Bonaire is an island off the coast of Venezuela in the southern Caribbean Sea. The easternmost and least populous of the so-called ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao), it has a permanent population of about 14,000. The island was colonized by the Netherlands in 1636, and it remained under Dutch control throughout the colonial period except for brief occupations by British forces during the Napoleonic Wars. For many years, Bonaire was part of the Netherlands Antilles, a federation of the Dutch colonies in the West Indies. However, the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved in October 2010, and Bonaire is now a "public body" with the status of an overseas municipality of the Netherlands.
Bonaire is a very popular tourist destination, but not much information is available online about its lighthouses. Special thanks are due to Lothar Döhle and Don Wiss for the use of the photos on and linked to this page. Additional reports and photos from lighthouse visitors would be very welcome!
In 2008, Tideland Signal Corporation installed new MaxLED-200 optics in Bonaire's navigational aids. According to Tideland, all the lights had been out of service for several years prior to these renovations. The lighthouses are presumably maintained by the Bonaire Port Authority.
ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 110.
- General Sources
- Bonaire Leuchttürme
- Photos and notes by Lothar Döhle on the lighthouses of Bonaire.
- Online List of Lights - Bonaire
- Photos by various photographers posted by Alex Trabas. Most of the Bonaire photos are by Capt. Theo Hinrichs.
- Lighthouses in Bonaire
- Photos available from Wikimedia.
Lacre Punt Light (Willems Toren), June 2007
Flickr Creative Commons photo by D.W. Ward
