Can you see Key West, Florida from Havana (El Morro lighthouse)?

No, Earth is in the way

165 km line of sight toward the north-northeast (bearing 20°), computed on 30 m Copernicus terrain with Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction.

The answer

No. Key West, Florida is 165 km from Havana and sits about 1,284 m below the horizon at standard refraction: Earth's curvature hides it.

Ninety miles is the number every Cuban and every Floridian knows. Standing on the Malecon with the lighthouse behind you, the horizon is empty water, and the same question gets asked from both shores at once.

Satellite map with the sightline from Havana (El Morro lighthouse) to Key West, Florida drawn in red — The 165 km sightline over satellite imagery, drawn as the great-circle path light would follow.

Straight-line distance165 km

Direction20° north-northeast

Observer eye level53 m

Target elevation0 m

Curvature drop at the target1,859 m

Hidden below the sightline1,284 m

No terrain trickery needed here: the planet itself is the obstacle. Over 165 km, Earth's curvature drops Key West, Florida a full 1,859 m below a flat sightline, leaving its summit about 1,284 m under the grazing line from Havana (El Morro lighthouse). No viewpoint at this location, however clear the day, can see over that.

The reverse question, Cuba seen from Key West, gets the same answer for the same reason. Neither side is high enough for 165 kilometres of open water, and no lighthouse or hotel changes that. What crosses reliably is radio, which is why both shores have heard each other for a century.

The terrain profile

Elevation profile from Havana (El Morro lighthouse) to Key West, Florida. Like every elevation profile, the vertical axis is stretched (≈15× here), but the geometry is real: mid-path, Earth's surface genuinely stands 533 m above the straight line between the two points (the dashed arc is sea level). Light bends only slightly around that bulge, so whatever it covers stays hidden. Each ray runs solid until terrain cuts it, then continues as the faint ghost of the sightline you would need. Even the stronger-bending ray of a thermal inversion (k = 0.17) stays cut off.

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Frequently asked questions

Can you see Key West, Florida from Havana (El Morro lighthouse)?

No, not under standard atmospheric conditions. Across 165 km, the view is cut off before reaching the target (see the terrain profile above for exactly where).

How far is Key West, Florida from Havana (El Morro lighthouse) in a straight line?

165 km great-circle distance, on a bearing of 20° (north-northeast).

What exactly blocks the view?

Earth's curvature. Over this distance the target drops about 1,859 m below a flat sightline and ends up roughly 1,284 m below the horizon. Only exceptional atmospheric refraction can (sometimes) lift it into view.

How was this calculated?

UpToWhere walks the full terrain profile between the two points on 30 m-resolution Copernicus GLO-30 elevation data, applying Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction (k = 0.13), the same physics surveyors use. You can run the same point-to-point check between any two places on Earth.

More famous sightlines

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