Qibla direction in Ciudad del Carmen

How to face the Qibla in Ciudad del Carmen

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 38.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 52.0°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Ciudad del Carmen.

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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Ciudad del Carmen to Mecca points to 88.7° (east), a full 36.7° away from the true Qibla of 52.0° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 634 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Ciudad del Carmen first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 18.6459° N, 91.8299° W 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 Ciudad del Carmen to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 13,121 km from Ciudad del Carmen as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 12,899 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 15 h 56 min, although most pilgrims from Ciudad del Carmen connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Ciudad del Carmen run 9 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Ciudad del Carmen rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ciudad del Carmen

On 76 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ciudad del Carmen while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in June (30 days); for example, on 15 May 2027 it happens at 12:02 local time.

On 288 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 15:33.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Ciudad del Carmen (03:18 and 03:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 15:29 and 28 November 2027 at 15:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Ciudad del Carmen points straight to Mecca.

Ciudad del Carmen compared with other cities

Compared with Mexico City, 772 km away, the Qibla in Ciudad del Carmen is turned 5.4° further clockwise (52.0° against 46.6°), and Mecca is 525 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Villahermosa (138 km), prays towards 51.6°, a difference of 0.4°.

Across the 99 cities in Mexico on this site, the Qibla ranges from 25.5° in Rosarito to 54.2° in Chetumal, a spread of 28.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Mexico.

Qibla in cities near Ciudad del Carmen

• Villahermosa51.6° · 138 km
• Campeche52.3° · 191 km
• San Cristóbal de las Casas52.3° · 230 km
• Tuxtla Gutiérrez52.0° · 251 km
• Comitán de Domínguez52.8° · 269 km
• Coatzacoalcos50.5° · 281 km