Drake Bay - Golden Hour - Costa Rica
That magical warm light just after sunrise or before sunset
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When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.
What this forecast looks for
Plain-language explanation from the ruleThis forecast identifies optimal golden hour conditions for Costa Rica's diverse tropical landscapes—from volcanic peaks to Pacific sunsets to Caribbean jungle. We track cloud cover, visibility, and atmospheric conditions to predict when warm directional light enhances the country's remarkable natural features across multiple microclimates.
Costa Rica's position near the equator provides consistent year-round golden hour timing, with sunrise around 5:30-6:00 AM and sunset around 5:30-6:00 PM depending on season. The country's remarkable geographic diversity—Pacific coast, Caribbean coast, volcanic highlands, and cloud forests—each offers unique golden hour opportunities enhanced by tropical atmospheric conditions.
What makes Costa Rica golden-hour photography distinctive:
- Volcanic silhouettes - Arenal's perfect cone from La Fortuna at sunrise, Rincón de la Vieja at sunset, Turrialba's active crater catching first light
- Pacific sunsets - Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio's spectacular sunset colors enhanced by tropical humidity and ocean atmosphere
- Rainforest light - Golden shafts penetrating jungle canopy at Drake Bay and Tortuguero create magical filtered light effects
- Microclimate diversity - Photograph golden hour in cloud forest mist at Monteverde, then Pacific sunset the same day only hours away
Arenal Volcano from La Fortuna viewpoints provides Costa Rica's most iconic golden hour composition—the symmetrical cone catching sunrise light while lowland jungle remains shadowed. Tamarindo's Pacific beaches offer reliable sunset photography with dramatic colors reflecting off wet sand and tide pools. Manuel Antonio's combination of rainforest-clad hills meeting white-sand coves creates layered sunset compositions. La Fortuna waterfall receives beautiful morning light that illuminates its 70-meter drop and emerald pool. Tortuguero's canal system develops rich golden reflections during morning hours when water is calm. The green season (May-November) can produce spectacular post-storm golden hour light when clouds break.
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72-hour requirements breakdown
What passed or failed, hour by hourTime America/Costa_Rica | Golden Hour Any | Golden Hour Potential ≥ 80.0% | Precipitation Chance ≤ 5.0% | Visibility ≥ 1000.0m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Apr 7 | ||||
| 19:00 | ✕ | 11% | 99% | 24135m |
| 20:00 | ✕ | 11% | 99% | 24134m |
| 21:00 | ✕ | 11% | 100% | 24135m |
| 22:00 | ✕ | 12% | 100% | 21412m |
| 23:00 | ✕ | 18% | 100% | 10055m |
| Wed, Apr 8 | ||||
| 24:00 | ✕ | 13% | 100% | 24135m |
| 01:00 | ✕ | 18% | 67% | 11187m |
| 02:00 | ✕ | 11% | 33% | 24134m |
| 03:00 | ✕ | 12% | 0% | 24135m |
| 04:00 | ✕ | 12% | 0% | 24134m |
