The Reoublic of Panamá is at the southeastern end of the isthmus of Central America, providing the crucial link between the continents of North America and South America. The country is aligned west to east, facing the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. This page includes lighthouses of Panamá's northern (Caribbean) coast. There is another page for lighthouses of the Pacific coast. As one might expect, the lighthouses of Panamá are generally associated with passage through the Panama Canal. The Canal opened on 15 August 1914 after ten years of U.S. construction following earlier work by a French company. In 1903, shortly after winning its independence from Colombia, Panama granted the U.S. extraterritorial jurisdiction over the Panama Canal Zone. The Zone remained under exclusive U.S. control until the 1978 Panama Canal Treaty provided for its restoration to Panama in 1979. Under the treaty Panama assumed full operation of the Canal at the end of 1999. The U.S. Panama Canal Commission, which operated the canal until the reversion, was replaced by the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (Panama Canal Authority). The Authority has expanded the Canal, doubling its capacity by constructing two new flights of locks and widening and deepening the entire route. The original locks were not removed; to maximize capacity both sets of locks are operated. Groundbreaking for the enormous project was held in September 2007 and the expanded canal was opened on 26 June 2016. Fortunately it was not necessary to remove any of the historic lighthouses to construct the new locks and channels. Several dozen range lighthouses were constructed to help guide ships through the Canal. Most of these lighthouses survive but the Canal Authority has replaced them with skeletal towers. The deactivated lighthouses are painted black, making them somewhat harder to spot. They are not being demolished routinely (so far, anyway), but all of them must be considered endangered. Further information would certainly be very welcome. The listing here is from the Atlantic toward the Pacific. Since the Isthmus of Panama runs east to west the Atlantic (Caribbean) coast lies north of the Pacific coast. Accordingly, northbound on the Canal means toward the Atlantic, and southbound is toward the Pacific. The actual zigzag course of the Canal has many turns joining straight sections called reaches. In Spanish the word for a lighthouse is faro, baliza is a beacon, isla is an island, cabo is a cape, punta is a promontory or point of land, péñon is a rock, arrecife is a reef, bahía is a bay, ría is an estuary or inlet, estrecho is a strait, río is a river, and puerto is a port or harbor. Navigational aids in Panamá are maintained by the Maritime Authority (Autoridad Marítima de Panamá). Apparently this includes the lights of the Canal. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 110. The lights of the Panamá Canal itself are listed by the Admiralty but not by NGA. |
Old (left) and new Gatún Northbound Rear Lights, Gatún, December 2019 photo copyright Kevin Blake; used by permission |
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West Caribbean Coast Lighthouses
Panama Canal Lighthouses
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Toro Point Light, Fort Sherman, December 2019 La Prensa Panamá photo posted to Twitter by Agustin Chung |
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Atlantic Entrance Range Middle Light, Gatún photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger used by permission |
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Old and new Gatún Southbound Range Lights, Gatún Lake photo copyright Michael Boucher; used by permission |
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New Buena Vista Northbound Range Light, Gatún Lake photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger; used by permission |
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Old and new Tabernilla Southbound Range Front Lights photo copyright Michael Boucher; used by permission |
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1914 Gamboa Northbound Range Rear Light, Gamboa photo copyright Michael Boucher; used by permission |
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Front to back, three Gamboa lights: Gamboa Southbound Right Limit Range Front Light, Bas Obispo Northbound Centerline Range Rear Light, and Gamboa Southbound Right Limit Range Rear Light, photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger; used by permission |
Note: Lighthouses of the Panama Canal continue on the Southern Panamá page.
East Caribbean Coast Lighthouses
Information available on lost lighthouses:
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Adjoining pages: East: Northern Colombia | South: Southern Panamá | West: Costa Rica Caribbean
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Posted April 2001. Checked and revised April 21, 2024. Lighthouses: 89. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.