OBX Sunrise & Sunset Times — Outer Banks Daylight Guide
Outer Banks sunrise and sunset times by season, plus how to plan surf fishing, photography, and beach driving around first and last light.
The Outer Banks faces east into the Atlantic, which makes it one of the few US coasts where you can watch the sun rise directly over the ocean. Sunrise times shift by about 2 hours and 15 minutes between the summer and winter solstices, and the timing matters for everything from surf fishing to beach driving permits.
Typical OBX sunrise & sunset by month
Times are for Nags Head, NC (central OBX). Times shift by 1 to 2 minutes for locations north or south. All times are local Eastern Time, accounting for daylight saving.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:15 AM | 5:15 PM | 10h 00m |
| February | 6:55 AM | 5:45 PM | 10h 50m |
| March (DST starts mid-month) | 7:20 AM | 7:15 PM | 12h 00m |
| April | 6:35 AM | 7:45 PM | 13h 10m |
| May | 6:00 AM | 8:10 PM | 14h 10m |
| June (summer solstice) | 5:45 AM | 8:30 PM | 14h 45m |
| July | 5:55 AM | 8:25 PM | 14h 30m |
| August | 6:20 AM | 7:55 PM | 13h 35m |
| September | 6:50 AM | 7:10 PM | 12h 20m |
| October | 7:15 AM | 6:25 PM | 11h 10m |
| November (DST ends early) | 6:45 AM | 4:50 PM | 10h 05m |
| December (winter solstice) | 7:15 AM | 4:45 PM | 9h 30m |
The “golden hour” tide setup
The most productive surf fishing on the Outer Banks happens when a major tide change (high or low) lines up with sunrise or sunset. Predators feed harder in low-light, and the moving water concentrates bait. To find the days when the tide aligns with first or last light, cross-reference your local OBX tide chart with this sunrise/sunset table. When a falling tide hits slack low within an hour of sunrise, drop everything and go fish.
Sunrise photography on the OBX
- Cape Hatteras Lighthouse — backlit by sunrise from late spring through early fall
- Bodie Island Lighthouse — wide-open marsh foreground
- Jennette's Pier (Nags Head) — sun rises right behind the pier in winter
- Avon Pier — sun rises south of the pier May through July
- Coquina Beach shipwreck — the Laura A. Barnes wreck silhouetted at first light