| 05:00 | ✓ | 69% | 0% | 24135m |
| 06:00 | ✕ | 38% | 0% | 24134m |
| 07:00 | ✕ | 12% | 28% | 24134m |
| 08:00 | ✕ | 12% | 33% | 24134m |
| 09:00 | ✕ | 12% | 39% | 24135m |
| 10:00 | ✕ | 12% | 53% | 24135m |
| 11:00 | ✕ | 11% | 67% | 24134m |
| 12:00 | ✕ | 11% | 82% | 24135m |
| 13:00 | ✕ | 11% | 61% | 24135m |
| 14:00 | ✕ | 11% | 38% | 24134m |
| 15:00 | ✕ | 11% | 15% | 24134m |
| 16:00 | ✕ | 17% | 20% | 24135m |
| 17:00 | ✓ | 81% | 25% | 24135m |
| 18:00 | ✕ | 98% | 30% | 24135m |
| 19:00 | ✕ | 16% | 29% | 24134m |
| 20:00 | ✕ | 16% | 29% | 24135m |
| 21:00 | ✕ | 17% | 28% | 24135m |
| 22:00 | ✕ | 12% | 38% | 24135m |
| 23:00 | ✕ | 12% | 47% | 24134m |
| Thu, Apr 9 | ||||
| 24:00 | ✕ | 12% | 56% | 24134m |
| 01:00 | ✕ | 12% | 37% | 24134m |
| 02:00 | ✕ | 12% | 19% | 24135m |
| 03:00 | ✕ | 12% | 0% | 24134m |
| 04:00 | ✕ | 12% | 0% | 24135m |
| 05:00 | ✓ | 66% | 0% | 24135m |
| 06:00 | ✕ | 35% | 0% | 24135m |
| 07:00 | ✕ | 11% | 13% | 24135m |
| 08:00 | ✕ | 11% | 26% | 24134m |
| 09:00 | ✕ | 12% | 39% | 24135m |
| 10:00 | ✕ | 11% | 39% | 24134m |
| 11:00 | ✕ | 11% | 39% | 24134m |
| 12:00 | ✕ | 11% | 39% | 24135m |
| 13:00 | ✕ | 17% | 26% | 24135m |
| 14:00 | ✕ | 13% | 13% | 24134m |
| 15:00 | ✕ | 12% | 0% | 24134m |
| 16:00 | ✕ | 17% | 13% | 24135m |
| 17:00 | ✓ | 68% | 26% | 24134m |
| 18:00 | ✕ | 100% | 39% | 24135m |
| 19:00 | ✕ | 17% | 39% | 24134m |
| 20:00 | ✕ | 17% | 39% | 24134m |
| 21:00 | ✕ | 17% | 39% | 24135m |
| 22:00 | ✕ | 17% | 53% | 24134m |
| 23:00 | ✕ | 17% | 68% | 24134m |
| Fri, Apr 10 | ||||
| 24:00 | ✕ | 17% | 82% | 24135m |
| 01:00 | ✕ | 17% | 55% | 24134m |
| 02:00 | ✕ | 16% | 27% | 21712m |
| 03:00 | ✕ | 16% | 0% | 24135m |
| 04:00 | ✕ | 16% | 0% | 24135m |
| 05:00 | ✓ | 100% | 0% | 24134m |
| 06:00 | ✕ | 52% | 0% | 24134m |
| 07:00 | ✕ | 17% | 23% | 24134m |
| 08:00 | ✕ | 18% | 46% | 24134m |
| 09:00 | ✕ | 18% | 69% | 24134m |
| 10:00 | ✕ | 17% | 76% | 24134m |
| 11:00 | ✕ | 16% | 84% | 24135m |
| 12:00 | ✕ | 17% | 92% | 24135m |
| 13:00 | ✕ | 18% | 87% | 24135m |
| 14:00 | ✕ | 17% | 82% | 24134m |
| 15:00 | ✕ | 18% | 76% | 24135m |
| 16:00 | ✕ | 18% | 77% | 24134m |
| 17:00 | ✓ | 100% | 78% | 24135m |
| 18:00 | ✕ | 100% | 78% | 24134m |
| 19:00 | ✕ | 18% | 60% | 22807m |
| 20:00 | ✕ | 18% | 41% | 24134m |
| 21:00 | ✕ | 19% | 22% | 24135m |
| 22:00 | ✕ | 14% | 28% | 24135m |
| 23:00 | ✕ | 12% | 33% | 24135m |
| Sat, Apr 11 | ||||
| 24:00 | ✕ | 12% | 39% | 24135m |
| 01:00 | ✕ | 12% | 26% | 24135m |
| 02:00 | ✕ | 12% | 13% | 24135m |
| 03:00 | ✕ | 10% | 0% | 24135m |
| 04:00 | ✕ | 10% | 17% | 23927m |
| 05:00 | ✓ | 63% | 33% | 23718m |
| 06:00 | ✕ | 33% | 50% | 23510m |
| 07:00 | ✕ | 11% | 58% | 23514m |
| 08:00 | ✕ | 11% | 67% | 23518m |
| 09:00 | ✕ | 10% | 75% | 23523m |
| 10:00 | ✕ | 10% | 79% | 23506m |
| 11:00 | ✕ | 10% | 82% | 23489m |
| 12:00 | ✕ | 10% | 86% | 23472m |
| 13:00 | ✕ | 10% | 71% | 23693m |
| 14:00 | ✕ | 11% | 57% | 23914m |
| 15:00 | ✕ | 11% | 43% | 24135m |
| 16:00 | ✕ | 11% | 48% | 24135m |
| 17:00 | ✓ | 65% | 54% | 24135m |
What does Golden Hour Potential mean?
