From near and far: Small crowd gathers to watch solar eclipse in Palm Beach

For a day with a solar eclipse that had so much buzz, it took a while for a crowd to build Monday afternoon at Midtown Beach in Palm Beach ahead of the moon's transit between Earth and the sun.

People came from in town, across the bridge in West Palm Beach and Loxahatchee, and from as far away as Montreal in Canada to watch the solar eclipse, of which Palm Beachers could see about 50% — and the excitement was palpable, though brief.

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The eclipse became visible about 1:50 p.m. with peak visibility about 3 p.m., according to NASA. By about 4:15 p.m., the sun's full view returned.

While only a partial eclipse could be seen from Palm Beach, the total eclipse could be seen across a wide swath of the U.S. that made a slight arc to the northeast into Maine after starting in south Texas.

In Palm Beach, a breeze blew in from the Atlantic Ocean to cool those who did congregate at the beach, with sporadic clouds blocking some of the view. Some people sunbathed or read books, seemingly unbothered by the occurrence over their heads, while others congregated specifically for the solar event.

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Those who looked eagerly to the sky did so through protected lenses.

A Palm Beach resident and retired architect waited for the eclipse on a bench near the beach. After experiencing the last eclipse, he said he wouldn't miss this one for the world.

"It's a cosmic experience," said Mario, who declined to give his last name. "It's like you could feel the spiritual energy from the eclipse."

On another bench nearby, Palm Beach residents Callum Stander, Ashley Sledge and Maria Bergman alongside Don Michaud, from Loxahatchee, sat together and watched through their eclipse-safe glasses.

At about 2:20 p.m., when nearly a quarter of the sun was blocked by the moon, Stander said he thought the eclipse was Wednesday until Sledge reached out to him Monday morning.

"Last time I saw a solar eclipse was during middle school, and it was just such a cool experience," Stander said. "But it's so funny because you see so many conspiracy theories surrounding it."

Montreal natives Alfonso Monsalve and Louis Desrosiers made their vacation plans for Palm Beach without realizing when the eclipse would take place. Had they stayed home, they would have witnessed the total solar eclipse.

They made the most of the experience Monday afternoon, bringing chairs and beach umbrellas to Midtown and enjoying the eclipse through the few fluffy white clouds that passed overhead.

"We missed it, but at least it will be partial here," Desrosiers said.

West Palm Beach residents Veronica Duran, Andrea Kareh and Janet Alves brought their children to the beach from Rosarian Academy, joining others who gathered for a few minutes next to the Worth Avenue clock tower and along the seawall to the north and south to don their sun-safe specs and witness the solar spectacle.

The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, just north of Midtown Beach, posted a photo to its Instagram account showing the partial eclipse as seen through protective paper glasses.

"The Eclipsecopal Church Welcomes You!" the photo's caption read.

At the Society of the Four Arts, people coming and going grabbed pairs of glasses to watch the eclipse. Students getting out of school at the nearby Palm Beach Public School laid in the grass and gazed at the sky.

According to NASA, the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous U.S. will be on Aug. 23, 2044. A 2026 total solar eclipse will be Aug. 12, 2026. The path of totality for that event will pass over northern Spain, parts of the Arctic, Greenland and Iceland, along with the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, according to the National Solar Observatory.

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com. Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.