Total solar eclipse in Tunisia, 2027
2 August 2027
A Monday. Every timing on this page is worked from NASA's.
The path of totality crosses Sfax, the Kerkennah Islands, El Jem, Djerba and Gabes. It does not reach Tunis, Sousse, Monastir, Hammamet, Sidi Bou Said or Matmata, which see a partial eclipse only.
At Sfax and on the Kerkennah Islands, totality lasts more than five and a half minutes.
We confirm availability on the call.
Where the path of totality runs
Totality is the few minutes when the Moon covers the Sun completely. In Tunisia it falls inside a band 246 to 248 km wide that crosses the centre and the south-east of the country, and only inside it.
Inside the path
You see totality.
- SfaxRoughly 5 minutes 40 seconds
- The Kerkennah IslandsRoughly 5 minutes 38 seconds
- DjerbaRoughly 4 minutes 40 seconds
- El JemA little over 4 minutes
- GabesAbout 4 minutes
- KairouanUnder 3 minutes
Outside the path
A partial eclipse only. You do not see totality.
- Tunis97.07 percent of the Sun covered
- Sidi Bou SaidPartial only
- Hammamet98.26 percent of the Sun covered
- Sousse99.88 percent of the Sun covered
- Monastir99.93 percent of the Sun covered
- Matmata99.99 percent of the Sun covered
- Douz99.51 percent of the Sun covered
The percentage is how much of the Sun's disc is covered at the maximum, as Spain Solar Eclipse publishes it. A disc is an area, so it reads higher than the figure for the Sun's width. Even so, near 100 percent is still not totality.
Settle this before you book anything. A standard route does not put you in the path by default.
That morning could find you at El Jem or on Djerba, which are inside the path, or in Tunis, Sousse, Monastir or Hammamet, which are not. If you are coming for totality, tell us first, and we build the days around that morning.
The south-western edge of the path runs close to Tozeur and Nefta. Tozeur is inside it by a narrow margin, with under two minutes of totality, and Nefta is just outside it. At the edge a few kilometres decide the answer, so ask us about any place that is not listed here.
These are worked out with NASA's own calculation and elements. NASA lists Sfax and Tunis in its explorer, and any other town can be checked there by entering its coordinates.
The durations for many more places, source by source, and why the published times for the day disagree, are in the guide to the 2027 eclipse in Tunisia.
The facts, with their sources
- Date
Monday 2 August 2027, a total solar eclipse
- Totality at Sfax
Roughly 5 minutes 40 seconds
Worked out with NASA's own calculation and elements, because NASA publishes the path and the elements and no table for each town. Spain Solar Eclipse publishes 5 minutes 39 seconds.
- Totality at Kerkennah
Roughly 5 minutes 38 seconds
Worked out the same way. Spain Solar Eclipse publishes 5 minutes 39 seconds.
- Every figure we found
5 minutes 38 seconds to about 5 minutes 45 seconds
Our two working figures and the published ones. Sources differ on where in town they work it out, because the central line lies 15 to 30 km south of Sfax and Kerkennah, and on small details of the calculation. That is why this page says more than five and a half minutes and not a single figure.
- Width of the path across Tunisia
246 to 248 km
- Time in Tunisia
UTC+1 all year, with no daylight saving
No clock time is printed on this page. See the questions below for why.
Heat and cloud
2 August is midsummer. Tunisia's weather service records average daytime highs in August of 92.3F (33.5C) on Djerba, 99.5F (37.5C) at Kairouan, the station nearest El Djem, and 102.7F (39.3C) at Tozeur. The figures we hold do not include Sfax or Kerkennah.
Two published statistics bear on cloud. timeanddate records that since 2000 this day has been cloudy 2 percent of the time at Sfax. Space.com gives a 21 percent chance of clouds at Kerkennah. Neither is a forecast, and they are not measures of the same thing, so they cannot be compared with each other.
Questions about the eclipse
- When is the total solar eclipse in Tunisia?
- On Monday 2 August 2027. Totality, when the Moon covers the Sun completely, lasts roughly 5 minutes 40 seconds at Sfax and 5 minutes 38 seconds at Kerkennah, which is more than five and a half minutes at both.
- Which places in Tunisia are inside the path of totality?
- Sfax, the Kerkennah Islands, Djerba, El Jem, Gabes and Kairouan are inside the path, with totality lasting from under three minutes at Kairouan to roughly 5 minutes 40 seconds at Sfax. The path is 246 to 248 km wide. Tozeur is inside it by a narrow margin.
- Are Tunis, Sousse and Hammamet in the path of totality?
- No. Tunis, Sousse, Monastir, Hammamet, Sidi Bou Said and Matmata are outside the path and see a partial eclipse only. Spain Solar Eclipse publishes 97.07 percent of the Sun's disc covered at Tunis and 99.93 percent at Monastir. That figure measures area, not width. Neither is totality.
- Why does this page print no clock time for the eclipse?
- Published clock times for the day disagree between sources. Some give the start of totality and others the maximum, and some quote Terrestrial Dynamical Time as though it were clock time, which overstates it by about 72 seconds. Tunisia is on UTC+1 all year, with no daylight saving. We work from NASA's figures.
- How do I reserve a place?
- We confirm availability on the call. Start with a twenty minute call or the planning form, and tell us you are coming for the eclipse.
Tell us you are coming for the eclipse.
We confirm availability on the call. After a twenty minute call, a day by day proposal follows within 48 hours, with the hotels named and a firm price per person.
Starting takes two minutes. We ask for your rough dates, who is travelling and where to reply, and nothing about payment or passports.
Straight to our team in Tunisia.
Your dates, your pace and the budget, in twenty minutes.
The planning guide is free, and it asks for an email address and nothing else. It covers safety in plain terms, when to go, what it costs, getting there from the United States and one sample itinerary.
We reply within one business day, US Eastern time.
Sources
NASA is our source for the timings, because published clock times for the day disagree. Where a figure is our own working on NASA's elements we say so beside it, and the other published figures are here to be checked against it.
- NASA path table for the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Official.
- NASA Besselian elements for the same eclipse
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Official.
- NASA Science, future eclipses
Official.
- NASA JavaScript Solar Eclipse Explorer
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Official.
- Institut National de la Météorologie
Tunisia's national weather service. Official.
- EclipseWise, total solar eclipse of 2027 August 2
Published.
- timeanddate, the eclipse at Sfax
timeanddate.com. Published.
- Spain Solar Eclipse, Tunisia
Published.
- Orbital Radar, the eclipse at Sfax
Published.
- Space.com, the best places to see the 2027 total solar eclipse
Published.