Lighthouses of Guinea-Bissau

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau (Guiné-Bissau in Portuguese) is the former Portuguese Guinea, a small country wedged into the south side of West Africa between Senegal and the Republic of Guinea. Since becoming independent in 1974 the country has suffered from a series of unstable governments and a civil war during 1998-99.

Most of Guinea-Bissau is quite low. Two large estuaries, the Rio Cacheu and the Rio Géba, separate the country into separate regions. The islands known as the Bijagós are scattered off the coast, obstructing navigation. The Portuguese built a number of lighthouses in Guinea to guide ships through these waters into the ports of Bissau and Bolama. Almost no information on these lighthouses is available so visitor accounts and photos would be very welcome.

Portuguese is the official language of government and trade in Guinea-Bissau, although most of the population speaks a local Creole language. The Portuguese word for a lighthouse is farol, plural faróis; a small lightbeacon is often called a farolim. In Portuguese ilha is an island, ilhéu is an islet, cabo is a cape, ponta is a promontory or point of land, rocha is a rock, recife is a reef, baía is a bay, estreito is a strait, rio is a river, and porto is a port or harbor.

Lighthouses in Guinea-Bissau are maintained by the Capitania dos Portos, Serviços de Marinha. The lights are reported to be in poor condition although the port authority worked to renovate them in 2007-08.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.

General Sources
Lighthouses in Guinea-Bissau
Photos by various photographers available from Wikimedia.
World of Lighthouses - Guinea-Bissau
Photos by various photographers available from Lightphotos.net.
Online List of Lights - Guinea-Bissau
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas.
Navionics Charts
Navigation chart for Guinea-Bissau.


Bissau Catedral Light, Bissau, November 2017
(lens is on the right side of the roof of the left tower)
Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Joe Hawkins

Bolama Region (Bijagós Islands) Lighthouses
The Bijagós (Bissagos Islands) were claimed by both Portugal and Britain during the colonial period. U.S. President Ulysses Grant served as an arbitrator in 1870 and awarded the islands to Portugal.
Poilão (Ilhéu do Poilão)
Date unknown. Reported inactive in 2019 but listed with focal plane 27 m (89 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. Approx. 24 m (79 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower carrying a triangular slatted daymark. No photo available but Google has an indistinct satellite view. Poilão is the southernmost islet of the Bijagós, so this is a landfall light for vessels arriving from the south. Located at the southern tip of the island. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty D3080; NGA 24596.
Ilha Roxa (Ponta Barel)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 26 m (85 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 14 m (46 ft) square masonry tower, painted white with a red cross on the seaward (east) side. A view from the sea is at right and Bing has a satellite view. This lighthouse was built as the landfall light for Bolama. Located on the east side of the island, which is part of the Arquipélago dos Bijagós Biosphere Reserve. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS GUI-007; Admiralty D3081; NGA 24588.
Ponta Colónia (Bolama)
Date unknown (1920s?). Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); two white flashes every 10 s. 12 m (39 ft) square masonry tower, painted white. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. The light guides ships to Bolama, the historic former capital of Portuguese Guinea, about 50 km (30 mi) south of Bissau. Located at the end of a long, narrow peninsula sheltering the port of Bolama, about 7 km (4 mi) south of the town. Site status unknown. ARLHS GUI-004; Admiralty D3072; NGA 24568.
Ponta Preço Leve
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 6 m (20 ft); white flash every 5 s. 6 m (20 ft) post atop a square concrete tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located on the southeastern tip of Ilha Bolama, marking the entrance to the Bolola strait leading to the town of Bolama. Site status unknown. Admiralty D3070; NGA 24564.

Ilha Roxa (Ponta Barel) Light, Arquipélago dos Bijagós, December 2009
photo copyright Africa Princess; used by permission
Ilha das Cobras
Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 10 m (33 ft); white flash every 5 s. 10 m (33 ft) white tower. A small sunset photo (a little less than halfway down the page) is available and Google has a satellite view. Located off the north point of Ilha das Cabras, a smaller island just off the north side of Bolama Island. Accessible only by boat. Admiralty D3074; NGA 24576.
Ilha Galinhas
Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 9 m (30 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 9 m (30 ft) square white concrete tower with gallery. A photo (no longer online) showed no lens on the tower. Google has a satellite view. Located just off the northeastern tip of Ilha Galinhas, marking the west side of the entrance channel for the Rio Géba estuary. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty D3065; NGA 24556.
Pedro Álvares
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 11 m (36 ft); white flash every 5 s. 11 m (36 ft) square masonry tower with gallery, painted white. No photo available but Bing has a satellite view. This light guides ships approaching Bissau from the south. Located on a small island south off the mouth of the Rio Géba estuary, about 30 km (20 mi) southwest of Bissau. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS GUI-006; Admiralty D3064; NGA 24552.

