The Republic of Nicaragua is a country of Central America located south of Honduras and north of Costa Rica. Spanning the isthmus, Nicaragua has coasts facing southwest on the Pacific Ocean and east on the Caribbean Sea. This page describes the lighthouses of the Caribbean coast; there is a separate page for the Pacific coast. The east coast of Nicaragua is low and sparsely populated. Known historically as the Mosquito or Miskito Coast, it was a British colony for much of the 18th century and in the Bluefields area English is spoken along with Spanish and indigenous languages. Nicaragua is divided into 15 departments (departamentos) and two self-governing autonomous communities; all but the southernmost section of the Caribbean coast lies within the autonomous communities. 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. Aids to navigation in Nicaragua are managed by the Aquatic Transport Directorate of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. NGA numbers are from NGA Publication 110.
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Honduras | South: Costa Rica Caribbean
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Checked and revised May 12, 2025. Lighthouses: 3. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.