Top 10 Lighthouses in Egypt
Egypt's coastline faces two entirely separate seas. The northern coast runs along the Mediterranean from the Libyan border to the Gaza strip, encompassing the Nile Delta approaches and the ancient maritime cities of Alexandria and Damietta. The eastern coast faces the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez, a narrowing funnel of water that concentrates the shipping of three continents into the approaches to the Suez Canal at Port Said. This dual maritime geography, combined with Egypt's ancient position as a crossroads of trade, produced some of the most historically significant lighthouse sites in the world — including the direct ancestor of every lighthouse ever built.
1. Ras el-Tin Lighthouse (Alexandria)
The lighthouse that stands today on Ras el-Tin Point — 'the Point of Figs' — at the western edge of Alexandria Harbour is not the Pharos of antiquity. The original Pharos, built in the third century BC on the island off the eastern harbour, survived until it was severely damaged by earthquakes in the fourteenth century and its remains were incorporated into the Mamluk fortress of Qaitbey that now stands on the site. The modern Ras el-Tin lighthouse, however, stands on the most historically charged lighthouse promontory in the world: the western entrance to the bay that once contained maritime civilisation's greatest navigational monument. The current structure, a white round tower about 18 metres tall within the grounds of the Ras el-Tin presidential palace, shows a rotating light visible for approximately 18 nautical miles. Public access to the palace grounds is restricted, but the lighthouse is visible from the sea.
2. Rosetta Lighthouse (Rashid)
At the western mouth of the Nile, where the Rosetta Branch meets the Mediterranean, a lighthouse has stood since the Ottoman period to guide vessels across the shallow bar that made the Rosetta mouth treacherous. The current tower, a round masonry column standing on the beach about two kilometres from the city of Rashid, was substantially built during the nineteenth century and has been maintained by successive Egyptian administrations. Its light marks the narrow navigable channel through the delta bar; the shifting sands of the Nile delta make this a demanding station to operate. The city of Rashid is famous as the findsite of the Rosetta Stone; a small but informative archaeological museum in the Ottoman house of Amasyali presents the discovery and the broader history of the town.
3. Port Said Lighthouse
At the Mediterranean entrance to the Suez Canal, the lighthouse at Port Said is among the most strategically important lights in the world. Port Said was founded simultaneously with the canal in 1859, and its entrance lights have guided the continuous procession of vessels entering and leaving the canal ever since. The principal lighthouse, a white round tower of about 18 metres on the western breakwater, works in combination with the breakwater approach lights to manage the traffic — typically forty to fifty ships per transit day — through the canal's northern entrance. The lighthouse is not accessible to the public; the eastern side of the breakwater is a working port area, but the tower is visible from the Port Said sea front and from the ferry that crosses the channel to Port Fuad.
4. Hurghada Lighthouse
On the Red Sea coast, the lighthouse at Hurghada marks the northern approaches to the busy resort and dive-charter harbour that has grown, since the 1980s, from a small fishing village into Egypt's largest Red Sea resort. The tower, a white cylindrical column on the promontory north of the old town (El Dahar), provides the landfall mark for vessels approaching from the north along the Red Sea's western shore. The surrounding water, with its clear visibility and warm temperature, is the basis of a substantial dive and snorkelling tourism industry; several charter operations offer reef trips in the area directly below the lighthouse approach.
5. Big Brother Island Lighthouse (El Akhawein)
The most dramatic lighthouse on the Egyptian Red Sea coast stands on Big Brother Island, about 63 kilometres off the coast of El Quseir in a group of two isolated oceanic pinnacles rising from very deep water. Big Brother Island is barely 400 metres long and 100 metres wide, yet it carries a lighthouse — a round stone tower about 15 metres tall, built by the British in 1883 — plus the substantial ruins of the British garrison station that once served the light. The island's isolation and the richness of its surrounding reef, which attracts oceanic sharks and large pelagic fish, have made it one of the most sought-after liveaboard dive destinations in the world. It is accessible only on dive charters from Hurghada or Marsa Alam; landing on the island is managed through Egyptian marine park permits.
6. Damietta Lighthouse
At the eastern mouth of the Nile, the Damietta Branch lighthouse marks the second major river exit onto the Mediterranean. The structure is a functional concrete tower, modest in height, standing on the sand spit north of Damietta city. The Damietta branch is now Egypt's main river commercial artery for grain and building materials; the lighthouse guides the regular barge traffic across the bar at the river mouth.
7. El Arish Lighthouse
On the north Sinai coast near the city of El Arish, a lighthouse marks the featureless sandy shore of the North Sinai coast. This stretch of Mediterranean coastline between Port Said and the Gaza Strip is one of the least topographically varied coasts in Egypt; the lighthouse at El Arish provides the only significant elevated landmark for coastal navigation between the canal entrance and the Palestinian border.
8. Sharm el-Sheikh Entrance Light
At the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, where the Red Sea narrows sharply at the Straits of Tiran, the lights marking the approach to Sharm el-Sheikh guide the heavy tourist vessel and ferry traffic through the strait. The Straits of Tiran are among the most intensively used short passages in the world; the combination of shallow reefs, strong currents, and dense traffic makes the range and sector lights critical navigational aids.
9. Safaga Lighthouse
The port of Safaga, south of Hurghada, handles bulk grain imports and phosphate exports and is one of the busiest commercial harbours on the Egyptian Red Sea. The lighthouse marks the approach channel through the reef that protects the bay; the surrounding reef system is also a diving destination managed within the Hurghada-Safaga marine protection zone.
10. Berenice (Marsa Alam) Light
At the southernmost navigated harbour on the Egyptian Red Sea, near the site of the ancient Ptolemaic port of Berenice, a lighthouse marks the approach to Marsa Alam airport and harbour. The area is the gateway to the more remote southern Red Sea dive sites; the lighthouse is a modern concrete structure, but it marks a coastline used by Egyptian and international vessels since the time of the Pharaohs who sent expeditions from Berenice to the Land of Punt.
Most Egyptian lighthouses are operated by the Egyptian Maritime Safety Authority and are not open to the public; Big Brother Island is the most adventurous target for visitors, requiring a liveaboard dive booking. Port Said's historical harbour area is accessible and worth visiting for its colonial architecture. The Red Sea reef coast is best visited between October and May, avoiding the intense summer heat. Open the map to see the full network of Egyptian navigational lights from the Mediterranean delta to the Red Sea's southern reaches.