Lighthouses of Indonesia: Bali

Indonesia has been independent since 1945, after having been the Dutch East Indies for more than 350 years. It is a huge country, stretching along both sides of the Equator for more than 46 degrees of longitude (roughly 5100 km or 3200 miles). Comprised of some 17,000 islands (more than 6000 inhabited islands), it has hundreds of major aids to navigation.

The arc of the Sunda Islands begins in the west with the major islands of Sumatra and Java, and continues eastward through a chain of smaller islands known in English as the Lesser Sunda Islands and in Indonesian as the Nusa Tenggara ("Southeastern Islands"). From west to east, the major Lesser Sunda Islands are Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timor.

Bali is a roughly triangular island with the apex of the triangle pointed south. At its northwestern corner, the island is barely separated from Java by the Bali Strait. On the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok. The Bukit Peninsula, at the southern apex of Bali, is connected to the rest of the island by a very narrow isthmus. Bali's best known tourist facilities are on the Bukit Peninsula.

The Indonesian word for a lighthouse is mercusuar or (in two words) mercu suar. The phrase menara suar, which includes the Arabic word menara, is sometimes used instead. Tanjung and ujung are words for capes, bukit is a hill, gili or pulau is an island, selat is a strait, karang is a reef, and teluk is a harbor.

Aids to navigation in Indonesia are operated and maintained by the Indonesian Directorate of Marine Navigation (Indomarinav).

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volumes F and K of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.

General Sources
Leuchttürme in Indonesien
Photos posted by Andreas Köhler.
Tanjug Bungkulan Light
Tanjung Bungkulan Light, Bungkulan, December 2011
photo copyright Andreas Köhler; used by permission
Denpasar City Lighthouse
Tanjung Serangan
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); white flash every 5 s. 12 m (39 ft) square skeletal tower mounted on a square platform. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Located on a reef off Sanur Beach on the south side of Denpasar, about 5 km (3 mi) northeast of Benoa Harbor. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty K1290; NGA 25528.

Badung Regency (Bukit Peninsula) Lighthouses
Note: The Bukit Peninsula, at the southern tip of Bali, is the location of many of the island's upscale tourist facilities. The peninsula is connected to the rest of Bali by a narrow isthmus.
* Benoa Harbor
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 31 m (102 ft); white flash every 5 s. Approx. 27 m (89 ft) square skeletal tower with lantern and gallery. Köhler's photo is at right, Made Yudistira has posted a good photo, and Riza Nugraha has a photo, but the tower is not seen in Bing's satellite view. Benoa is a port and popular tourist destination at the northeast corner of the Bukit peninsula near the southern tip of Bali. Located near the tip of the narrow peninsula (Tanjung Benoa) on which the city is built. Site apparently open, tower closed. ARLHS IDO-110; Admiralty K1291; NGA 25524.
Bukit Badung
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 220 m (722 ft); three white flashes every 20 s. Approx. 40 m (131 ft) square tapered pyramidal skeletal tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. A closeup photo is available (2/3 the way down the page), and Bing has a satellite view. The area is popular for paragliding. Located atop a very steep bluff at the southern end of the Bukit Peninsula. Accessible by road. Site and tower closed. ARLHS IDO-118; Admiralty K1291.4; NGA 25520.
Tanjung Mebulu
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 80 m (262 ft); white flash every 5 s. Approx. 20 m (66 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. Köhler has a distant view, another very distant view is available (click on the photo for a better view), there's also a third very distant view (tower at the upper right corner), and Bing has a satellite view. The latter two views are from the nearby Uluwatu Temple. Located atop a cliff at the western end of the Bukit Peninsula. Site status unknown. Admiralty K1291.6; NGA 25522.
Benoa Harbor Light
Benoa Harbor Light, Benoa, December 2011
photo copyright Andreas Köhler; used by permission

Jembrana Regency (Bali Strait) Lighthouses
Tanjung Pengambengan
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 43 m (141 ft); white flash every 5 s. 33 m (108 ft) square pyramidal iron skeletal tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. No photo available, but Bing has a satellite view. Located on a promontory facing the Bali Strait at Pengambengan on the southwest coast of the island, about 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Negara. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-045; Admiralty K1282; NGA 23804.
* Teluk Gilimanuk (2)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft) (?); flashing white light. Approx. 20 m (66 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. The lighthouse is at the right edge of P. Veenhuijsen's photo of the waterfront, and Google has a satellite view. It seems clear that the listed light has been replaced by a taller tower. Gilimanuk, on the Bali Strait, is the terminal for ferries to and from Ketabang, Java, on the other side of the strait. Located at the south end of the ferry terminal in Gilimanuk. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty K1258; NGA 23792.
Gilimanuk Entrance
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); red flash every 4 s. 12 m (39 ft) square skeletal tower, painted red, mounted on a square platform supported by three piles. Fajar Abdillah has a photo, a closeup is available, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the start of the entrance channel for Gilimanuk, about 800 m (1/2 mi) north of the ferry terminal. Accessible only by boat, but ferry passengers have an excellent view. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty K1257.5; NGA 23791.

