Bahamas sunrise and sunset times for nine islands

How the planner works

The nine places, each a fixed latitude and longitude, are Nassau (New Providence), Freeport (Grand Bahama), Alice Town (Bimini), Marsh Harbour (Abaco), Governor's Harbour (Eleuthera), Fresh Creek (Andros), George Town (Exuma), Clarence Town (Long Island) and Matthew Town (Great Inagua).

For your date, the planner works out how far through the year it is and feeds that into two of NOAA's series: the sun's declination (how far north or south of the equator it sits) and the equation of time (the gap, up to about a quarter of an hour, between sun time and clock time).

From those and the latitude it finds the hour angle: how far the Earth turns from solar noon before the sun's centre reaches a given height. For sunrise and sunset that is 0.833 degrees below a flat horizon, which allows for refraction (the atmosphere bends light, so the sun shows before it is geometrically up) and for the size of the sun's disc. "Sunrise" is the moment the top edge appears.

cos(H)     = cos(90.833°) ÷ (cos(lat) × cos(decl)) - tan(lat) × tan(decl)
sunrise    = 720 - 4 × (longitude + H) - eqtime    (minutes after midnight UTC)
sunset     = 720 - 4 × (longitude - H) - eqtime
solar noon = 720 - 4 × longitude - eqtime

Longitude is negative west of Greenwich, and each degree is worth four minutes. Golden hour uses the same sum with the sun 6 degrees up: in the morning it runs from sunrise until the sun climbs past 6 degrees, in the evening from when it drops below 6 degrees until sunset. That edge is a photographers' rule of thumb, not an official definition.

Finally, the UTC times are converted to Bahamas time (the America/Nassau zone): Eastern Standard Time, five hours behind UTC, in winter, and Eastern Daylight Time, four hours behind, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. Day length is sunset minus sunrise.

Worked example

Take Nassau on the two solstices of 2026.

That is just over three hours' difference in daylight. Solar noon in June falls after one o'clock because Nassau sits west of the 75th meridian that Eastern Time is based on, and daylight saving adds an hour.

Switch islands and the spread shows. On 21 June the sun sets at Matthew Town on Inagua at 7:38 pm, more than half an hour before Freeport and Alice Town at 8:10 pm, because Inagua lies further east and further south. In December the order of daylight flips: Matthew Town gets 10 h 52 min while Freeport and Marsh Harbour get 10 h 28 min. For a passage like those in our Exumas island-hopping guide, check the island you arrive at, not the one you leave.

What it can't tell you

Times to the second. These are NOAA's simpler equations. In our checks for Nassau they land within about a minute of published almanac times, occasionally a little more, and the planner drops the seconds. NOAA also notes that atmospheric conditions can make the sunrise you see differ from any calculation.

Your horizon. The sums assume a flat sea horizon. A ridge, a line of casuarinas or a bank of cloud all change when you actually see the sun.

Every corner of an island. Each island is one point. Andros and Eleuthera are long, and a place one degree further east sees the sun about four minutes earlier.

Twilight. The planner does not give twilight times. There is useful light before sunrise and after sunset, but in the tropics the sun drops steeply and dusk is short.

The weather. Clear skies are not part of the sum. Our weather guide covers the cloud and rain to expect.

Sources

• NOAA Solar Calculator
• NOAA: General Solar Position Calculations (PDF)
• NOAA: Solar calculation details
• Bahamas Department of Meteorology

Frequently asked questions

What time is sunset in Nassau?

By the planner's figures for 2026, sunset in Nassau runs from about 5:19 pm in late November and early December to about 8:03 pm at the end of June. At the equinoxes it is about 7:20 pm in March and 7:07 pm in September. Pick your date in the planner for the exact minute.

Does the Bahamas use daylight saving time?

Yes. The Bahamas keeps Eastern Time and moves to daylight saving on the second Sunday in March, returning to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In 2026 the clocks change on 8 March and 1 November, the same days as Miami and New York.

When is golden hour in the Bahamas?

The planner treats golden hour as the time the sun is less than 6 degrees above the horizon. In Nassau that is about half an hour after sunrise and before sunset, a few minutes longer near the solstices. Haze and cloud on the horizon can soften or cut short the colour.