Lighthouses of Honduras

Honduras is a nation of Central America, located between Guatemala and Nicaragua. The country's coast faces north on the Gulf of Honduras, the westernmost embayment of the Caribbean Sea. In the south of Honduras there is also a short coast on the Gulf of Fonseca, leading to the Pacific Ocean. All the known lighthouses, however, are on the Caribbean coast.

Puerto Cortés, in the northwest, is the largest port of Honduras. Aids to Navigation are probably maintained by the Empresa Nacional Portuaria (ENP), the national ports company.

Note: The lighthouses of two remote Caribbean islands, Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo, are listed on the Colombia page. Honduras gave up its claim to these islands in a 1986 agreement in return for Colombia's recognition of Honduran claims to certain islands closer to the mainland. (Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo have been claimed by various other countries including Jamaica, Nicaragua, and the U.S.)

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals for Caribbean lights and from volume G for Pacific lights. Light List numbers are from NGA Publication 110 for Caribbean lights and from Publication 111 for Pacific lights.

Faro de Roatan
Faro de Roatan, Honduras, January 2008
Creative Commons photo by Paul Nicholson

Lighthouses
Puerto Cortes (Punta Caballos) (2)
Date unknown (station established 1898). Active; focal plane 58 m (190 ft); white flash every 5 s. This light probably has a square lantern structure on a slender cylindrical tower painted with red and white horizontal bands, like the next two lights (all three have the same description in NGA). No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Michel Forand's postcard view on Lighthouse Explorer shows the 1898 lighthouse, which may have been at a different location. Located at the western end of the peninsula sheltering the harbor of Puerto Cortes, about 8 km (5 mi) northwest of the city. Site status unknown. ARLHS HON-003; Admiralty J5994; NGA 16428.
* Isla de Roatan
Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; white flash every 8 s. Square lantern structure on a slender cylindrical tower painted with red and white horizontal bands. A photo appears above, a tourist has posted a snapshot, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the western end of the island, largest of the Bay Islands, about 150 km (90 mi) north of the mainland. Accessible by road. Site open, tower status unknown. ARLHS HON-008; NGA 16460.
** Cochino Grande
Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 157 m (516 ft); white flash every 5 s. Square lantern structure on a slender cylindrical tower painted with red and white horizontal bands. Sibling of Isla de Roatan. No photo available. The photographer reports that the lighthouse "doesn't work." The lighthouse is said to have been built in Germany. Located on Cochino Grande in the Cayos Cochinos off La Ceiba on the north central coast of the country. Site and tower open. Site manager: unknown. ARLHS HON-007; Admiralty J6009.6; NGA 16473.
Cabo Camaron
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 22 m (72 ft); white flash every 5 s. Tower with red and white bands. Keeper's house. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view of the light station. . Derek Parent recounts rounding the point past the lighthouse. The cape is about 65 km (40 mi) east of Limón. Site status unknown. ARLHS HON-001; Admiralty J6012; NGA 16478.
Punta Patuca
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 22 m (72 ft); white flash every 10 s. Tower with red and white bands. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. The Punta Caballos, Isla de Roatan, and Cochino Grande lights and this light probably share a common design. Located on a cape about 35 km (22 mi) east southeast of Cabo Camaron. Site status unknown. ARLHS HON-009; Admiralty J6013; NGA 16479.
Cabo Falso
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); white flash every 5 s. Tower with red and white bands. No photo available. Cabo Falso is so called because it is easily mistaken for Cabo Gracias a Dios, the prominent cape at the Nicaraguan border. Located on the cape, about 30 km (20 mi) northwest of Cabo Gracias a Dios. Site status unknown. Admiralty J6014; NGA 16483.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

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Checked and revised July 25, 2007. Lighthouses: 6. Site copyright 2008 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.