Located on the north coast of South America, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has a long coastline facing the Caribbean Sea. This page includes lighthouses of the western half of that coast, west of the La Guaira-Caracas area. The Eastern Venezuela page includes lighthouses on the remainder of the coast. In addition Venezuela administers a number of islands in a westward extension of the Lesser Antilles chain. The lighthouses of the Isla Margarita and Venezuela's other Caribbean islands are listed on the Venezuela: Caribbean Islands page. Venezuela is a federal republic of 23 states, a capital district, and a federal territory administering the more remote Caribbean islands. The word for a lighthouse is faro in Spanish; smaller lighthouses are often called balizas (beacons). In Spanish 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. Active lighthouses in Venezuela are owned by the navy and managed by the Direccion de Hidrografia y Navegacion (DHN) within the Oficina Coordinadora de Hidrografía y Navegación (OCHINA), an agency of the Defense Ministry. Special note: Following the election of President Nicolás Maduro in 2013 economic conditions in Venezuela deteriorated, leading to an outbreak of civil unrest. As of this revision (May 2024) the country is still not safe for tourists and other visitors. 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.
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![]() Pier M-7 Light, Puerto Cabello photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Venezuelan Caribbean | East: Eastern Venezuela | Southeast: Guyana | West: Colombia
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Posted July 7, 2003. Checked and revised May 19, 2024. Lighthouses: 34. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.