Lighthouses of Mainland Tanzania

Located on the east coast of Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania was formed by a merger of two dissimilar British colonies, Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Tanganyika included all the mainland of the present country and also Mafia Island. It was the major part of a German colony (German East Africa) until it was captured by British troops in World War I. Britain governed it under a League of Nations mandate until World War II and then under a United Nations trustreeship until it became independent in 1961. Zanzibar, which includes the islands of Unguja (Zanzibar) and Pemba, has a long history as an Arab outpost on the African coast. It was also the site of a Portuguese trading post throughout most of the 16th and 17th centuries, until the Sultan of Oman drove the Portuguese out in 1698. Zanzibar was placed under a British protectorate beginning in 1890 but it continued to be governed autonomously as a sultanate until the British ended their protectorate in 1963. After a revolution overthrew the sultanate Zanzibar joined Tanganyika to form Tanzania in 1964.

Lighthouses of Zanzibar are decribed on a separate page. This page includes lighthouse in the rest of Tanzania, the area of the former Tanganyika, now known usually as Mainkand Tanzania.

Mainland Tanzania is divided into 26 regions (mkoa).

In Swahili, the common language of the Tanzanian coast, the word for a lighthouse is mnara wa taa (related to the Arabic manara). The Arabic word ras is used for a cape.

Lighthouses in Mainland Tanzania are operated by the Tanzania Ports Authority.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Light List numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.

General Sources
Online List of Lights - Tanzania
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas.
Lighthouses in Tanzania
Photos by various photographers available from Wikimedia.
World of Lighthouses - Tanzania
Photos by various photographers available from Lightphotos.net.
Lighthouses of Tanzania in Danger
This July 2008 article in Lighthouse Digest carried alarming reports and photos showing the lighthouses of the Tanga area abandoned and stripped by vandals.
Afrikanische Leuchttürme auf historischen Postkarten
Historic postcard views posted by Klaus Huelse.
Google Maps
Satellite view of Tanzania's coast.


Ras Mkumbi Light, Mafia Island, May 2023
Google Maps photo by Gilbert Mushi

Tanga Region Lighthouses
Tanga is a seaport near the Kenyan border. The cityhas a population of about 300,000. It was an important base for the German East Africa colony and was not conquered by British troops until 1916.
 

Ulenge Island Range Rear (Tanga Bay) (2)
Date unknown (station established 1894). Reactivated (?); focal plane 26 m (85 ft); white light, 4.5 s on, 7.5 s off. 26 m (85 ft) square stone tower with lantern and gallery, painted with black and white horizontal bands. Sybille Riedmueller supplied the photo at right to Lighthouse Digest, Rachel Dove has a 2007 photo, and Google has a satellite view. This was the only Tanga light until the range was established in 1929. In 2008 Ms. Riedmueller reported that the Fresnel lens was smashed by vandals and the lantern subsequently removed. The tower itself was in dilipidated condition. However it looks better and appears to have a lantern in the current satellite view; also C-Map charts it as active. We need recent photos! This is an approach range guiding ships through the reef off Taanga. Wikimedia has a historic photo of the original lighthouse taken around 1910, and Huelse has a historic postcard view. Located on Ulenge Island, a small island on the north side of the entrance to Tanga Bay. Site status unknown. ARLHS TAN-013; Admiralty D6754.1; NGA 31300.
Ulenge Island Range Front (2)
Date unknown (station established 1929). Reactivated (?); focal plane 12 m (39 ft); quick-flashing white light. 15 m (49 ft) white concrete tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located 320 m (0.2 mi) southeast of the rear light. Site status unknown. ARLHS TAN-012; Admiralty D6754; NGA 31296.
Toten Island Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 11 m (36 ft); white flash every 2 s. 9 m (30 ft) white concrete tower. No closeup photo available but Google has a satellite view. Both range lights can be seen very distantly in Marshed Mohamed's view from the waterfront. This is the entrance range for Tanga harbor. Located at the eastern tip of Toten Island, an island off the Tanga waterfront. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6759.55; NGA 31316.
Toten Island Range Rear
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (36 ft); white flash every 7 s. 9 m (30 ft) white concrete tower. No closeup photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located 75 m (250 ft) west southwest of the front light on Toten Island. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6759.56; NGA 31316.1.