Bissau Lighthouses
Ponta Bernafel
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 8 m (26 ft) square unpainted concrete tower. Wikimedia has Helena Maria Pestana's 2018 photo and Google has a fuzzy satellite view. Located off a headland about 15 km (9 mi) southwest of Bissau. Site status unknown. Admiralty D3057; NGA 24520.

ponta Bernafel Light, Bissau, March 2018
Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Helena Maria Pestana
Ilhéu dos Pássaros (Porto Bissau)
1916. Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); white flash every 5 s. 13 m (43 ft) hexagonal cylindrical masonry tower, unpainted. Helena Maria Pestana's 2018 view from the estuary is at right and Google has a satellite view. The colonial archives have a historic photo. Located on a small island in the Rio Géba estuary about 7 km (4 mi) southwest of Bissau. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS GUI-003; Admiralty D3058; NGA 24524.
* Bissau Entrance Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 13 m (43 ft); green light, 2 s on, 7 s off. Descrbed only as a "white tower"; it appears that the light is atop a small building next to the port authority headquarters. No photo available but Google has an indistinct satellite view. This is the front light of the range guiding ships to the Bissau docks from the Rio Géba estuary. Located on the Bissau waterfront. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty D3060; NGA 24540.
* Bissau Catedral (Entrance Range Rear)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 36 m (118 ft); green light, 2 s on, 7 s off. Light mounted on the north tower of the cathedral. A 2017 photo by Joe Hawkins is at the top of this page, a 2023 photo is available, Robert Dorian has another photo, Wikimedia has a 2004 photo, and Google has a satellite view. Located on the Avenida Amilcar Cabral about 250 m (275 yd) northwest of the waterfront in downtown Bissau. Site open, church open, tower status unknown. Admiralty D3060.1; NGA 24544.

Biombo Region Lighthouse
Ponta Biombo
Date unknown (1920s?). Active; focal plane 13 m (43 ft); white flash every 5 s. 13 m (43 ft) round masonry tower, painted white. A photo (first photo on the page) is available and Google has a satellite view. Located at the northwestern entrance to the Rio Géba estuary, which leads to Bissau. Site status unknown. ARLHS GUI-002; Admiralty D3056; NGA 24512.

Ilhéu dos Passaros Light, Bissau, March 2018
Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Helena Maria Pestana

Cacheu Region Lighthouses
Ponta Arlete
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 13 m (43 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 9 m (30 ft) round white tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located on a point of land about 15 km (9 mi) west of Ponta Biombo. Site status unknown. Admiralty D3054; NGA 24508.
Caió (2?)
1944 (station established 1906). Probably inactive; listed with focal plane 42 m (138 ft); two white flashes every 10 s. Approx. 30 m (98 ft) round stone tower painted with black and white horizontal bands. Luis Graça has several of Patrício Ribeiro's 2016 photos including a closeup, a historic photo taken in 1964 (1/10 the way down the page) is also available, and Google has a satellite view. The original lighthouse, was a square skeletal tower atop a round masonry tower. This was the landfall light for Bissau. Located on an islet off the southwestern tip of the Ilha de Jeta, a large, mangrove-covered island off the town of Caió in the western part of Guinea-Bissau. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS GUI-001; Admiralty D3050; NGA 24500.
Cabo Mata (Rio Cacheu) (2?)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 11 m (36 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 13 m (43 ft) white concrete post rising from a square pyramidal concrete base. No photo available but Bing has a satellite view. A smaller tower nearby by may be the original light. The tower was formerly described as an "iron tower on two superimposed pyramids" in the NGA list. Located a short distance offshore on the south side of the entrance to the Rio Cacheu, about 25 km (15 mi) southwest of the town of Cacheu. Site status unknown. ARLHS GUI-005; Admiralty D3042; NGA 24484.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: Senegal | South: Guinea

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Posted September 5, 2005. Checked and revised April 26, 2024. Lighthouses: 15. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.