Sunset in Pensacola tonight.
Tonight's times, month-by-month numbers, and where to be standing when it happens.
Golden hour starts around 5:57 PM
Best light on the sand before the crowd
Sunset by month
Times are for the 15th of each month, so the start and end of a month run a few minutes either side. The clock jumps an hour in March and back again in November.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| January | 7:46 AM | 6:10 PM |
| February | 7:28 AM | 6:37 PM |
| March | 6:58 AM | 6:57 PM |
| April | 6:21 AM | 7:16 PM |
| May | 5:54 AM | 7:36 PM |
| June | 5:46 AM | 7:52 PM |
| July | 5:57 AM | 7:52 PM |
| August | 6:16 AM | 7:30 PM |
| Septembernow | 6:33 AM | 6:54 PM |
| October | 6:51 AM | 6:17 PM |
| November | 7:15 AM | 5:52 PM |
| December | 7:38 AM | 5:50 PM |
Latest sunset of the year lands around late June at 7:55 PM. The earliest is 5:47 PM, at the end of November — earlier than mid-December, which surprises people.
Where to watch it
Pensacola Beach faces south, so the sun sets down the length of the beach rather than straight out in front of you — walk west toward Fort Pickens and you get the water, the dunes, and the light all in one line. The Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier puts you out over the water with a clear horizon. On the bay side, the pull-offs along Fort Pickens Road and the Bob Sikes Bridge fishing pier catch the sun going down over the sound, which is the calmer, glassier version.
Give yourself the hour before
The hour before sunset is the part worth showing up for — the light goes gold, the heat breaks, and the parking lots start emptying instead of filling. Beach parking is usually easy by then in summer, which is not true of any other time of day.