Ulenge Island Range Rear Light, Tanga, 2008
Lighthouse Digest photo by Sybille Riedmueller
Tanga Inner Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 6 m (20 ft); white light, pattern unknown. 6 m (20 ft) white concrete tower. Romex Papehe has a view from the harbor showing both range lights, Henry Robert has a very distant 2022 view, and Google has a satellite view. Located just offshore east of the waterfront area of Tanga. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty D6761.
Tanga Inner Range Rear
Date unknown. Active; focal plane about 10 m (33 ft); white light, pattern unknown. Approx. 10 m (33 ft) white concrete tower. Romex Papehe has a view from the harbor showing both range lights but trees appear to have hidden the light in Google's current satellite view. Located just offshore east of the waterfront area of Tanga. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty D6761.1.
Ras Kasone (Kazone) Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 8.5 m (28 ft); white flash every 1.5 s. 12 m (39 ft) round white concrete tower. William Arnold has a 2019 photo and Google has a satellite view. This is the second range for ships entering Tanga. Located on a sandbar off Ras Kasone, the cape at the entrance to Tanga harbor, about 560 m (0.35 mi) northeast of the rear lighthouse (next entry). Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty D6757; NGA 31332.
* Ras Kasone (Kazone) Range Rear
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 29 m (95 ft); white flash every 10 s. 22 m (72 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower topped by a circular harbor control room, gallery, and signal mast. The light is probably displayed from the gallery. The lighthouse is white concrete with a narrow black vertical stripe. Anthony Proches has the 2017 view at right, Hans Martin contributed a 2009 photo, and Google has a satellite view. The control room has been abandoned and stripped of all its equipment. Located on Ras Kasone, the cape at the entrance to the harbor. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6757.1; NGA 31336.

Ras Kasone Range Rear Light, Tanga, August 2017
Google Maps photo by Anthony Proches

Dar es Salaam Lighthouses
Dar es Salaam ("House of Peace" in Arabic) was a small village when it was selected in 1887 as the administrative center of German East Africa. Today it is one of Africa's largest cities with a metropolitan population of more than 5 million.

Outer Makatumbe (Dar es Salaam Bay Range Rear) (LM8)
1894. Active; focal plane 29 m (95 ft); three white flashes every 20 s; in addition a continuous directional light, white, red or green depending on direction. 29 m (95 ft) square masonry tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted with black and white horizontal bands (not red and white as listed by NGA); lantern dome painted red. Anthony Paarker's 2023 photo is at right, Martin Mobers has a 2017 photo, Wikimedia has a 2008 view from the sea, a very distant view from the sea is available, Huelse has a historic postcard view, and Google has a satellite view. The range guides vessels in the narrow channel departing Dar es Salaam. The lighthouse appears to be a sibling of the Ras Mkumbi Light. It was refurbished as part of a harbor improvement project between 1997 and 1999. Located on Outer Makatumbe, a small, uninhabited island at the outer (northeastern) edge of the reef off Dar es Salaam harbor. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS TAN-004; Admiralty D6672; NGA 31432.
Inner Makatumbe (Dar es Salaam Bay Range Front) (LM7)
Date unknown. Inactive since 2024. 15 m (49 ft) square skeletal tower mounted on a square platform supported by piles. The tower carries a triangular daymark, point up. Stijn Lombaerts has a distant 2022 view (this light is in the center with the Outer lighthouse on the left) and Google has a satellite view. The light became redundant when a directional light was added to the Outer Matatumbe lighthouse. Located off the north side of Inner Makatumbe Island about 1.2 km (3/4 mi) southwest of the Outer Makatumbe lighthouse. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. ex-Admiralty D6673; NGA 31431.

