Lighthouses of Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies the majority of the Arabian Peninsula and has two coastlines: a long west coast on the Red Sea and a shorter east coast on the Persian Gulf (also called the Gulf of Iran or sometimes simply "The Gulf"). Jeddah, on the central west coast, is the most important port and the gateway to the holy city of Mecca. Other ports include Dhiba, Yanbu and Jizan on the Red Sea and Jubail and Damman on the Gulf. Very little Internet information is available on the navigational aids of the kingdom. Jeddah has a light on the spectacular harbor control tower shown at right, but most of the other known lights are on islands or reefs offshore.

Lighthouses in Saudi Arabia are maintained by the Saudi Ports Authority. The Arabic word for a lighthouse is mnarh or manara (منارة). Ra's is a cape, jaza'ir or jazirat is an island, and shi'b is a reef.

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

Jeddah Light
Jeddah Light, August 2010
Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Vadym Gavrykov

Red Sea Lighthouses

Jizan Province Lighthouses
South Mazarkiff (Mazakif, Masaqif)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane about 20 m (66 ft); three white flashes every 12 s. Approx. 20 m (66 ft) tripod tower, painted white. The upper third of the tower also carries a horizontally slatted daymark, painted dark red. No photo available; Google has a fuzzy satellite view. South Mazarkiff is a small island near the southern end of the Farasan Islands, a large group of islands and coral reefs. Located just off the south end of the island, about 40 km (25 mi) southwest of Jizan. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty E6138.6; NGA 30788.
Jizan (Qizan, Gizan) (?)
Date unknown. Active(?). Approx. 45 m (148 ft) hexagonal tower carrying a large harbor control room. A photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. NGA does not list this tower, and we don't know for sure that it carries a navigational light, although that certainly seems likely. Jizan is a port on the southern Red Sea, not far from the Yemeni border. The Saudi government has been attempting to develop the port, although its success seems to be limited. Located on an extension of the western quay at Jizan. Site status unknown.
Al Baghlah
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); white flash every 4 s. 12 m (39 ft) skeletal tower (NGA calls it a tripod) mounted on a triangular platform. Lighthouse painted white. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. This light marks the northeastern corner of the dangerous Farasan reef complex. Located about 120 km (75 mi) west northwest of Jizan. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty E6058; NGA 30743.

Makkah (Mecca) Province Lighthouses
Shi'b Mismari (Mismari Reef)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 14 m (46 ft); three flashes every 15 s, white or red depending on direction. 14 m (46 ft) skeletal (?) tower, painted white, mounted on a triangular concrete pier. The tower carries a black rectangular daymark. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Located on a dangerous reef about 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Jeddah. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty E6057; NGA 30548.
Shi'b Qaham
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 14 m (46 ft); flash every 2.5 s, white, red or green depending on direction. 14 m (46 ft) "structure" carrying a black rectangular daymark and mounted on a square platform. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Located on the north point of a reef about 4 km (2.5 mi) southwest of the Jeddah control tower (next entry). Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty E6055.2; NGA 30572.
Jeddah (Jedda, Jiddah)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 137 m (450 ft); three white flashes every 20 s. Approx. 133 m (436 ft) concrete and steel tower with gallery, carrying a large, spherical building. Entire lighthouse is white. Vadym Gavrykov's photo appears at the top of this page, Dmitry Rostopshin has a photo, another photo is available, Wikimedia also has an evening photo, the lighthouse also appears in the background of Wikimedia's photo of Jeddah Harbor, and Google has an excellent satellite view. This remarkable and beautiful tower is the harbor control tower for Jeddah. Although it is not a lighthouse in the traditional sense of having been built primarily as an aid to navigation, it has a credible claim to be the world's tallest light tower. It dwarfs the 106 m (348 ft) Yokohama Marine Tower in Japan, which is widely claimed to be the world's tallest. It is located at the end of the outer pier on the north side of the entrance to Jeddah's modern harbor (south of the traditional harbor). Site status unknown. ARLHS SAU-003; Admiralty E6054.5; NGA 30554.
Shi'b Jahan
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 14 m (46 ft); flash every 5 s, white, red or green depending on direction. 14 m (46 ft) "structure" carrying a red rectangular daymark and mounted on a square platform. No photo available, but Google has an indistinct satellite view. Located on the south point of a reef about 2.5 km (1.5 mi) northeast of the Jeddah control tower (previous entry). Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty E6054.6; NGA 30576.
Shi'b al Khamsa
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); white flash every 5 s. 20 m (66 ft) tower, painted with black and yellow horizontal bands. No photo available. Located on a reef in the Red Sea about 175 km (110 mi) north of Jeddah and a similar distance south of Yanbu. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty E6053; NGA 30536.

