Golden hour in Rio de Janeiro in May

Rio de Janeiro lies at 22.91° S, in the tropics, where the sun climbs steeply and sets fast. Its longest measured day falls on Fri 18 December 2026 with 13h 33m of daylight, and its shortest on Thu 18 June 2026 with 10h 44m — a difference of 2h 49m between the two extremes.

Evening golden hour in Rio de Janeiro runs for roughly 33 minutes at the height of summer, 30 minutes around the March equinox and 33 minutes at midwinter. The warm window is at its most generous in summer, so summer shoots allow more time to work a location.

The sun sets toward 295° WNW in late June and toward 244° WSW in late December, a shift of about 51° in where the last light lands — worth checking before committing to a west-facing viewpoint. In Rio de Janeiro, the sky reaches full darkness between evening and morning twilight year-round.