Mexico, officially the United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos or EUM), is the second largest country of Latin America and the largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world. With an east coast on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea and a long west coast on the Pacific Ocean it has by far the longest coastline in Latin America and, as a result, the largest number of lighthouses. For three centuries what is now Mexico was the central part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. After achieving independence from Spain in 1821 Mexico suffered several decades of political upheaval and the loss of its northern territories, including Texas, New Mexico, and California, to the expansion of the United States. After the sale of some additional territory to the U.S. Mexico assumed its present borders in 1853. Mexico is a federal union of 31 states (estados) plus the capital district, and the states are subdivided into county-level units called municipalities (municipios). This page lists of lighthouses of the south coast of Mexico in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero. This coast includes the famous resort city of Acapulco and many smaller ports. In Spanish the word for a lighthouse is faro, baliza is a beacon, isla is an island, cabo is a cape, punta is a promontory or point of land, péñon is a rock, arrecife is a reef, bahía is a bay, ría is an estuary or inlet, estrecho is a strait, río is a river, and puerto is a port or harbor. Mexican lighthouses are managed by the Port Captains and Maritime Affairs Unit (Unidad de Capitanías de Puerto y Asuntos Marítimos, UNICAPAM). Many of the larger light stations are staffed by resident civilian keepers. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. CF numbers are from the Mexican Cuaderno de Faros (Handbook of Lighthouses). Admiralty numbers are from volume G of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 111.
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Chiapas Lighthouses
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![]() Puerto Chiapas Light, Puerto Chiapas, September 2017 Google Maps photo by Francisco Andrade |
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Oaxaca Lighthouses
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![]() San Dionisio del Mar Light, Oaxaca, July 2023 Google Maps photo by Roberto Tannos |
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![]() Puerto Galera Light, Lagunas de Chacahua, January 2019 Google Maps photo by JEDR |
Guerrero Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses: Notable faux lighthouses:
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![]() Punta Garrobo Light, Zihuatenejo, March 2020 photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger; used by permission |
Adjoining pages: South: Guatemala Pacific | North: West Coast
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Posted 2003. Checked and revised January 8, 2025. Lighthouses: 34. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill