Swains Island, American Samoa
Swains Island uses American Samoa’s standard time, UTC−11, without daylight-saving clock changes. The isolated atoll has no cities, so its time and sunrise information is most useful for travel, communications, and local geographic reference.
Taulaga, American Samoa
Sunday, 6 September 2026
UTC−11 · Pacific/Pago_Pago
Time and sun data for Taulaga — the largest city of Swains Island
The sun in Taulaga
Sunrise 6:26 AM Solar noon 12:24 PM Sunset 6:22 PM Daylight 11 h 57 min Night 12 h 03 min Civil twilight 6:04 AM – 6:44 PM
American Samoa · 3 cities
Largest cities
- Taulaga 37
All cities
Current time in Swains Island, American Samoa
The official time assigned to Swains Island matches the rest of American Samoa. Its UTC offset stays eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time throughout the year, providing a consistent clock for territorial administration and communication.
Geographic isolation does not create a separate civil time zone. A person coordinating between Swains Island and Tutuila can use the same hour, although practical travel and communications depend on available services and conditions. The island shares Pago Pago’s clock, even when the journey makes them feel worlds apart.
Dates, UTC, and Pacific comparisons
To find UTC from a Swains Island time, add eleven hours. The UTC result may fall on the next calendar date. Comparisons with other Pacific islands can be less intuitive because nearby places may sit across a date boundary or use a different legal time.
Add eleven hours for a conversion to UTC. Make no clock adjustment when comparing with Tutuila. Write the date explicitly in travel and communications records. Confirm the named destination’s current zone before arranging a call.
American Samoa does not observe daylight saving time, but a contact elsewhere may do so. Consequently, a familiar international time difference can change while the Swains Island clock remains fixed. Date-specific conversion prevents this seasonal mismatch.
Settlement pattern and sunrise
Swains Island is an atoll and does not contain a network of cities. It has traditionally had a village area, but describing “largest cities” would be misleading. Geographic references instead focus on the island, its lagoon, shoreline, and settlement area.
No separate urban centres maintain their own local schedules. The whole island follows the territorial clock. Local position around the atoll can slightly affect the visible horizon. Tutuila provides the territory’s main urban and administrative reference.
Sunrise at Swains Island should be calculated for the island itself rather than copied from Pago Pago. Swains lies apart from the main American Samoan island group, and longitude affects when the Sun reaches the horizon.
The time of sunrise moves seasonally even though the civil-time offset never changes. Cloud over the ocean may conceal the solar disk, while an unobstructed shoreline can provide a clearer first view than a built-up or mountainous location.
For a voyage or field task, distinguish astronomical sunrise from usable daylight. Twilight begins before sunrise, and weather may limit visibility after it. Marine forecasts, access arrangements, and local guidance remain essential companions to any solar timetable.
Questions and answers
- Does Swains Island have its own time zone?
- No. It uses American Samoa’s UTC−11 standard time.
- Does the island observe daylight saving time?
- No. Its official UTC offset remains fixed.
- Can Pago Pago’s sunrise time be used for Swains Island?
- Only as a rough reference. A precise result should use Swains Island’s coordinates and the required date.