Qibla direction in Flying Fish Cove

How to face the Qibla in Flying Fish Cove

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 26.7° towards north: the result is the bearing of 296.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 27° off.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Flying Fish Cove, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Flying Fish Cove to Mecca points to 296.2°, only 0.5° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 296.7° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 296.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Flying Fish Cove (10.4217° S, 105.6791° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Flying Fish Cove to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 8,010 km from Flying Fish Cove as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,145 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 9 h 55 min, although most pilgrims from Flying Fish Cove connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Flying Fish Cove run 4 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Flying Fish Cove rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Flying Fish Cove

On 241 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Flying Fish Cove while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 March 2027 it happens at 12:31 local time.

On 124 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 09:54.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Flying Fish Cove: at 16:18 and 16:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Flying Fish Cove compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Christmas Island.