Buleleng Regency (North Coast) Lighthouses
* Tanjung Pasir (2)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; white flash every 5 s. Approx. 25 m (82 ft) square skeletal tower, painted white. 1-story concrete keeper's house or service building. A photo is at right, and Bing has a satellite view. NGA lists an older and much smaller tower at this location. Located on the northwestern corner of Bali, marking the east side of the entrance to Bali Strait. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS IDO-321; ID-4070; Admiralty K1256; NGA 23784.
* Celukanbawang Harbor
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 32 m (105 ft); white flash every 5 s. Approx. 30 m (98 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. Köhler has a photo, and Google has a good satellite view. Located at the base of the pier at Celukanbawang on the western part of Bali's north coast. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty K1283.7; NGA 25545.
* Singajara (Buleleng) (2)
Date unknown (station established 1880). Active; focal plane 25 m (82 ft); white flash every 3 s. 20 m (66 ft) hexagonal skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. Frits van Eck has a closeup photo, Steen O'Larsen has a photo, Hadi Perbawa has a more distant view, and Bing has a satellite view. NGA lists a 14 m (46 ft) tower. Located east of the Buleleng River entrance in Singajara, the principal city on the north coast of Bali. Site probably open, tower closed. ARLHS IDO-120; Admiralty K1284; NGA 25542.
* Tanjung Bungkulan {Boengkoelan}
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 32 m (105 ft); white flash every 5 s. Approx. 28 m (92 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. Köhler's photo is at the top of this page, and Google has a satellite view. Located in Bungkulan, at the northernmost point of Bali, about 15 km (9 mi) northeast of Singajara. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty K1284.2; NGA 25541.

Karangasem Regency (Northern Lombok Strait) Lighthouses
Gili Selang (Ujung Timur)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 70 m (230 ft); three white flashes every 20 s. 20 m (66 ft) square skeletal tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. Several keeper's houses and other buildings; this is probably a staffed station. A closeup photo is available (2/3 the way down the page), James Arjuna has a distant view and another view from the sea, and Google has a satellite view. Gili Selang is a small island just offshore near the lighthouse, but the light station is on the adjoining mainland. (If it was once on the island, there is no visible trace of the former location.) Located at the northeastern corner of Bali, marking the northern entrance to the Lombok Strait. This area is mountainous and remote. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-131; Admiralty K1285; NGA 25540.
Tanjung Pasir Light
Tanjung Pasir Light, Gerokgak, February 2009
photo copyright coktai; permission requested
Gili Tepekong
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 65 m (213 ft); white flash every 6 s. Approx. 14 m (46 ft) square metal tower with gallery. Entire structure is white. A closeup photo is available, the lighthouse is barely visible in a distant view of the island, and Bing has a satellite view. Located on a small island in the Lombok Strait about 2.5 km (1.5 mi) offshore in the entrance to Padang Bay. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty K1286; NGA 25538.
* Tanjung Sari (Padangbai)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 38 m (125 ft); white flash every 5 s. Approx. 18 m (59 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. Köhler has a photo, this is the lower of two towers seen on the left in James Arjuna's photo of the Mount Agung volcano, and Google has a satellite view. Padangbai is the terminal for ferries crossing Lombok Strait to Lembar, Lombok. (The town is often called Padang, but officially it is named Padangbai to avoid confusion with the city of Padang, Sumatra.) Located on a promontory sheltering the north side of Padangbai harbor. Accessible by road. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty K1287; NGA 25532.
* Telik Padang Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 14 m (46 ft); white light, 1 s on, 1 s off. 12 m (39 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. The tower also carries a triangular daymark, point up, painted white with a black vertical stripe. Juan Carlos Marín's photo is at right, Jean-Luc Chevallier has a similar view from the bay, and another view is available, but the tower is hard to see in Google's satellite view. The rear light is 430 m (470 yd) northwest. Located on the waterfront of Padangbai, north of the ferry terminal. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty K1289; NGA 25536.
Padang Range Front Light
Teluk Padang Range Front Light, Padangbai, 2011
photo copyright Juan Carlos Marín; used by permission

Klungkung Regency (Southern Lombok Strait) Lighthouses
Nusa Lembongan (Tanjung Taal)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 27 m (89 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 15 m (49 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available, and the tower is not seen in Google's fuzzy satellite view. Nusa Lembongan is a small island off the northwestern corner of Nusa Penida, an inhabited island at the southern entrance to the Lombok Strait. The island is popular with tourists, especially scuba divers. Located on heights near the northwestern corner of the island. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-173; Admiralty K1292; NGA 25546.
Nusa Penida (Tanjung Sedihing)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 208 m (682 ft); three white flashes every 21.5 s. 20 m (66 ft) square skeletal tower with lantern and gallery, painted white; lantern painted red. Bjorn Grotting has a photo (third photo on the page), and Google has a satellite view. There is ferry transportation to the island, but we don't know if the lighthouse is accessible. Located on the southeastern tip of the island. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-174; Admiralty K1294; NGA 25548.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: East: Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda Islands) | West: Eastern Java

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Posted January 10, 2009. Checked and revised January 12, 2013. Lighthouses: 16. Site copyright 2013 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.