Qibla · Queensland
Qibla direction in Sunshine Coast
To face the Kaaba in Sunshine Coast, turn to 280.7° measured clockwise from true north, which is west (10.7° north of west). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 13,287 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Sunshine Coast should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 280.7°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 281°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Sunshine Coast
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 10.7° towards north: the result is the bearing of 280.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 11° off.
Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Sunshine Coast to Mecca points to 293.7° (north-west), 13.0° away from the correct 280.7°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 36 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 26.6568° S, 153.0796° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.
Distance from Sunshine Coast to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 13,287 km from Sunshine Coast as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 13,416 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 16 h 08 min, although most pilgrims from Sunshine Coast connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Sunshine Coast run 7 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Sunshine Coast rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sunshine Coast
On 220 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sunshine Coast while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 12:54 local time.
On 121 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 07:45.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | 12:54 | 07:45 |
| 15 January 2027 | 13:24 | 07:27 |
| 1 February 2027 | 14:12 | 06:49 |
| 15 February 2027 | 14:52 | 06:10 |
| 1 March 2027 | 15:32 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 16:09 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 16:53 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | — | — |
| 1 May 2027 | — | — |
| 15 May 2027 | — | — |
| 1 June 2027 | — | — |
| 15 June 2027 | — | — |
| 1 July 2027 | — | — |
| 15 July 2027 | — | — |
| 1 August 2027 | — | — |
| 15 August 2027 | — | — |
| 1 September 2027 | — | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 16:34 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 15:43 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 14:59 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 14:08 | 05:51 |
| 15 November 2027 | 13:30 | 06:31 |
| 1 December 2027 | 12:57 | 07:13 |
| 15 December 2027 | 12:43 | 07:39 |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Sunshine Coast (19:18 and 19:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 14 January 2027 at 07:29 and 29 November 2027 at 07:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Sunshine Coast points straight to Mecca.
Sunshine Coast compared with other cities
Compared with Canberra, 1,030 km away, the Qibla in Sunshine Coast is turned 2.9° further clockwise (280.7° against 277.8°), and Mecca is 219 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Brisbane (90 km), prays towards 280.3°, a difference of 0.4°.
Across the 21 cities in Australia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 275.0° in Hobart to 295.5° in Mandurah, a spread of 20.5°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Australia.
Qibla in cities near Sunshine Coast
- Brisbane280.3° · 90 km
- Logan City280.1° · 109 km
- Toowoomba280.6° · 150 km
- Gold Coast279.8° · 153 km
- Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia277.7° · 709 km
- Central Coast277.7° · 771 km
Qibla in Sunshine Coast: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Sunshine Coast?
It is 280.7° from true north, which is west: 10.7° north of west.
How far is Sunshine Coast from Mecca?
13,287 km in a straight line over the globe, and 13,416 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Sunshine Coast?
On 220 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Sunshine Coast not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 293.7°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Sunshine Coast at 280.7°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 280.7° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.