Lighthouses of Southern Papua New Guinea

The nation of Papua New Guinea includes the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago to the northeast, and the island of Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. The colonial history of this area is complex. During the 1880s the southern half of the modern country was colonized by Britain as the Papua colony and the northern half by Germany as German New Guinea. In 1905 Britain transferred the Papua colony to the new Commonwealth of Australia. In 1914, at the start of World War I, Australian and other British Commonwealth troops quickly captured German New Guinea. After the war German New Guinea was assigned to Australia as a League of Nations mandate known as the Territory of New Guinea. In World War II much of the northern territory was occupied by Japan. After World War II the two halves of the country were united under Australian administration as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. The united territory took the name Papua New Guinea in 1971 and became independent in 1975. Papua New Guinea continues as a Commonwealth Realm recognizing the British monarch as head of state.

Papua New Guinea is divided into four regions and subdivided into 20 provinces plus the National Capital District and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. This page describes lighthouses of the southern half of the country, the former Papua Territory and now the Southern Region. There is a separate page for Northern Papua New Guinea.

Aids to navigation in Papua New Guinea are maintained by the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA).

Special thanks to the former Nawae Construction Company (disbanded in November 2020) for permission to reproduce several of its lighthouse photos.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. PNG numbers are from the NMSA light list. Admiralty numbers are from volume K of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.

General Sources
National Maritime Safety Authority
The authority has a map showing the location of the major lights in the country.
List of Aids to Navigation Lights in Papua New Guinea
This list was formerly posted in the NMSA web site.
World of Lighthouses - Papua New Guinea
Photos by various photographers available from Lightphotos.net.
Online List of Lights - Papua New Guinea
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas.
GPSNavigationCharts
Navigation chart information for Papua New Guinea.

Weka Una Rock Light
Weka Una Rock Light, China Strait
Nawae Construction photo; used by permission

Papuan Peninsula East Coast Lighthouses

The Papuan Peninsula, sometimes called the Bird's Tail Peninsula, is the long southeastern extension of New Guinea. Nearly all of the peninsula was included in the former Australian Territory of Papua. The high mountains of the Owen Stanley Range separate the northern and southern coasts of the peninsula.

Oro (Northern) Province Lighthouses
Cape Ward Hunt (2?)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 65 m (213 ft); white flash every 4 s. 8 m (28 ft) skeletal tower (?) painted white. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. The lighthouse appears more substantial than its description suggests. Located on a prominent cape about 70 km (43 mi) southeast of Morobe. Site status unknown. PNG-034; Admiralty K3422; NGA 26213.1.
Raymonde Shoal
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); white flash every 5 s. Lantern supported by three piles. NGA describes the light as black. No photo available and the light is not shown in Google's satellite view. Located on a shoal 26 km (16 mi) southeast of Cape Ward Hunt. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. PNG-035; Admiralty K3422.5; NGA 26214.
Eve Shoal
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); two white flashes every 8 s. Lantern supported by three piles. NGA describes the light as white with gray bands. No photo available and the light is not shown in Google's satellite view. Located on a shoal 42 km (26 mi) north northwest of Oro Bay. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. PNG-036; Admiralty K3423; NGA 26216.
Oro Bay Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 101 m (331 ft); white flash every 3 s. 10 m (33 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. In Rahul Raj's view from the sea the two range lights are barely visible on the hills near the right edge. Google has a distant satellite view. Located on a hill behind Eroro. Site status unknown. PNG-037; Admiralty K3424; NGA 26220.
Oro Bay Range Rear
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 133 m (436 ft); white flash every 10 s. 15 m (49 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. In Rahul Raj's view from the sea the two range lights are barely visible on the hills near the right edge. Google has a distant satellite view. Located 244 m (800 ft) southwest of the front light. Site status unknown. PNG-038; Admiralty K3424.1; NGA 26224.
Spear Island (Spear Point)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 19 m (62 ft); white flash every 6 s. 16 m (52 ft) square skeletal tower with gallery, painted white. Craig Robbins's view from the sea is at right and Google has a satellite view. Located on the northeastern tip of Spear Island, off a prominent cape on the north side of the Cape Nelson peninsula near the southeastern end of New Guinea. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-039; Admiralty K3426; NGA 26228.
Kanawetu (Hall) Point (Cape Nelson)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); two white flashes every 6 s. 3 m (10 ft) white fiberglass tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located at the extreme tip of the Cape Nelson peninsula. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-040; Admiralty K3428; NGA 26232.
Spear Point Light
Spear Point Light, Oro Province, March 2009
ex-Panoramio photo copyright Craig Robbins; used by permission
[Tufi Harbour Range Front]
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 30 m (98 ft); white light, 2 s on, 1 s off. This is an approach range for one of the many deep inlets (locally called fjords) of Cape Nelson; it guides vessels toward a scuba diving resort. It consists of a 35 m (115 ft) white concrete daymark stretching up the side of a hill with a light in a small fiberglass cabinet at the top. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. The range guides vessels through reefs off the north coast of New Guinea's southeastern cape. Located on a promontory east of Tufi. Site status unknown. PNG-045; Admiralty K3430; NGA 112-26236.
[Tufi Harbour Range Rear]
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 122 m (400 ft); white flash every 5 s. A 35 m (115 ft) white concrete daymark stretching up the side of a hill with a light in a small fiberglass cabinet at the top. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located on a promontory northeast of Tufi, 2.65 km (1.65 mi) northwest of the front light. Site status unknown. PNG-046; Admiralty K3430.1; NGA 112-26240.

