Qibla direction in Gustavia

How to face the Qibla in Gustavia

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 24.3° towards north: the result is the bearing of 65.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 24° 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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Gustavia to Mecca points to 87.9° (east), a full 22.2° away from the true Qibla of 65.7° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 225 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Gustavia 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 17.8962° N, 62.8498° 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 Gustavia to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 10,532 km from Gustavia as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 10,388 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 12 h 53 min, although most pilgrims from Gustavia connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Gustavia run 7 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Gustavia rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Gustavia

On 82 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Gustavia while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in July (31 days); for example, on 15 May 2027 it happens at 11:58 local time.

On 239 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 March (31 days), for instance on 15 January 2027 at 17:26.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Gustavia (05:18 and 05:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 17:29 and 28 November 2027 at 17:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Gustavia points straight to Mecca.

Gustavia compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Saint Barthélemy.