Lighthouses of Australia: Coral Sea Islands Territory

The Coral Sea is the basin of the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of Australia. It is named for its many coral reefs, including the famous Great Barrier Reef. Australia administers all the islands and reefs of the Coral Sea south of latitude 12° S and west of longitude 157° E. Within this area and east of the Great Barrier Reef there are 18 major reef systems that include at least a small amount of dry land and at least a dozen other reefs that are submerged entirely or dry only at low tide. In 1969 these bits of land were assembled into the federally administered Coral Sea Islands Territory.

None of the islands have ever been inhabited and the only habitable structure on any of them is the Bureau of Meteorology station on Willis Island. The station was established in 1921 to provide early warning of tropical cyclones threatening the coast of Queensland. The Willis Island station is normally staffed by four meteorologists and an electronics engineer. Automated weather reporting stations have been placed on eight other reefs.

Navigational lights in the territory are maintained and operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), an agency within the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.

Admiralty numbers are from volume K of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 111.

General Sources
Online List of Lights - Australia East Coast
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas.
Coral Sea Islands
Wikimedia's article provides good background on the islands.
Coral Sea Islands Territory
The Australian government's page for the territory. It includes a useful map of the reefs.
GPSNavigationCharts
Navigation chart information for the Coral Sea.
Navionics Charts
Navigation chart information for the Coral Sea.

Lihou Reef Light
Lihou Reef Light, 1999
AMSA photo (no longer online)

Lighthouses
Bougainville Reef (3)
Date unknown (station established 1943). Active; focal plane 15 m (49 ft); white flash every 5 s. 20 m (66 ft) square cylindrical skeletal tower with gallery, mounted on concrete piles. Lighthouse painted white. The tower also carries an automatic weather station. A very distant view is available, but the tower is not seen in Bing's satellite view of the reef. There is (or was) also a light mounted atop a shipwreck on the north side of the reef. Bougainville Reef is an atoll, submerged at high tide, in the northwestern corner of the territory about 250 km (160 mi) southeast of Cape Melville, Queensland. The reef is named for the French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, who discovered it in 1768. A "temporary" light was established during World War II; it survived until being replaced with a square pyramidal skeletal tower in 1958. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Site manager: AMSA. Admiralty K3206; NGA 9884.
Lihou Reef
1999. Active; focal plane 33 m (108 ft); white flash every 10 s. 34 m (111 ft) square cylindrical red fiberglass tower, mounted on a square cylindrical steel skeletal tower with gallery supported by four concrete piles. A photo is at the top of this page but Google's satellite view does not show the location of the tower. This important light guides vessels in the coastwise shipping route that passes east of the reef area. The Lihou Reef is one of the largest atolls in the world, roughly 100 km (60 mi) by 30 km (20 mi). It is named for the British ship captain John Lihou, who discovered the reef in 1823. In 1982 the atoll was established as the Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve, now part of the Coral Sea Marine Park. The lighthouse is located near the northeastern end of the atoll, about 640 km (400 mi) east southeast of Cairns, Queensland. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Site manager: AMSA. Admiralty K3206.6; NGA 9886.5.
East Diamond Island
2006. Active; focal plane 29 m (95 ft); white flash every 5 s. 25 m (75 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery. A closeup photo is available, but Google has only a blurred satellite view of the reef. East Diamond is an island in the Tregosse Reef system, which lies to the west of the Lihou atoll. The light guides vessels in the Diamond Passage, a deep channel between the east end of the Tregosse and Diamond Reefs and the west end of the Lihou atoll. This is an established route for large ships through the western Coral Sea, recognized in 2015 by the International Maritime Organization. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Site manager: AMSA. Admiralty K3206.7; NGA 9887.
Frederick (Fredericks) Reef
Around 1990 (?). Active; focal plane 33 m (108 ft); white flash every 5 s. 33 m (108 ft) round multistage metal tower mounted on a concrete pier. A Bureau of Meteorology photo is at right, Vaughn Bowden has a photo, a 2010 photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. The Frederick Reefs and Saumarez Reefs (next entry) are in the southwestern corner of the Coral Sea, east of the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef at Swain Reef. The coastwise shipping route passes west of Frederick Reef and east of Saumarez Reef. The reef was discovered in 1812 by Capt. Joseph Savigny and named for his ship. Located at the northeastern tip of the reef, about 450 km (280 mi) northeast of Gladstone and 180 km (110 mi) east of Swain Reef. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Site manager: AMSA. Admiralty K3016; NGA 10220.
Frederick Reef Light
Frederick Reef Light, early 1990s
Australian Bureau of Meteorology photo (no longer online)
Saumarez Reef
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 21 m (69 ft); four white flashes every 20 s. 19 m (62 ft) skeletal tower with gallery; a square cylindrical section is mounted on a platform supported by four widely spread legs. A distant view and a closeup of the base of the tower (3/4 the way down the page) are available and Bing has a satellite view. The reef was discovered in 1823 by Lt. John Lihou and named for a leading British admiral. Located at the northeastern tip of the reef, about 330 km (205 mi) northeast of Gladstone and 85 km (55 mi) east of Swain Reef. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Site manager: AMSA. Admiralty K3015; NGA 10300.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: East: New Caledonia | West: Northern and Central Queensland

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Posted March 20, 2009. Checked and revised January 3, 2024. Lighthouses: 5. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.