Santa Cruz · Monterey · Big Sur · Monday, December 21
Photographers toolbox
Golden and blue hour, where the sun sets against each viewpoint's view, fog and tide at the spot, and a
calendar file to carry the plan. Scores are estimates; how they are made is at the bottom.
Night sky · night of Monday, December 21 · Monterey
Astronomically dark 6:28 PM to 5:43 AM.
Moon 95% lit; moon-free none, the moon is up all night.
Milky Way coreNo shootable core window this night. The core stays below 10 degrees all night (highest -18 degrees).
Out of season. Out of season, November to January. The core is in the sky with the sun, so there is no core to photograph at night. The rest of the Milky Way is still there on a moonless night.
Alignment calendar · when the sun lines up
McWay Falls overlook, Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP
Sun down the axis of McWay Cove: the sun sets at about 260°.
This direction is a map estimate, not yet checked on site.
Within 3°
Within 1°
Closest day
Feb 20, 2027 to Mar 4, 2027
Feb 24, 2027 to Feb 28, 2027
Feb 26, 2027, 5:58 PM at 260.1°
Oct 8, 2027 to Oct 21, 2027
Oct 13, 2027 to Oct 16, 2027
Oct 14, 2027, 6:31 PM at 260.2°
Target 260 degrees is the middle of the overlook's 235-285 view, taken as the line down the cove toward the open Pacific. It is a map estimate, not a field measurement: stand on the overlook trail with a compass and adjust.
Pfeiffer Beach keyhole (Keyhole Arch)
Sun through the keyhole: the sun sets at about 242°.
This direction is a map estimate, not yet checked on site.
Within 3°
Within 1°
Closest day
Dec 21 to Jan 17, 2027
Dec 21 to Jan 9, 2027
Jan 3, 2027, 5:04 PM at 242.0°
Nov 23, 2027 to Dec 21, 2027
Dec 2, 2027 to Dec 21, 2027
Dec 8, 2027, 4:52 PM at 242.0°
Sun sets through the arch only while it sets at 240-250 degrees: mid-December to mid-January. Clear the horizon, check the tide and the surf.
Some forecast feeds did not answer (tides). Sun and moon times are exact; the
fog, tide and swell lines that depend on those feeds are left blank rather than guessed.
Davenport bluffs
Sunset spot
6Good
Golden hour4:15 PM to 5:14 PM
Blue hour5:14 PM to 5:24 PM
Sun sets4:55 PM at 240.8°
Spot faces
235 to 295 degrees (sun in view)
Fog at golden hourn/a
Wind at golden hourn/a
Daylight low tidenone this day
Milky Way corenot this night
Sea-cliff coast with offshore rocks and winter whale-watching headlands
Target 260 degrees is the middle of the overlook's 235-285 view, taken as the line down the cove toward the open Pacific. It is a map estimate, not a field measurement: stand on the overlook trail with a compass and adjust.
It starts from the Sundown Oracle sunset score: low and high cloud plus visibility at sunset, from the regional forecast.
Fog at golden hour in the spot's own forecast cell: 80% or more takes 2 points off, 60% or more takes 1, 25% or less adds 1.
Facing: the sun setting inside the view the spot faces adds 1; just off the edge takes 1; out of view takes 3. Turnouts without a set facing are not scored on direction.
Night sky: astronomical dark is the sun more than 18 degrees below the horizon. The Milky Way core is the galactic centre (Sagittarius A*, 17h45m, minus 29 degrees) computed from the date, time and place; it counts as shootable when it is at least 10 degrees up, in the dark, with the moon down (a moon under 10% lit is ignored). Windows are good to about five minutes.
Alignment calendar: the dates the sun sets (or rises) within 3 degrees of a spot's target direction, with the part within 1 degree called out. Near the solstices the sun's direction barely changes from day to day, so those windows are weeks long. Target directions are map estimates until someone checks them on site.
Golden hour is the sun between 6 degrees above the horizon and 4 below; blue hour is 4 to 8 below. Sun and moon directions are computed, not forecast.
Places inside a Highway 1 no-stopping zone are never scored or planned. Forecast data: NOAA models via Open-Meteo, NOAA tide predictions; astral for sun and moon positions.