Lighthouses of Saba and Sint Eustatius

This page includes lighthouses of two small island "special municipalities" of the Netherlands located in the Leeward Islands at the northeastern corner of the Caribbean Sea. Since the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved in 2010 these two islands and the island of Bonaire in the southern Caribbean are known collectively as the Caribbean Netherlands.

Saba is a small island about 80 km (50 mi) southwest of St.-Barthélemy. Only about 4 km (2.5 mi) in diameter, the island is essentially a single volcanic peak, Mt. Scenery; the mountain rises to an elevation of 870 m (2854 ft). Saba was first settled by the Dutch around 1640; although it changed hands a number of times after that it has been Dutch again since 1816. The population is about 2000. Saba has no protected harbor capable of receiving cruise ships, so it is one of the least visited islands of the Caribbean. Access is by short-takeoff aircraft or ferry from the other Dutch Leeward Islands (Sint Maartin and Sint Eustatius). Hair-raising roads snake around the mountain to connect the small villages of the island.

Sint Eustatius, nicknamed Statia, is a somewhat larger island located about 30 km (19 mi) southeast of Saba and 15 km (9 mi) northwest of St. Kitts. About 7 km by 3 km (4.5 mi by 2 mi), the island is at the north end of the same partly submerged ridge that extends through St. Kitts and Nevis. It was settled by the Dutch in 1636 and remained Dutch thereafter except for an occupation by British forces in 1781-84. Less mountainous than Saba, Sint Eustatius has room for a full-size airport runway, but it has only a small protected harbor at Oranjestad, the capital. The population of the island is about 3300.

Special thanks to Alexander Trabas for determining the location of the elusive Oranjestad Light on Statia.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. NL numbers are from the official Dutch list. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 110.

General Sources
World of Lighthouses - Caribbean Netherlands
Photos by various photographers available from Lightphotos.net.
Online List of Lights - Caribbean Netherlands
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas. Photos for this area are by Capt. Peter Mosselberger ("Capt. Peter").
GPSNauticalCharts
Navigational chart for Saba and Sint Eustatius.
Navionics Charts
Navigational chart for Saba and Sint Eustatius.
St. John's Light
St. John's Light, Saba, April 2008
Panoramio photo copyright Oddcrow; used by permission
Saba Lighthouse
* St. John's
Date unknown. Active; focal plane about 325 m (1070 ft); two white flashes every 10 s. Approx. 15 m (49 ft) square skeletal communications tower mounted on a square 1-story white concrete base. A photo is above right, Trabas has Capt. Peter's photo, and Lightphotos.net has an aerial photo, but the light is hard to distinguish in Bing's satellite view. The microwave antennas on the tower are pointed southeast toward the island of Sint Eustatius. Located on the steep slope of Mt. Scenery at St. John's, a village on the south side of the island. Site open, tower closed. NL 4126; Admiralty J5667.3; NGA 14738.

Sint Eustatius Lighthouse
* Oranjestad
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 40 m (131 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 6 m (20 ft) mast mounted on the southern corner of the historic Fort Oranje. Trabas has Capt. Peter's photo and Ravic Richie has a street view, but the mast is inconspicuous in Bing's satellite view of the fort. The original light at Oranjestad, established in 1893, was on the roof of the harbor office. Located atop a steep bluff on the west side of the island, about 400 m (1/4 mi) north of the Oranjestad harbor. Site open. NL 4123; Admiralty J5668.5; NGA 14742.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: Saint-Martin | Northeast: Saint-Barthélemy | Southeast: Saint Kitts and Nevis

Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key

Created October 16, 2012. Checked and revised January 25, 2024. Lighthouses: 2. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.