Santa Cruz, California Sunset Time Today
Santa Cruz sunset and sunrise times, golden hour, blue hour, and how your daylight is changing
Santa Cruz, CA · Sunset & sunrise today
Sunset 7:06 PM Sunrise 6:55 AM
12h 11m of daylight, −3m shorter than yesterday.
Tomorrow in Santa Cruz · Tue, Sep 22
Sunrise tomorrow: 6:56 AM · Sunset tomorrow: 7:04 PM
Sunrise 1 minute later than today · sunset 2 minutes earlier than today
In Santa Cruz, the sun rises at 6:56 AM tomorrow and sets at 7:04 PM.
Golden hour & blue hour today
Morning
Golden hour6:55 AM – 7:30 AM
Blue hour6:30 AM – 6:55 AM
Evening
Golden hour6:34 PM – 7:06 PM
Blue hour7:06 PM – 7:34 PM
Golden hour: the sun between the horizon and 6° up. Blue hour: civil twilight, down to 6° below the horizon.
Sunrise time in Santa Cruz
The sun rises in Santa Cruz at 6:55 AM today and at 6:56 AM tomorrow (1 minute later than today).
First light comes before the sun itself: civil twilight — the blue-hour glow already bright enough to see by — begins at 6:30 AM.
For photographers, the morning golden hour — the warm, low-angle light until the sun climbs 6° — runs from 6:55 AM to 7:30 AM.
Sunrise & sunset this week
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 6:55 AM | 7:06 PM | 12h 11m |
| Tue, Sep 22 | 6:56 AM | 7:04 PM | 12h 8m |
| Wed, Sep 23 | 6:56 AM | 7:03 PM | 12h 7m |
| Thu, Sep 24 | 6:57 AM | 7:01 PM | 12h 4m |
| Fri, Sep 25 | 6:58 AM | 7:00 PM | 12h 2m |
| Sat, Sep 26 | 6:59 AM | 6:58 PM | 11h 59m |
| Sun, Sep 27 | 7:00 AM | 6:57 PM | 11h 57m |
Santa Cruz daylight month by month
The 1st of each month in 2026, in local time.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7:22 AM | 5:03 PM | 9h 41m |
| Feb | 7:11 AM | 5:34 PM | 10h 22m |
| Mar | 6:40 AM | 6:03 PM | 11h 23m |
| Apr | 6:54 AM | 7:31 PM | 12h 36m |
| May | 6:15 AM | 7:57 PM | 13h 43m |
| Jun | 5:51 AM | 8:23 PM | 14h 32m |
| Jul | 5:53 AM | 8:32 PM | 14h 39m |
| Aug | 6:14 AM | 8:16 PM | 14h 2m |
| Sep | 6:40 AM | 7:38 PM | 12h 58m |
| Oct | 7:04 AM | 6:53 PM | 11h 49m |
| Nov | 6:33 AM | 5:12 PM | 10h 39m |
| Dec | 7:04 AM | 4:53 PM | 9h 49m |
Santa Cruz’s longest and shortest days
From 14h 42m of daylight on June 21, 2026 to 9h 37m on December 21, 2026.
| Solar landmark | Date (2026) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|
| Longest day | Jun 21 | 14h 42m |
| Spring equinox | Mar 20 | 12h 8m |
| Fall equinox | Sep 22 | 12h 10m |
| Shortest day | Dec 21 | 9h 37m |
How fast Santa Cruz gains and loses daylight
Daily rate at mid-month; net change across the month.
| Month | Daily rate | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | gaining 1m 19s a day | +42m |
| Feb | gaining 2m 11s a day | +1h 1m |
| Mar | gaining 2m 23s a day | +1h 13m |
| Apr | gaining 2m 15s a day | +1h 7m |
| May | gaining 1m 40s a day | +49m |
| Jun | gaining 19s a day | +8m |
| Jul | losing 1m 10s a day | −37m |
| Aug | losing 2m 3s a day | −1h 4m |
| Sep | losing 2m 20s a day | −1h 10m |
| Oct | losing 2m 17s a day | −1h 10m |
| Nov | losing 1m 44s a day | −50m |
| Dec | losing 23s a day | −9m |
Santa Cruz golden hour & blue hour by season
The same altitude-based windows as today’s card, at each solstice and equinox.
| Season | Evening gold | Evening blue | Morning gold | Morning blue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring equinox | 6:46–7:20 PM | 7:20–7:46 PM | 7:12–7:47 AM | 6:47–7:12 AM |
| Summer solstice | 7:53–8:32 PM | 8:32–9:03 PM | 5:50–6:28 AM | 5:19–5:50 AM |
| Fall equinox | 6:32–7:07 PM | 7:07–7:33 PM | 6:57–7:31 AM | 6:31–6:57 AM |
| Winter solstice | 4:15–4:56 PM | 4:56–5:25 PM | 7:18–7:59 AM | 6:49–7:18 AM |
Daylight saving time in Santa Cruz
Clocks move an hour; the daylight doesn’t change.
| Clock change | Date (2026) | UTC offset |
|---|---|---|
| Spring forward | Sun, Mar 8 | UTC−7 |
| Fall back | Sun, Nov 1 | UTC−8 |
Why sunset time shifts in Santa Cruz
Sunset drifts through the year with Earth’s ~23.4° axial tilt — see the full daylight explainer.
In Santa Cruz, the longest day carries about 14h 42m of daylight and the shortest just 9h 37m — a swing of roughly 5h 5m between the June and December solstices. The farther a place sits from the equator, the wider that gap; the pace also isn’t steady, moving fastest near the equinoxes and barely at all near the solstices. Every figure here is computed from the sun’s position for Santa Cruz’s exact coordinates, in local time.
Frequently asked
- When is the earliest and latest sunset in Santa Cruz?
- Santa Cruz's earliest sunset in 2026 is 4:52 PM around December 6, 15 days before the shortest day. The latest is 8:32 PM around June 28, 7 days after the longest day. Both are local clock times.
- How much daylight does Santa Cruz get on the longest and shortest days?
- Santa Cruz gets about 14h 42m of daylight on the longest day, June 21, 2026, and 9h 37m on the shortest, December 21, 2026: a swing of 5h 5m.
- When is golden hour in Santa Cruz?
- Near the June solstice, Santa Cruz's evening golden hour runs 7:53–8:32 PM and the morning one 5:50–6:28 AM. Near the December solstice they run 4:15–4:56 PM and 7:18–7:59 AM. Golden hour here is the time the sun spends between the horizon and 6° up.
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