Qibla direction in Puerto Cabello

How to face the Qibla in Puerto Cabello

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 24.9° towards north: the result is the bearing of 65.1°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 25° 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 Puerto Cabello, 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

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Puerto Cabello to Mecca points to 84.0° (east), a full 18.8° away from the true Qibla of 65.1° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 192 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Puerto Cabello first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 65.1° obtained? From the coordinates of Puerto Cabello (10.4731° N, 68.0125° 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 Puerto Cabello to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 11,382 km from Puerto Cabello as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 11,262 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 13 h 53 min, although most pilgrims from Puerto Cabello connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Puerto Cabello 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 Puerto Cabello rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Puerto Cabello

On 130 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Puerto Cabello while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 1 May 2027 it happens at 11:46 local time.

On 234 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 17:48.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Puerto Cabello (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 Puerto Cabello points straight to Mecca.

Puerto Cabello compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Caracas (65.4°), and Mecca is 113 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Guacara (31 km), prays towards 65.2°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 47 cities in Venezuela on this site, the Qibla ranges from 63.9° in Machiques to 66.8° in Upata, a spread of 2.9°. The difference is small, yet each city should still use its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Venezuela.

Qibla in cities near Puerto Cabello

• Guacara65.2° · 31 km
• Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela65.2° · 35 km
• Maracay65.3° · 52 km
• Tinaquillo65.2° · 69 km
• La Victoria65.3° · 79 km
• San Felipe64.9° · 81 km