Best Sunrise and Sunset Webcams to Watch Right Now

There is a sunset happening somewhere on Earth right now. And thanks to live webcams, you can watch it from your couch, your office, or wherever you need a moment of calm. Port of Cams streams over 14,000 cameras across every time zone, which means golden hour is always just a click away.

The trick is knowing which cameras face the right direction. West-facing cams catch sunsets. East-facing cams catch sunrises. And when you line them up across time zones, you can chase the sun across the planet all day long.

This is your guide to the best sunrise and sunset webcams streaming right now.

How to Chase the Sun Across Time Zones

Here is the beautiful thing about live sunset cams: when the sun sets in Hawaii, it is already tomorrow’s sunrise in Asia. You can literally follow golden hour around the globe without leaving your screen.

A quick cheat sheet for watching from the US mainland (times are approximate and shift with the seasons):

• 4:00 - 6:00 PM ET — Watch the sun set over the Grand Canyon and the East Coast
• 5:00 - 7:00 PM ET — Catch golden hour hitting the Rocky Mountain parks
• 7:00 - 9:00 PM ET — California coastal sunsets light up the Pacific
• 9:00 - 11:00 PM ET — Hawaii takes its turn with some of the most colorful sunsets on Earth
• Early morning ET — East-facing cams across the US catch sunrise in reverse order

Bookmark a few cameras from different regions and you will always have a sunset waiting for you.

Hawaii — The Ultimate Sunset Webcam Destination

Hawaii produces some of the most vivid sunsets anywhere on the planet. Volcanic particles in the upper atmosphere scatter light into deep oranges, pinks, and purples that you simply do not see in most other places.

Sheraton Waikiki

The Sheraton Waikiki cam is the crown jewel of live sunset cams. This camera faces west over the Pacific Ocean with an unobstructed horizon, which means you get the full show — from the first golden tones to the green flash if conditions are right. Diamond Head frames the eastern edge of the shot, and the silhouettes of surfers and outrigger canoes add foreground interest as the sky changes color.

Best viewing: Year-round, roughly 6:00 - 7:15 PM HST depending on season. Winter sunsets tend to be more southwesterly; summer sunsets track further north.

Banzai Pipeline, North Shore

The Pipeline cam faces the ocean and picks up dramatic sunset colors reflecting off the water, especially during the calmer summer months. In winter, the combination of massive waves and a painted sky is hard to beat.

Maui Cams

The Napili Kai Beach Resort cam on Maui’s west side faces directly into the sunset. Maui’s western coast is sheltered from trade winds, so the air tends to be still and hazy in a way that amplifies warm colors. The island of Lanai sits on the horizon and creates a striking silhouette as the sun drops behind it.

California Coast — Pacific Sunset Cams

California’s west-facing coastline is a 900-mile sunset cam paradise. The Pacific Ocean provides an infinite horizon, and coastal fog and marine layers add texture that turns ordinary sunsets into layered masterpieces.

Malibu Pier

The Malibu Pier cam captures the classic Southern California sunset — warm light hitting the pier, surfers paddling through golden water, and the Santa Monica Mountains fading into silhouette. This is the sunset webcam that belongs on your TV screen.

Best viewing: Year-round, but fall and winter bring the most dramatic colors. Summer marine layer can obscure the horizon, though the fog itself sometimes lights up in spectacular fashion.

Pepperdine University Coastline

The Pepperdine cam sits high above Pacific Coast Highway and looks out over a wide stretch of ocean. The elevated angle means you can see the color gradient across the entire sky, from horizon to overhead. On clear days, Catalina Island appears as a dark shape against the glowing horizon.

National Parks — Dramatic Landscape Sunsets

National park webcams combine sunset light with some of the most dramatic scenery on the continent. These are not just sunset cams — they are landscape photography unfolding in real time.

Grand Canyon, Yavapai Point

The Yavapai Point cam may be the single most dramatic sunrise webcam in the United States. As dawn light creeps into the canyon, the layered rock walls shift from deep purple to red to orange to gold. The shadows retreat down the canyon walls over the course of an hour, revealing new depth and texture with every passing minute.

Best viewing: Sunrise is the star here. The canyon faces roughly east-west, so morning light fills the entire gorge with color.

Yellowstone — Electric Peak

The Electric Peak cam captures the Gallatin Range in northwest Yellowstone. In the evening, alpenglow turns the snow-capped peaks pink and purple long after the sun has dropped below the horizon. This is the kind of subtle, slow-burn sunset that rewards patience.

Yosemite — Half Dome

The Half Dome cam catches the granite face lit up in warm tones during the last hour of daylight. Photographers call this “alpenglow” and travel thousands of miles to witness it in person. You can watch it happen live every clear evening.

Glacier National Park — Lake McDonald

The Lake McDonald cam faces west across the lake, and on calm evenings the water becomes a perfect mirror for the sunset sky. The combination of mountain silhouettes, reflected color, and absolute stillness makes this one of the most peaceful sunset webcams anywhere.

Haleakala Summit, Maui

The Haleakala summit cam sits above the clouds at 10,023 feet. Watching sunrise from Haleakala is a bucket-list experience, and this webcam lets you preview it — or relive it. The camera looks out over the volcanic crater as first light spills across the cloud deck below. It is genuinely spectacular.

Alaska — Midnight Sun and Endless Golden Hour

Alaska breaks all the rules. During summer months, the sun barely sets at all north of the Arctic Circle, and even in Anchorage, golden hour can stretch for three or four hours. The light goes sideways and stays there, painting everything in warm amber tones that photographers dream about.

Alyeska Resort, Girdwood

The Alyeska Roundhouse cam sits at 2,300 feet on Mount Alyeska and looks out over the Turnagain Arm valley. During June and July, the sun traces a low arc across the northern horizon without ever fully setting. The result is hours of continuous golden light reflecting off glaciers and snowfields.

Denali Visitor Center

The Denali Visitor Center cam offers views toward the Alaska Range. On clear summer evenings, Denali itself catches sunset light on its upper glaciers while the valleys below have already gone to shadow. The scale is staggering.

Valdez Harbor

The Valdez Harbor cam faces the water with mountains rising on all sides. Mirror-like reflections and extreme northern latitude mean sunset colors linger at the horizon far longer than you would expect.

Tips for the Best Sunrise and Sunset Viewing

Weather matters more than you think. A perfectly clear sky often produces a bland sunset. The best colors come from scattered mid-level clouds that catch and reflect light. Thin cirrus clouds create pastel washes; broken cumulus clouds create dramatic contrast. A little bit of haze or humidity in the air helps too.

Seasons change the show. Winter sunsets tend to be more vivid because the sun sits lower on the horizon and its light passes through more atmosphere, scattering more color. Summer sunsets last longer but can be washed out by the higher sun angle. Spring and fall often hit the sweet spot.

Set up a routine. The beauty of live sunset cams is that they are always there. Pick a favorite and check it at the same time each day. You will start to notice how the sun’s position shifts along the horizon through the seasons, how weather patterns affect the colors, and how no two sunsets are ever the same.

Put It on Your TV and Breathe

Here is the real secret of sunset webcams: they work best when you stop scrolling and just watch. Cast a sunset cam to your TV, pour something warm, and let the sky do its thing for twenty minutes. No commentary, no algorithm, no notifications. Just light and color changing in real time across a landscape hundreds or thousands of miles away.

With 14,000+ cameras across every time zone, Port of Cams has a golden hour waiting for you right now. Start with the Sheraton Waikiki sunset cam, and let the sun pull you west from there.

Browse all of our cameras at portofcams.com/cameras and find your own favorite sunrise or sunset view.