Milne Bay Province Lighthouses

The Milne Bay Province includes the southeastern tip of the New Guinea mainland and an extensive region of islands and reefs extending eastward about 400 km (250 mi). There are at least 600 islands, including 160 inhabited islands. These islands separate the Coral Sea to the south from the Solomon Sea to the north. Poorly charted, they pose a significant hazard to navigation.

Southeastern New Guinea Lighthouses
Ipoteto Island (Baku)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); two white flashes every 8 s. 20 m (66 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available but Google has an indistinct satellite view. Ipoteto Island lies off Cape Vogel, a promontory projecting into the Ward Hunt Strait, which separates the southeastern peninsula of New Guinea from the D'Entrecasteaux Islands. Baku is a small settlement on the nearby mainland. Located on the northeastern tip of the island. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-047; Admiralty K3432; NGA 26260.
Meimeiara (Mei-Mei Ara) Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 35 m (115 ft); white flash every 2.5 s. 4 m (13 ft) white fiberglass tower. No closeup photo available but Daasmangi Digby Holeong has the 2019 drone view seen at right and a very distant aerial view (zoom in!) and Bing has a satellite view. Located on an island just off Cape Kehelala (East Cape), the easternmost point of New Guinea. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-054; Admiralty K3451; NGA 26312.
Isulailai Point
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); two white flashes every 6 s. 6 m (20 ft) white fiberglass tower. No photo available but Google has a distant satellite view. Located at the northeastern end of the China Strait, a narrow passage between Milne Bay and the Coral Sea off the extreme southeastern tip of New Guinea. Site status unknown. PNG-056; Admiralty K3452; NGA 26332.
Weka Una Rock (2)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); two white flashes every 8 s. 10 m (33 ft) round cylindrical white fiberglass tower. A Nawae Construction photo is at the top of this page, Jeremy Schierer has a 2014 photo, and Google has a satellite view of the beacon. Located at the western end of the China Strait, a narrow passage between Milne Bay and the Coral Sea off the extreme southeastern tip of New Guinea. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. PNG-058; Admiralty K3455; NGA 26324.

Meimeiara Island Light, Milne Bay Province, August 2019
Google Maps drone view by Daasmangi Digby Holeong
Bonarua (Brumer) Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 209 m (686 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 7 m (23 ft) square concrete block tower, painted white. A Nawae Construction photo is at right and Google has a distant satellite view. This is an important leading light guiding vessels through a pass in the reef parallel to the mainland coast. Located atop a high island about 6.5 km (4 mi) off the southeastern tip of New Guinea. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS PAP-005; PNG-059; Admiralty K3456; NGA 26316.
Ava Point
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 118 m (617 ft); white flash every 12 s. 7 m (23 ft) square concrete block tower, painted white. No photo available but Google has a distant satellite view. This light is probably a twin of the Bonarua Island light. Located atop a promontory of the mainland about 50 km (38 mi) west northwest of Bonarua Island. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS PAP-002; PNG-060; Admiralty K3456.5; NGA 26320.

Trobriand Islands Lighthouses
The Trobriand Islands are an archipelago in the Solomon Sea about 250 km (150 mi) north of the eastern tip of New Guinea. Kiriwina is by far the largest island of the group. Allied forces occupied Kiriwina in June 1943 to establish a base for operations against Japanese forces on the north coast of New Guinea. The two lighthouses in this group guide vessels safely around the east side of the islands.

