Top 10 Lighthouses in Hawaii
Hawaii occupies some of the most isolated maritime real estate on earth. The nearest continental coast lies over two thousand miles away, and the archipelago's volcanic peaks rise abruptly from an ocean floor more than five kilometres deep. For sailors approaching from Asia, the Americas, or the far South Pacific, landfall in Hawaii could be catastrophic if misjudged — the reefs and headlands that fringe each island gave no quarter. The United States government began establishing lighthouses in Hawaii shortly after annexation in 1898, with the Lighthouse Board overseeing construction of a series of towers that had to withstand tropical storms, volcanic earthquakes, and the corrosive salt air of a mid-Pacific climate. Today most of Hawaii's lighthouses are automated, maintained by the US Coast Guard, and several are protected as historic landmarks. They remain essential to the state's busy inter-island shipping lanes, the arrival of cruise ships, and the pleasure craft that sail these spectacular waters.
1. Makapuu Lighthouse, Oahu
Makapuu Point Lighthouse, completed in 1909 on the dramatic eastern headland of Oahu, is one of the Pacific's most powerful lights. The squat white octagonal tower stands only 15 metres tall, but its extraordinary hyper-radiant Fresnel lens — at 1.2 metres in diameter, one of the largest ever made — projects a light visible 28 nautical miles to sea, critical for vessels rounding Oahu's precipitous eastern cliffs. The engineer was the US Lighthouse Board; the lens was manufactured in Paris by Barbier, Bénard et Turenne. The lighthouse is still active, automated since 1974 and now solar-assisted. The access trail from the Kalaniana'ole Highway is one of Oahu's most popular hikes, winding up a steep paved road to a viewpoint overlooking the lighthouse and the offshore Rabbit and Manana islands.
2. Kilauea Point Lighthouse, Kauai
When it was completed in 1913, the Kilauea Point Lighthouse on Kauai's north shore possessed the largest clamshell Fresnel lens in the United States — a second-order bivalve apparatus that flashed a beam 90 nautical miles out to sea, guiding trans-Pacific vessels on the great circle route from Japan. The white concrete tower stands 18 metres on a promontory 55 metres above the Pacific. The Coast Guard decommissioned it in 1976 and replaced it with a modern optic on a separate structure. The historic tower is now the centrepiece of Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and is open to visitors. The surrounding headland is a nesting colony for red-footed boobies, Laysan albatrosses, and wedge-tailed shearwaters, making it one of the finest wildlife-watching locations in Hawaii.
3. Diamond Head Lighthouse, Oahu
The Diamond Head Lighthouse occupies a low lava reef at the foot of Oahu's famous volcanic tuff cone, marking the southeastern approach to Honolulu Harbour. The original light here dated to 1899, making it among the earliest in the post-annexation programme; the current 14-metre white square tower was rebuilt in 1917. It shows a group-flashing white light and remains active, now operated by the US Coast Guard with a small residential compound beside the tower. The Coast Guard occupies the site and the grounds are not routinely open to the public, but the tower is visible from the Diamond Head Road and from vessels in the channel. It is a deceptively modest structure given its striking setting.
4. Kalaupapa Lighthouse, Molokai
The Kalaupapa Peninsula on Molokai's northern coast is perhaps the most poignant site in Hawaiian history — the place where people diagnosed with leprosy were forcibly isolated from 1866 until the policy ended in 1969. The Kalaupapa Lighthouse, standing at Kalawao on the peninsula's eastern point, was built in 1909 as part of the broader Hawaii programme. The white octagonal tower is 15 metres tall and shows a flashing white light. Access to the peninsula is strictly controlled; visitors must obtain a permit and either fly into the small airstrip or make the demanding mule trail descent from the cliffs above. The lighthouse is within Kalaupapa National Historical Park, one of the most moving national parks in the United States, and a visit requires respectful sensitivity to the site's history.
