Qibla direction in Alofi

How to face the Qibla in Alofi

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 10.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 280.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 10° 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 Alofi, 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Alofi to Mecca points to 285.4° (west), 5.4° away from the correct 280.0°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 56 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.

How is the figure of 280.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Alofi (19.0529° S, 169.9196° W) 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 Alofi to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 16,905 km from Alofi as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 16,913 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 20 h 23 min, although most pilgrims from Alofi connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Alofi run 14 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Alofi rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Alofi

On 150 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Alofi 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 February 2027 it happens at 13:16 local time.

On 78 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 November (28 days), for instance on 15 January 2027 at 09:50.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 27 May 2027 and 15 July 2027. Both happen at night in Alofi (22:18 and 22:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 10:29 and 28 November 2027 at 10:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Alofi points straight to Mecca.

Alofi compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Niue.