Bomatu Point (Kiriwina)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 31 m (102 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 19 m (62 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available but Bing has a distant satellite view. This is an important light warning ships away from the many reefs of the Trobriand archipelago. Located on the northern tip of Kiriwina. Site status unknown. PNG-049; Admiralty K3436; NGA 26416.
Kitava Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 107 m (351 ft); white flash every 7.5 s. 15 m (49 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available but Google has a distant satellite view. Kitava is a smaller island about 25 km (15 mi) east of Kiriwina. Located on heights near the southern tip of Kitava. Site status unknown. PNG-048; Admiralty K3437; NGA 26420.

Bonarua Island Light
Bonarua (Brumer) Island Light, Milne Bay Province
Nawae Construction photo; used by permission

Louisiade Archipelago: Engineer Islands Lighthouses
The Engineer Islands are an archipelago off the southeastern tip of New Guinea; they are the westernmost island group of the Louisiade Archipelago, a complex of islands and reefs stretching for several hundred kilometers eastward from the southeastern tip of New Guinea and separating the Solomon Sea to the north from the Coral Sea to the south. The Louisiade reefs are a grave danger to ships rounding the eastern end of New Guinea. The three lights of the Engineer group guide vessels in a safe passage between the Solomon Sea and the southeastern tip of New Guinea.

Kanaweya (Shortland) Reef
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); three white flashes every 12 s. 10 m (33 ft) tower on a triangular platform supported by piles. No photo available but Google has a distant satellite view. Located on a reef at the northeastern end of the Engineer group. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. PNG-051; Admiralty K3440; NGA 26288.
Dekatuwe (Bright) Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 15 m (49 ft); white flash every 2.5 s. 15 m (49 ft) cylindrical fiberglass tower mounted on a square platform supported by piles. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located on a reef at the north end of the island, in the southeastern part of the Engineer Islands. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. PNG-061; Admiralty K3444; NGA 26292.
Kegawam Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 15 m (49 ft); white flash every 6 s. 15 m (49 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available but Bing has an indistinct satellite view. Located on a reef at the north end of the Engineer Islands, about 80 km (50 mi) northeast of the extreme southeastern tip of New Guinea. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-050; Admiralty K3438; NGA 26264.

Louisiade Archipelago: Jomard Passage Lighthouses
For large ships the Jomard Passage is the only safe north-south route through the Louisiade chain; it is marked by these next four lights.

Strathord (North) Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); three white flashes every 12 s. 15 m (49 ft) round white fiberglass tower. No photo available but Bing has a very distant satellite view. This light on the north and the Jomard Island Light (see below) on the south mark the ends of the safest passage for vessels between Australia and the western Pacific. Located just off the island at the northern tip of the Bonvouloir Islands, a small group northeast of the Engineer Islands. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-062; Admiralty K3448; NGA 26296.
Aulelowa (Hastings) Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 8.5 m (28 ft); two white flashes every 6 s. 8.5 m (28 ft) lantern on piles. No photo available but Bing has a very distant satellite view. Located just off the southwest end of Aulelowa (Hastings) Island; this is on the east side of the Jomard route. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-081; Admiralty K3446; NGA 26268.
Pananiu (Lunn) Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 16 m (52 ft); white flash every 4 s. 15 m (49 ft) round cylindrical white fiberglass tower with a square gallery. Nawae Construction's closeup photo of the new LED lens of the lighthouse is at right and Google has a satellite view. Lunn Island is a popular destination for scuba diving expeditions. Located on the eastern tip of a small island; this is on the west side of the Jomard route. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. PNG-063; Admiralty K3449; NGA 26272.

Lunn Island Light, Louisiade Archipelago
Nawae Construction photo; used by permission
Jomard (Pana Waipona) Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 24 m (79 ft); white flash every 10 s. 21 m (69 ft) round cylindrical stainless steel tower with gallery. Steffen Neumann's photo is at right and Bing has a satellite view. This lighthouse stands on an islet marking the south entrance of the Jomard Passage. The strait, about 5 km (3 mi) wide and with a depth of at least 180 m, connects the Coral Sea to the Solomon Sea and is the best "inside" route for ships rounding the southeastern tip of New Guinea. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-064; Admiralty K3450; NGA 26276.

Louisiade Archipelago: Adele Island Lighthouse
Adele Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 43 m (141 ft); white flash every 8 s. 31 m (102 ft) square skeletal tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. This lighthouse marks the easternmost island of Papua New Guinea, indicating the clear "outside" passage between the Coral Sea to the south and the Solomon Sea to the north. The open Pacific Ocean stretches to the east. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS PAP-001; PNG-053; Admiralty K3450.5; NGA 26284.