Inputs that drive the scoreThis derived score summarizes multiple raw weather signals. The table below shows the supporting inputs hour by hour, so you can see what's pushing the score up or down.
| Time America/Costa_Rica | Golden Hour | High Clouds % | Low Clouds % | Mid-Level Clouds % | Relative Humidity % | Total Cloud Coverage % | Wind Speed m/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed, Apr 8
Sunrise 05:28
Sunset 17:44 | |||||||
| 19:00 ☾ | - | 4% | 0% | 0% | 71% | 4% | 1.6m/s |
| 20:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 4% | 0% | 71% | 4% | 1.7m/s |
| 21:00 ☾ | - | 3% | 0% | 0% | 71% | 3% | 1.1m/s |
| 22:00 ☾ | - | 89% | 0% | 0% | 70% | 89% | 0.56m/s |
| 23:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 71% | 100% | 0.73m/s |
| Thu, Apr 9
Sunrise 05:28
Sunset 17:44 | |||||||
| 24:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 72% | 100% | 0.59m/s |
| 01:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 72% | 100% | 0.19m/s |
| 02:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 74% | 100% | 1.2m/s |
| 03:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 74% | 100% | 0.77m/s |
| 04:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 76% | 100% | 1.3m/s |
| 05:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 77% | 100% | 1.6m/s |
| 06:00 | - | 99% | 0% | 0% | 78% | 99% | 1.8m/s |
| 07:00 | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 79% | 100% | 2.2m/s |
| 08:00 | - | 100% | 0% | 0% | 77% | 100% | 1.4m/s |
| 09:00 | - | 97% | 1% | 0% | 75% | 97% | 0.42m/s |
| 10:00 | - | 98% | 2% | 0% | 75% | 98% | 1.9m/s |
| 11:00 | - | 100% | 4% | 0% | 73% | 100% | 2.8m/s |
| 12:00 | - | 100% | 2% | 0% | 73% | 100% | 3.2m/s |
| 13:00 | - | 33% | 7% | 0% | 73% | 33% | 4m/s |
| 14:00 | - | 61% | 8% | 0% | 73% | 61% | 4.3m/s |
| 15:00 | - | 71% | 8% | 0% | 73% | 74% | 3.8m/s |
| 16:00 | - | 8% | 5% | 0% | 73% | 12% | 2.9m/s |
| 17:00 | - | 80% | 1% | 0% | 72% | 80% | 2m/s |
| 18:00 ☾ | - | 12% | 0% | 0% | 72% | 12% | 1.3m/s |
| 19:00 ☾ | - | 3% | 0% | 0% | 72% | 3% | 1.1m/s |
| 20:00 ☾ | - | 5% | 0% | 0% | 73% | 5% | 1.3m/s |
| 21:00 ☾ | - | 4% | 0% | 0% | 73% | 4% | 0.81m/s |
| 22:00 ☾ | - | 4% | 0% | 0% | 73% | 4% | 0.75m/s |
| 23:00 ☾ | - | 5% | 0% | 0% | 74% | 5% | 0.91m/s |
| Fri, Apr 10
Sunrise 05:27
Sunset 17:44 | |||||||
| 24:00 ☾ | - | 3% | 0% | 0% | 75% | 3% | 1m/s |
| 01:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 0% | 0% | 76% | 0% | 0.92m/s |
