Brazil, the largest country in South America and fifth largest in the world, has a lengthy coastline, a large number of lighthouses, and a distinguished lighthouse history. This page covers lighthouses of the state of Bahia on Brazil's northeastern coast. Bahia is Brazil's fifth largest state, and it includes the longest coastline of any of the states. The tropical coastline faces across the South Atlantic Ocean towards Africa. The largest port in Bahia by far is the capital, Salvador (São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos); Ilhéus is another important port. The Portuguese word for a lighthouse is farol, plural faróis. In Brazilian use, the word farol generally applies to all light towers, regardless of whether they are enclosed structures or not. The word farolete or farolim is sometimes used for smaller towers. In Portuguese ilha is an island, ilhéu is an islet, cabo is a cape, ponta is a promontory or point of land, rocha is a rock, recife is a reef, baía is a bay, estreito is a strait, rio is a river, and porto is a port or harbor. Active lighthouses in Brazil are owned by the navy (Marinha do Brasil) and maintained by the Centro de Auxílios à Navegação Almirante Moraes Rego (CAMR) in the Diretoria de Hidrografia e Navegacão (DHN). Many of the larger lighthouses are staffed by resident keepers or by rotating crews of naval personnel. Only a small number of Brazilian lighthouses are open to the public. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. BR numbers are from the official Brazilian Lista de Faroís. Admiralty numbers are from volume G of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 110.
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![]() Garcia d'Avila Light, January 2007 Flickr Creative Commons photo by npstr (no longer online) |
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![]() Monte Serrat Light, Salvador, October 2013 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Erica Almeida for Turismo Bahia |
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![]() Ilhota de Contas Light, Itacaré, April 2009 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Andres Umida |
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![]() Belmonte Light, Belmonte, August 2014 ex-Panoramio Creative Commons photo by Daniel Souza Lima |
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![]() Abrolhos Light, Ilha de Santa Barbará, February 2009 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Amanda Ercília |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Northeastern Brazil | South: Southeastern Brazil
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted February 16, 2004. Checked and revised April 28, 2020. Lighthouses: 38. Site copyright 2020 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.