Jomard Island Light, Louisiade Archipelago
photo by Steffen Neumann, courtesy of Klaus Huelse; used by permission

New Guinea Southeast Coast Lighthouses

Central Province Lighthouses East of Port Moresby
Rothery Passage
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 22 m (72 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 22 m (72 ft) white fiberglass tower mounted on a platform supported by three piles. No photo available but Bing has a satellite view. This lighthouse marks the start of an approach through the reef system to the southeast coast. Located on a reef about 15 km (9 mi) off the south coast of New Guinea's southeastern peninsula. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. PNG-082; Admiralty K3456.7; NGA 26344.
#Hood Point (Hula) (2)
Date unknown. Inactive since 2016 and removed by 2021. This was a 20 m (66 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. Peter John Tate' contributed a 2007 photo but a 2021 aerial photo confirms that the tower was removed. Bing has a satellite view of the location. The base of an earlier lighthouse, lost to beach erosion, can be seen on the beach at low tide. The active light (focal plane 7 m (23 ft); two white flashes every 8 s) is now on a platform about 1 km (0.6 mi) west southwest of the point. Located on the tip of the promontory on which Hula is built. Site probably open, tower closed. Active light: PNG-083; Admiralty K3457; NGA 26348.

National Capital District (Port Moresby) Lighthouses
Port Moresby is named for the British captain John Moresby, who landed here in 1873 and claimed the land for Britain. Moresby surveyed the south coast of New Guinea in his ship, the paddlewheel steamer HMS Basilisk. Now the capital of Papua New Guinea and its principal port, Port Moresby has a population of about 370,000.

Basilisk Passage (Port Moresby)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 9 m (30 ft); white flash every 5 s. 9 m (30 ft) barrel-shaped fiberglass tower mounted on a triangular platform supported by piles. A clip from a commercial photo is available and Bing has a distant satellite view. The Basilisk Passage is a narrow gap in the reef leading to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Located at the west end of the Nateara Reef, marking the east side of the passage. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS PAP-003; PNG-090; Admiralty K3458; NGA 26352.
Vabukori (Basilisk Passage) Range Rear
1958. Active; focal plane 90 m (295 ft); white light, 4.5 s on, 1.5 s off. 7 m (23 ft) square concrete block tower, painted white with a black vertical stripe on the range line. Downhill from the beacon is a triangular daymark panel also painted white with a black vertical stripe. The light is in the center of Colin Agonia'a aerial view and Google has a satellite view. The range guides vessels through the Basilisk Passage. The front light is on a 3 m (10 ft) beacon accompanied by a similar daymark panel, 445 m (0.275 mi) southwest. In 2018 the light was shut off for a time because their village had not been paid for the lease of the land surrounding it; the photo at right shows villagers standing in fron tof the tower. Located atop a steep ridge southeast of Port Moresby. Site status unknown. PNG-097; Admiralty K3459.1; NGA 26364.

Vabukori Light, Port Moresby, November 2018
Port Morseby Post Courier photo

Central Province Lighthouses West of Port Moresby
Idihi Island (2)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); two white flashes every 5 s. 21 m (69 ft) white fiberglass tower on a platform supported by piles. Larry Dumlao's 2019 photo is at right and Bing has a satellite view. NGA formerly described this light as a square skeletal tower. Located on an island in a dangerous reef 30.5 km (19 mi) west of Port Moresby. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. PNG-086; Admiralty K3464; NGA 26384.
Boera Head
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 33 m (108 ft); white flash every 2.5 s. 7 m (23 ft) square concrete block tower, painted white. No photo available but Google has a distant satellite view. Located on a promontory about 25 km (15 mi) northwest of Port Moresby. Site status unknown, probably open. PNG-085; Admiralty K3463.8; NGA 26392.
Yule Island
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 54 m (177 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 7 m (23 ft) square concrete block tower, painted white. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Yule Island is a small island just off the south coast of Papua about 160 km (100 mi) northwest of Port Moresby. The island was the site of a Catholic mission, founded in 1885, one of the first European outposts in Papua. Located on the southern tip of the island. Site status unknown, probably open. ARLHS PAP-010; PNG-088; Admiralty K3465; NGA 26400.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Idihi Island Light, Port Moresby, December 2019
Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Larry V. Dumlao

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: Northern Papua New Guinea | South: Far North Queensland | West: Indonesian Papua South Coast

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Posted July 28, 2007. Checked and revised December 2, 2024. Lighthouses: 30. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.