m.
May 15	7:42 p.m.	June Gloom season starting
Jun 1	7:53 p.m.
Jun 15	7:59 p.m.	Nearly the latest of the year
Jul 1	8:02 p.m.	The latest sunset of the year
Jul 15	7:59 p.m.	Still past 7:55
Aug 1	7:48 p.m.	Shortening, slowly
Aug 15	7:35 p.m.
Sep 1	7:15 p.m.	Locals’ favorite warm-water month
Sep 15	6:56 p.m.	Back under 7:00
Oct 1	6:35 p.m.
Oct 15	6:17 p.m.	Light fading fast now
Nov 1	4:59 p.m.	Clocks fell back at 2 a.m.; sudden early dark
Nov 15	4:49 p.m.
Dec 1	4:44 p.m.	About as early as it gets
Dec 15	4:45 p.m.	Already creeping back later

The two takeaways locals live by: summer light lasts until 8:00 p.m., and the real shock of the year is November 1, when the clocks fall back and sunset jumps from about 6:00 p.m. the night before to a few minutes before 5:00 p.m. the next day. It feels like winter arrived overnight.

What time is sunset in San Diego in summer?

In summer, San Diego sunset is around 8:00 p.m., and it holds there longer than most people expect. The sun sets at or after 8:00 p.m. from about June 18 through July 4, peaks at about 8:02 p.m. in late June and the first days of July, and is still about 7:48 p.m. on August 1. So all of summer gives you a true after-dinner sunset, which is exactly why beach evenings are the local default from June through August.

One catch unique to here: a sunny afternoon does not guarantee a clear sunset. The marine layer behind June Gloom can slide back in along the coast in the evening and flatten the color. Check a coastal cloud forecast before you commit, and if the immediate beach is socked in, an elevated spot sometimes sits just above the murk.

What time is sunset in San Diego in winter?

In winter, San Diego sunset is around 4:45 to 5:00 p.m., and the earliest sunsets of the entire year, near 4:43 p.m., land in the first week of December, not on the winter solstice. By the December 21 solstice the sun is already setting a few minutes later, around 4:48 p.m., and from there the evenings slowly lengthen: 4:55 p.m. on January 1, past 5:00 p.m. by mid-January, and past 5:20 p.m. by early February. Winter sunsets are short, but they are also the least crowded and often the most dramatic, because winter storms bring the kind of broken clouds that light up.

The November 1 cliff: how Daylight Saving Time changes sunset

The single biggest jump in San Diego’s sunset time is not gradual, it is the Daylight Saving Time change. In 2026 the clocks spring forward on Sunday, March 8 and fall back on Sunday, November 1.

• March 8: sunset goes from about 5:51 p.m. on March 7 to about 6:52 p.m. on March 8. A one-hour leap into long spring evenings, overnight.
• November 1: sunset goes from about 6:00 p.m. on October 31 to a few minutes before 5:00 p.m. on November 1. That is the “why is it dark already” week every local complains about.

The sun did not actually move on either date. The clock did. But it reshapes how you plan an evening for months on either side.

What time is golden hour in San Diego?

Golden hour in San Diego is the roughly 45 to 70 minutes of warm, low light right before the sun goes down, so it tracks the sunset times above. In late June that means golden hour runs from about 7:00 p.m. to a sunset near 8:00 p.m.; in December it starts close to 4:00 p.m. ahead of a sunset near 4:45 p.m.

Our rule for getting it right:

• Arrive 30 to 60 minutes before sunset. That covers parking (which fills about an hour out at the popular cliffs on summer weekends) and puts you on the sand for the best of the light.
• Stay 20 to 30 minutes past sunset for blue hour. The deep-blue afterglow once the sun is gone is often better than the sunset itself, and most of the crowd leaves the second the sun dips. Do not be that crowd.

Which direction does the sun set in San Diego, and why it matters

The sun sets in the west, but the exact point swings about 28 degrees north and south across the year, and that decides which spots work. In summer the sun sets to the west-northwest, which is why the Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla coastlines all deliver a clean sun-into-the-water view. In winter it sets to the west-southwest, and at the spring and fall equinoxes it sets just about due west.

The practical version: for a true sunset over open ocean, you want a west or northwest-facing shoreline. Bay-facing spots like the downtown Embarcadero watch the sun set behind Point Loma instead of into the water. For the full ranked list of where to stand, see our local ranking of the best sunset spots in San Diego, from Sunset Cliffs to Windansea to the Torrey Pines Gliderport.

Where to watch: a quick local shortlist

When friends ask where to go for the time we just told them, this is the short version. The deep dive, with parking and the local move at each, is in our best sunset spots guide.

• Sunset Cliffs (Point Loma) is the gold standard, free, west-facing bluffs with the sun dropping into open water.
• Windansea Beach (La Jolla) is the quieter locals’ beach with the historic surf-shack silhouette.
• Ocean Beach gives you an open-ocean sunset with bars and taco shops a block off the sand on Newport Avenue. See our Ocean Beach neighborhood guide.
• Mount Soledad (La Jolla) trades the over-water horizon for a near-360 panorama, and it sometimes sits above the marine layer when the coast is gray.

The trap to skip: Cabrillo National Monument for sunset

Do not plan a sunset at Cabrillo National Monument. It looks perfect on a map, way out at the tip of Point Loma with the best view in the county, but the gate closes at 5:00 p.m. year-round and everyone has to be out by then. For most of the year the sun sets well after 5:00 p.m., so you will be turned away before the show. Cabrillo is a spectacular daytime stop for the bay-and-city panorama and the tide pools, just not a sunset spot. Save sunset for Sunset Cliffs a few minutes up the same peninsula.

Planning your San Diego sunset evening

Put it together and the plan writes itself: pick your date, read the sunset time off the table above, subtract 30 to 60 minutes for parking and golden hour, and choose a west-facing spot to match the season. In late spring and summer, glance at the marine-layer forecast first, because June Gloom can roll back in along the coast. If you are building a whole coastal evening or weekend around it, a hotel with a pool near the water keeps you minutes from the cliffs for golden hour.

For more to do around these neighborhoods before or after the sun goes down, browse our San Diego business directory and the entertainment and recreation listings for local tours, outfitters, and guides near the coast.