Madinah (Medina) Province Lighthouses
Yanbu South
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 32 m (105 ft); flash every 10 s, white or red depending on direction. 32 m (105 ft) round metal tower, painted with red and white horizontal bands. No photo available, and the tower is not seen in Google's fuzzy satellite view. This lighthouse marks the start of a long southern approach channel to the port of Yanbu. Located on a reef in the Red Sea about 13 km (8 mi) offshore and about 65 km (40 mi) south southeast of Yanbu. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty E6052.5; NGA 30512.
Shi'b ash-Sharm (Schermo Reef)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); white flash every 5 s. "Mast on a concrete block," according to NGA. A photo is available, and Google's satellite view shows the concrete base clearly. Located on a dangerous reef about 25 km (15 mi) west of Yanbu. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty E6048.8; NGA 30496.

Tabuk Province Lighthouse
Jaza'ir Sila (Sila Islands)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 15 m (49 ft); white flash every 12 s. Approx. 13 m (43 ft) concrete post light with gallery, mounted on a concrete base. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Located on a reef in the northern Red Sea, about 25 km (15 mi) west of Al Muwaylih and 150 km (90 mi) east of Sharm el-Sheikh at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty E6046.5; NGA 30470.

Persian Gulf Lighthouses

Eastern Province Lighthouses
Harqus West
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 15 m (49 ft); white flash every 20 s. 12 m (39 ft) skeletal tower, painted yellow. No photo available. Harqus is a sandbank, seen in a distant Google satellite view, about 50 km (30 mi) west northwest of Al-Arabiyah. The island is so low that it disappears completely when storm waves wash over it. Located at the western tip of the sandbank. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty D7456.2; NGA 29372.1.
Al-Arabiyah
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); two white flashes every 6 s. Skeletal tower, height unknown, painted with red and white horizontal bands. No photo available, and the island of Al-Arabiyah is only a blur in Google's satellite view. Farsi and Al-Arabiyah are two small islands near the center of the Gulf roughly 120 km (75 mi) northeast of Jubail. The two islands were among the most difficult issues when Saudi Arabia and Iran negotiated their maritime border during the 1960s. Under the final agreement in 1968, Farsi was assigned to Iran and Al-Arabiyah to Saudi Arabia. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Admiralty D7454; NGA 29368.
Abu Ali
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 9 m (30 ft); white flash every 10 s. Described by NGA as a 15 m (49 ft) tower. No photo available, and the light is not seen in Google's satellite view. Located off the end of the dangerous Abu Ali sand spit, about 35 km (22 mi) north of Jubail. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS SAU-001; Admiralty D7444; NGA 29412.
Najwah Shoal (Damman)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 15 m (49 ft); flash every 10 s, white or red depending on direction. 15 m (49 ft) skeletal tower, painted with red and white horizontal bands. No photo available, and the tower does not appear in Google's satellite view. Located at the north end of a dangerous shoal off the entrance to Damman. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty D7431; NGA 29580.
Ra's Rakan
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 14 m (46 ft); white flash every 5 s. 14 m (46 ft) skeletal tower mounted on piles. No photo available, and the tower is not seen in Google's satellite view. This light probably warns ships away from a nearby desalinization plant. The indicated location is on the Saudi shore to the south of the King Fahd Causeway, which connects Damman, Saudi Arabia, to the independent island of Bahrain. Site status unknown. Admiralty D7395; NGA 29792.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: Kuwait | Northeast: Bahrain and Qatar | East: United Arab Emirates | South: Yemen | West: Jordan

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Posted January 5, 2008. Checked and revised April 22, 2012. Lighthouses: 16. Site copyright 2012 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.