# Penthouse with an ocean view. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021 "2013-09-17T02:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/1 "2013-09-17T02:46:21Z")
Once I win the lottery a couple of times, I want to build a highrise building. I’ll take the penthouse and I want ocean views. I want to be able to look out the eastern facing windows and see the Atlantic Ocean. AND when I look out the western facing windows, I want to see the Pacific Ocean. So… How tall is this building going to have to be? And where would you recommend I have it built? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/2 "2013-09-17T02:50:28Z")
On the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/3 "2013-09-17T02:50:56Z")
Panama. About 45 miles northeast of Panama City, due north of Chepo. I’m assuming you’d be able to see both oceans from the mountain range that divides the peninsula. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/4 "2013-09-17T02:52:36Z")
This is an easy one. You want to build it in Panama on top of Valcan Baru. You can see both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on a clear day. As long as you can buy the land on top of it, your ‘skyscraper’ only needs to be as tall as you want it to be. Even one story will do it as long as you build it at the very top. [http://www3.nd.edu/~dgalvin1/personal/panama/](http://www3.nd.edu/~dgalvin1/personal/panama/) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/5 "2013-09-17T02:56:06Z")
Yeah, like \*\*Ethilrist \*\*and \*\*Shagnasty \*\*mentions, and over here you do not need to make the building too tall as one can see both oceans on a clear day. You can build it close to the villages next to Volcan Baru. > [@](#): > > Volcan Baru is a dormant volcano located in the Chiriqui province of Panama. It is roughly equidistant from Panama’s northern and southern coastlines, and about 25 kilometers east of the border with Costa Rica. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/6 "2013-09-17T03:00:50Z")
Neither Panama location works – the OP specified that he wants to look out his east-facing windows to see the Atlantic and west-facing windows to see the Pacific. Might I recommend something in Chile’s [Cabo de Hornos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabo_de_Hornos,_Chile)? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/7 "2013-09-17T03:06:05Z")
Sorry, I should have said that I wanted it built in the continental US of A. I’m thinking it might have to be in Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/8 "2013-09-17T03:20:09Z")
You’ll never be able to see over the Rockies. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/9 "2013-09-17T03:30:09Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Sorry, I should have said that I wanted it built in the continental US of A. I’m thinking it might have to be in Kansas. If you actually want to be able to see both oceans through the atmosphere (as opposed to merely having a theoretical line of sight), you’re going to need something like [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_fountain). ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/10 "2013-09-17T03:49:53Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > You’ll never be able to see over the Rockies. It’ll just have to be tall enough to see over them. At some point, I guess it’s going to have to be pressurized. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/11 "2013-09-17T04:11:01Z")
The shortest distance from the Atlantic (not counting the Gulf of Mexico) to the Pacific in the continental United States is from Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego, California. It’s about 2350 miles. The midpoint is in the vicinity of Brownwood, Texas. Some quick calculations gives me the figure that you’ll need to be 155 miles above ground level to see both oceans from that distance (ignoring the fact that refraction and atmospheric haze would make this impossible). ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/12 "2013-09-17T04:12:35Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/13 "2013-09-17T04:26:00Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Panama. About 45 miles northeast of Panama City, due north of Chepo. I’m assuming you’d be able to see both oceans from the mountain range that divides the peninsula. Actually, on almost any peak along the central cordillera you can see both oceans. However, usually the Pacific will be to the east, and the Atlantic to the west. Cerro Chucanti in eastern Panama is tall enough so that it might be possible to see the Atlantic on the east and Pacific on the west, but I’m not sure. Of course, if the OP wants it in the US then it doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/14 "2013-09-17T10:02:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The shortest distance from the Atlantic (not counting the Gulf of Mexico) to the Pacific in the continental United States is from Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego, California. It’s about 2350 miles. The midpoint is in the vicinity of Brownwood, Texas. > > Some quick calculations gives me the figure that you’ll need to be 155 miles above ground level to see both oceans from that distance (ignoring the fact that refraction and atmospheric haze would make this impossible). It may be that on the way up the Atlantic is lost in the haze, but when you get up to 155 km, the sum of the haze is reduced because you are looking pretty much looking straight down through thin layers rather than horizontally through a long distance of the worst of the worst layers. Space shuttle was orbiting at anywhere from 180km to 650 km. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/15 "2013-09-17T15:01:41Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Neither Panama location works – the OP specified that he wants to look out his east-facing windows to see the Atlantic and west-facing windows to see the Pacific. This is easily solved with two mirrors. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/16 "2013-09-17T16:09:30Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > This is easily solved with two mirrors. As is the original problem with some live video feeds and a couple of big screen TVs. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/17 "2013-09-17T17:19:35Z")
Doesn’t fit the OP, but I imagine somewhere in Tierra del Fuego also has views of both oceans. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/18 "2013-09-17T17:21:35Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Doesn’t fit the OP, but I imagine somewhere in Tierra del Fuego also has views of both oceans. > > Brian As in the link in post #6. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/19 "2013-09-17T17:32:27Z")
The penthouse wouldn’t need to be that high, it only needs to be very, very, very wide. ---
**Author:** ![the\_O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@the\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021/20 "2013-09-17T17:49:30Z")
I used to think Zha Zha Gabor was a little stuck up… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penthouse-with-an-ocean-view/669021.md?page=2)