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THE SCIENCE OF SUNSETS: The Destin how-to guide on watching the sun settle (PHOTOS)
Folks on The Log’s Facebook page had plenty of suggestions when it came to sunset spotting. Here are some of their recommendations.
Jeanne LeMoine Fell: Destin harbor without a doubt!
Timothy Mahar: Either Calhoun Park in Destin or at the north end of the 331 bridge... both give good views across bay...
JoLeigh Penton: HarborWalk
Lisa Gaddis: October to January sunsets over the ocean. Every night. Anywhere in Destin.
Renee Wagner: sitting on the West Jetty
Timothy Mahar: I remember the “good old days” when hardly anyone but fishermen and shellers ventured to the west jetty...
Renee Wagner: I guess fortunately most people are too lazy to make the trek … still pretty much a few guys with a few rod and an occasional passerby — and a bunch of bit and pieces of Peter Bos' fireworks … GRRRR. Oh yeah, sunset. Calm. Ok, I'm better.
Gayle Klutts: One Water Place 6th floor every night summer or winter!
Greg Schmidt: We'll have to wait for fall to get the great sunsets over the water
Timothy Mahar: Also looks great down the sound from atop Brooks Bridge...
Amber Leto Mayer: Whale’s Tail at Seascape!
Timothy Mahar: another tact for those online: Use Google Earth and toggle the sun icon up top... if you put yourself where you “want” to see a sunset, toggling this on and off will reveal if it will be over the water from anywhere along our curving beach...
Rosalie Dison: Dewey's, the shed off Calhoun, not the new restaurant. Dewey’s has a long wide dock next to it. I like to walk out over the water. The panoramic of the bay, trees, bridge and ocean all at once... Muah!
David Triana: HarborWalk Village by the Dancin’ Iguana!
Traci Elizabeth: Anywhere along the coast!
Kathy Wilson Patterson: AJs on Destin harbor (upstairs, on the deck)
For some, winding down after a long, busy day of work or play in Destin is often coupled with watching the sun go down over the horizon.
“One of my favorite places is right in between the jetties, just a little outside. You can look back west and see the sunset over the gulf right down the beach,” Capt. Cliff Atwell said. “It’s just beautiful.”
Red and orange sunsets along the Emerald Coast are a popular backdrop for weddings and family pictures, but they also are the most popular subjects for reader submitted photos to The Log.
To submit your favorite sunset picture, click here.
Atwell, the captain of the Southern Star, says sunset cruises, which hold up to 149 people, are their most popular cruises and are often booked up days in advance.
“I tell passengers, “Don’t you like the view from my office?” he said.
The Southern Star and other sunset cruises aboard boats like the SeaBlaster, Reef Runner, and the Emerald Dancer are great vantage points for watching the sun go down over the Gulf of Mexico, but for those without their sea legs there are still plenty of places to go on land.
“I notice a lot of people go out to Norriego Point to watch the sunset… and anywhere down at HarborWalk. They have a lot of cool places,” said the Destin boat captain.
Although the trek is a bit far, the west jetty gives an excellent view of the sunset and casts a shadow against the line of beaches in the foreground. Clement Taylor Park on Calhoun Avenue is also a popular viewing location and is less of a hike.
“When I was in Destin, I would go on long walks all around Destin but I always tried to be on the beach at sunset to watch God paint the sky with sunsets…” Bruce Dunkin wrote on The Log’s Facebook page.
Hugo Berrios Saenz wrote “even driving along Highway 98 around 7:45 p.m. you will see a spectacular sunset.”
However, the time of the sunset changes throughout the year depending on the tilt of the Earth on its axis, the rotation of the planet and its position along the elliptical orbit around the sun.
During the summer, the days are longer and the sunsets occur later in the day than in the winter when the northern hemisphere of the Earth is tilted away from the sun.
During the warm, humid evenings in the summer, Atwell said the colors are still great.
“But during the fall months, with a light wind from the north, the colors are more crisp and as soon as the sun goes down, the sky just lights up.”