| 02:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 0% | 0% | 77% | 0% | 0.87m/s |
| 03:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 0% | 0% | 78% | 0% | 1.2m/s |
| 04:00 ☾ | - | 1% | 0% | 0% | 79% | 1% | 1.4m/s |
| 05:00 ☾ | - | 5% | 8% | 0% | 81% | 9% | 1.5m/s |
| 06:00 | - | 5% | 0% | 0% | 82% | 5% | 1.6m/s |
| 07:00 | - | 5% | 4% | 0% | 81% | 8% | 1.8m/s |
| 08:00 | - | 11% | 7% | 0% | 79% | 16% | 1.3m/s |
| 09:00 | - | 5% | 6% | 0% | 78% | 9% | 0.24m/s |
| 10:00 | - | 6% | 2% | 0% | 78% | 6% | 1.8m/s |
| 11:00 | - | 5% | 2% | 0% | 77% | 6% | 3.2m/s |
| 12:00 | - | 4% | 7% | 0% | 75% | 10% | 3.7m/s |
| 13:00 | - | 1% | 9% | 0% | 74% | 9% | 3.9m/s |
| 14:00 | - | 10% | 8% | 0% | 73% | 11% | 4m/s |
| 15:00 | - | 32% | 4% | 0% | 72% | 32% | 3.5m/s |
| 16:00 | - | 10% | 19% | 0% | 72% | 24% | 2.9m/s |
| 17:00 | - | 8% | 17% | 0% | 71% | 17% | 2.2m/s |
| 18:00 ☾ | - | 10% | 6% | 0% | 72% | 13% | 2.3m/s |
| 19:00 ☾ | - | 44% | 0% | 0% | 73% | 44% | 2.6m/s |
| 20:00 ☾ | - | 30% | 0% | 1% | 73% | 30% | 2.1m/s |
| 21:00 ☾ | - | 28% | 0% | 3% | 72% | 28% | 1m/s |
| 22:00 ☾ | - | 67% | 0% | 5% | 72% | 67% | 0.72m/s |
| 23:00 ☾ | - | 89% | 0% | 5% | 73% | 89% | 0.13m/s |
| Sat, Apr 11
Sunrise 05:27
Sunset 17:44 | |||||||
| 24:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 5% | 74% | 100% | 0.31m/s |
| 01:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 8% | 5% | 74% | 100% | 0.7m/s |
| 02:00 ☾ | - | 99% | 16% | 5% | 75% | 99% | 1.1m/s |
| 03:00 ☾ | - | 99% | 24% | 5% | 75% | 99% | 1.5m/s |
| 04:00 ☾ | - | 99% | 35% | 3% | 70% | 99% | 2m/s |
| 05:00 ☾ | - | 99% | 45% | 2% | 66% | 99% | 2.6m/s |
| 06:00 | - | 100% | 56% | 0% | 61% | 100% | 3.2m/s |
| 07:00 | - | 96% | 50% | 0% | 64% | 96% | 2.8m/s |
| 08:00 | - | 93% | 44% | 0% | 66% | 93% | 2.4m/s |
| 09:00 | - | 89% | 39% | 0% | 69% | 89% | 2m/s |
| 10:00 | - | 93% | 27% | 11% | 73% | 93% | 1.7m/s |
| 11:00 | - | 96% | 14% | 22% | 77% | 96% | 1.4m/s |
| 12:00 | - | 100% | 2% | 33% | 81% | 100% | 1.1m/s |
| 13:00 | - | 100% | 1% | 23% | 82% | 100% | 1m/s |
| 14:00 | - | 100% | 1% | 12% | 83% | 100% | 0.85m/s |
| 15:00 | - | 100% | 0% | 2% | 84% | 100% | 0.71m/s |
| 16:00 | - | 100% | 0% | 3% | 86% | 100% | 0.78m/s |
| 17:00 | - | 100% | 0% | 4% | 87% | 100% | 0.86m/s |
| 18:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 0% | 5% | 88% | 100% | 0.93m/s |
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