Your Guide to the Lighthouses in Hawaiʻi
The Islands are home to 15 lighthouses associated with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Hawaiʻi’s lighthouses and beacons shine a light on the Islands’ unique history and geography. Today, on National Lighthouse Day (Aug. 7), we take a look at the 15 lighthouses in Hawaiʻi that are associated with the U.S. Coast Guard and have, some for over a century, serve as beacons to safety for ships and boats at sea.
Aloha Tower, Oʻahu
Aloha Tower on Oʻahu.
Photo: Getty Images/Robert James DeCamp
This retired lighthouse at Honolulu Harbor in Downtown Honolulu is one of the most recognizable landmarks on Oʻahu. When it was built in September 1926, it was the tallest building in the Islands for four decades and its clock was one of the largest in the U.S. The lighthouse stands 184 feet tall, topped with a 40-foot flag mast.
Barbers Point Lighthouse, Oʻahu
Barbers Point Lighthouse on Oʻahu.
Photo: Getty Images/comosaydice
This 42-foot-tall lighthouse stands on the coastline in Kalaeloa on Oʻahu’s southwestern tip. It was built in 1888. A keeper lived there from 1888 to 1964.
Cape Kumukahi Lighthouse, Hawaiʻi Island
This 125-foot-tall lighthouse in Kapoho on the easternmost point of Hawaiʻi Island is the only beacon on the island to make the National Park Service’s Maritime Heritage Program list of historic light stations in the state. It was built in 1934 and, with its location on the east rift zone of Kīlauea, has been threatened several times by eruption, including in 1960 when lava destroyed the nearby town of Kapoho but spared the lighthouse. It was automated later that year.
Diamond Head Lighthouse, Oʻahu
Diamond Head Lighthouse on Oʻahu.
Photo: Getty Images/ ZoiaKostina
Standing on the windswept cliffs of Lēʻahi (aka Diamond Head), this lighthouse is one of the most iconic lighthouses in Hawaiʻi. It was originally built in 1899, then rebuilt in 1917 after the concrete started to crack. After the 55-foot-tall lighthouse became automated, the keeper’s house is now home to the head of the 14th Coast Guard District.
Kauhola Point Lighthouse, Hawaiʻi Island
On the northern tip of Hawaiʻi Island stands the 86-foot Kauhola Point Lighthouse. First built in 1897, then rebuilt in 1933, all that remains now is a headless concrete tower.
Kīlauea Lighthouse, Kauaʻi
Kīlauea Lighthouse on Kauaʻi.
Photo: Getty Images/William Sallette
Birders probably already know this 52-foot lighthouse on Kauaʻi’s northeastern tip. Kīlauea Lighthouse is part of the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, home to thousands of endangered birds, including native species such as the nēnē (Hawaiian goose). Built in 1913, the lighthouse made history when, in 1927, it reoriented pilots of the first trans-Pacific flight from the West Coast to Honolulu.
Lahaina Lighthouse, Maui
Lahaina Lighthouse on Maui.
Photo: Getty Images/Bosco1944
Commissioned in 1840 by Kamehameha III, the original structure was just 9 feet tall and made of wood. It’s considered the first lighthouse built in the Islands, erected during the height of the whaling industry on Maui. A replacement lighthouse was built in 1905, a 55-foot timber-framed pyramidal tower. It survived the deadly wildfires of August 2023.
Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse, Oʻahu
Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse on Oʻahu.
Photo: Getty Images/TheBladler
The iconic, red-roofed Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse stands on a 600-foot sea cliff on Oʻahu’s southeastern coastline. Built in 1909, it has the largest lens of any lighthouse in the U.S and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. You can easily view the 46-foot lighthouse from the top of the Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse Trail, an easy and paved 1-mile trek to an overlook of the lighthouse. It’s still active; it was automated in 1974.
Molokaʻi Lighthouse, Molokaʻi
Molokaʻi Lighthouse on Molokaʻi.
Photo: Getty Images/Fantastic Geographic
One of the tallest of Hawaiʻi’s lighthouses is in Kalaupapa on Molokaʻi. It stands 138 feet tall on the isolated peninsula that was once home to patients with Hansen’s disease (formerly known as leprosy). It’s now part of the Kalaupapa National Historical Park.
Nāwiliwili Lighthouse, Kauaʻi
Nāwiliwili Lighthouse on Kauaʻi.
Photo: Getty Images/okimo
At Ninini Point, this 86-foot-tall lighthouse was built in 1932 and has been automated since 1953.