5. Nawiliwili Lighthouse, Kauai
Nawiliwili Harbour on Kauai's southeastern coast is the island's principal commercial port, receiving inter-island barges and cruise ships calling at the Garden Isle. The Nawiliwili Lighthouse, a modest white concrete tower completed around 1920, stands on Ninini Point north of the harbour entrance, showing a white flashing light with a range of approximately 15 nautical miles. The tower is on private land associated with the adjacent Kauai Marriott Resort, and while access is limited, the lighthouse is visible from the resort beach and from the harbour. It is one of the lesser-known lights in Hawaii but occupies an agreeable setting overlooking the bay where the Huleia River meets the sea.
6. Cape Kumukahi Lighthouse, Big Island
Cape Kumukahi is the easternmost point of Hawaii and of the entire United States — the first landfall in America for vessels arriving from Japan or Alaska. The original lighthouse here was destroyed by a lava flow from Kilauea volcano in 1960, a remarkable event that left the tower encircled but not consumed by the advancing lava, as if the flow parted around it. The current steel skeleton tower, erected after the eruption, stands about 18 metres and shows a flashing white light visible 18 nautical miles. The approach road runs through a lava field and the lighthouse is accessible by vehicle via a rough track. The otherworldly landscape of black pahoehoe lava surrounding the tower is a reminder of how dynamically Hawaii's coastlines continue to change.
7. Lahaina Lighthouse, Maui
The Lahaina Lighthouse on Maui's western coast is the oldest lighthouse site in Hawaii, with a light established here as early as 1840 to serve the town that was then the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the base of the Pacific whaling fleet. The current white square masonry tower dates from 1916 and is just over seven metres tall, making it one of the smallest in Hawaii. It shows a fixed white light. Lahaina's historic waterfront is heavily visited, and the lighthouse stands at the end of the town's small harbour pier — easily found and well signed. The town was devastated by wildfire in August 2023, an event that damaged parts of the historic district but left the lighthouse itself standing. Ongoing recovery has affected visitor access to some surrounding areas.
8. Barbers Point Lighthouse, Oahu
Barbers Point on Oahu's southwestern corner was historically one of the most dangerous headlands in the Islands, its shallow reef having wrecked numerous vessels over the centuries. A light was established here in 1888, making it one of the earliest in Hawaii. The current white octagonal tower, 21 metres tall, was built in 1933 and is the tallest lighthouse in Hawaii. It shows a flashing white light with a range of 17 nautical miles, critical for vessels approaching Honolulu from the south and west. The lighthouse is now administered by Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources as a historic site, and the surrounding area forms the Barbers Point Lighthouse Open Space park, accessible to the public during daylight hours.
9. Makapuu Sea Life Park Area Light, Oahu
Adjacent to the Makapuu headland, a secondary light marks the northern approach to the offshore hazards around Sea Life Park and Kaupo Beach. The structure is a modern automated light on a steel framework, relatively utilitarian in appearance, but it performs a practical navigational function along one of Oahu's most trafficked coastal passages. While it lacks the architectural grandeur of its neighbour, it illustrates how Hawaii's maritime safety network extends well beyond the iconic historic towers into a web of smaller functional aids.
10. Pu'u Pehe (Sweetheart Rock) Area Light, Lanai
Off the southern coast of Lanai, Pu'u Pehe — known as Sweetheart Rock — is a dramatic sea stack rising 24 metres from the ocean, with a small light maintained on or near its base marking this hazard for vessels transiting the Auau Channel between Lanai and Maui. The channel carries inter-island freight and the ferries connecting Maui to Lanai. The rock itself is a striking landmark visible from the Hulopoe Bay beach on Lanai's south shore, and the associated light, however modest in scale, is an example of how navigation aids thread themselves around Hawaii's extraordinary volcanic topography.
Visiting Hawaii's Lighthouses
Hawaii's lighthouses are spread across six main islands and range from easily accessible historic sites — Kilauea Point and the Makapuu trail on Oahu are particular highlights — to remote or restricted facilities. The best visiting season is broadly year-round, though winter brings higher surf, especially on north and east-facing coasts. Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge requires a small entrance fee and operates Wednesday through Saturday; Barbers Point and the Makapuu trail are free. Rental cars are essential for most lighthouse visits, as public transport rarely reaches coastal headlands. Open the map to locate all Hawaii lighthouses and plan your island-by-island itinerary.