Qibla direction

Qibla Direction in San Diego

From San Diego, United States, the Kaaba lies 25° clockwise from true north — to the north-east, about 13,518 km away.

The compass

Face the gold square

From true north
NESWQIBLA
San DiegoMakkah25°

The gold marker is the Kaaba’s direction, not a map position.

The bearing

25°

from true north

From San Diego, the Qibla is to the north-east. The Kaaba is 13,518 km away.

City coordinates
32.716° N, 117.161° W
Time zone
America/Los_Angeles
Kaaba distance
13,518 km

How to

Face the Qibla, properly

Three steps that work without special equipment — plus the one caveat about phone compasses.

01

Find true north

The bearing on this page is measured clockwise from true north. Open a compass app, hold the phone flat and calibrate with a figure-eight motion if the reading drifts.

02

Turn 25° clockwise

From true north, rotate clockwise by 25°. That line points from San Diego toward the Kaaba, 13,518 km away.

03

Hold the line

Choose a fixed object on the line — a doorway, a window or a mark on the wall — so you can return to the same direction for later prayers without the phone.

The bearing is a great-circle direction on a sphere. It is shown from the city centre; a few kilometres across San Diego changes it by a fraction of a degree, which does not affect your prayer.

Questions

The Qibla from San Diego

Bearing, true north and why the angle is what it is.

What is the Qibla direction in San Diego?

From San Diego city centre, the Qibla is 25° clockwise from true north — toward the north-east. The Kaaba is about 13,518 km away on that great-circle line.

Is this bearing measured from true north or magnetic north?

True north. A physical or phone compass may point to magnetic north, which differs by the local magnetic declination — often a few degrees. Apply the local declination, or use the DeenDock app, which corrects for it on supported phones.

Why does the Qibla in San Diego not point straight east?

The shortest path to Makkah is a great-circle route on a sphere, not a straight line on a flat map. That is why the bearing changes with your position and rarely matches a simple compass point.