Outer Makatumbe Light, Dar es Salaam, 2023
InkedIn.com photo by Anthony Parker
Kinondoni (Oyster Bay) Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); quick-flashing white light. 9 m (29 ft) round cylindrical tower centered on a circular 1-story equipment room, painted white with a red vertical stripe on the range line. Wikimedia has the photo seen at right, Corrie Bornman has a 2016 photo, Eric Kija has a closeup, a 2009 photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. This is the Dar es Salaam approach range, guiding vessels around the north side of the Makatumbe reefs. Oyster Bay, on the north side of Dar es Salaam, was an area of European settlement in colonial times and is now an area of beach resorts. Located on the waterfront just off Kaunda Drive. Site status unknown. ARLHS TAN-005; Admiralty D6674; NGA 31436.
* Kinondoni (Oyster Bay) Range Rear
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 37 m (121 ft); quick-flashing white light. 26 m (85 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower. Tower painted white with a red vertical stripe on the range line. Google has a street view and a satellite view. Located on Kaunda Drive west of Kenyatta Drive, 400 m (1/4 mi) west southwest of the front light. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS TAN-006; Admiralty D6674.1; NGA 31440.
* Ferry Terminal Range Front (LM11)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); quick-flashing white light. 17 m (56 ft) square skeletal tower carrying a red triangular daymark, point up. Hassan Nassor has a 2021 photo, Rameez Esmail has a 2020 photo, and Google has a satellite view. This range guides vessels northward as they leave the inner harbor. Located just offshore at the main ferry terminal in downtown Dar es Salaam. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty D6698; NGA 31451.
* Ferry Terminal Range Rear (LM12)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 25 m (82 ft); white light, 1 s on, 1 s off. Light on a mast atop a Tanzania Revenue Authority building on Samora Avenue, 255 m (837 ft) northwest of the front light. The mast is not seen in Google's satellite view of the listed location. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty D6698.1; NGA 31451.1.

Kinondoni (Oyster Bay) Range Front Light, Dar es Salaam, February 2017
Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by MISANA
Kurasini (ex-Range Front) (LM5)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 36 m (118 ft); continuous directional light, white, red or green depending on direction. Approx. 31 m (102 ft) square skeletal tower carrying an orange triangular daymark, point up. Google has the rooftop street view at right and a satellite view. This is the entrance range for Dar es Salaam harbor. Located in a large dockyard in downtown Dar es Salaam. Site and tower closed. Admiralty D6694; NGA 31476.
Vijibweni Range Front (LM9)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 21 m (69 ft); quick-flashing white light. Approx. 16 m (52 ft) skeletal tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. The range guides ships in the south harbor; it has the same line as the Ferry Terminal range in the opposite direction. Located at the end of the inner harbor. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6697; NGA 31453.
Vijibweni Range Rear (LM10)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 27 m (89 ft); isophase white light, period unknown. Approx. 16 m (52 ft) skeletal tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located 100 m (330 ft) southeast of the front light. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6697.1; NGA 31453.1.
Minazi Mikinda Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane about 12 m (39 ft); white light, pattern unknown. Approx. 10 m (33 ft) round barbell-shaped tower rising from a 1-story equipment building. The tower is painted with black and yellow horizontal bands. Gustav Noel has a photo and Google has a satellite view. This is the third approach range guiding vessels to the harbor. Located on the south side of the harbor entrance. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6686.

Kurasini Range Front Light, Dar es Salaam, August 2018
Google Maps photo by 360Panoramic Image
Minazi Mikinda Range Rear
Date unknown. Active; focal plane about 18 m (59 ft); white light, pattern unknown. Approx. 14 m (46 ft) round tower rising from a 1-story equipment building. The tower appears to be painted with black (?) and white horizontal bands. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located about 100 m (330 ft) southwest of the front light. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6686.1.
Ras Rangoni Range Front (LM3)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 11 m (36 ft); quick-flashing white light. Approx. 9 m (30 ft) round concrete tower rising from a square 1-story base. No photo available but Google has an indistinct satellite view. This is the second approach range guiding vessels to the harbor. Located on Ras Rangoni, the cape on the south side of the entrance. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6684; NGA 31444.
Ras Rangoni Range Rear (LM4)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 22 m (72 ft); isophase white light. Approx. 18 m (59 ft) skeletal tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located 260 m (285 yd) south of the front light. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6684.1; NGA 31448.

Southern Pwani Region Lighthouses
The Pwani Region surrounds Dar es Salaam and includes the central coast of Tanzania. The word pwani means "coast" in Swahili.

Ras Kanzi (1)
1897. Inactive and in ruins. Originally a 12 m (40 ft) gray square stucco-covered stone tower, attached to a keeper's house; all structures are in ruins, unroofed and collapsing. Jarle Naustvik's photo is above right and Google has a good satellite view. Located on a promontory about 35 km (22 mi) southeast of Dar Es Salaam, marking the southern entrance to the Zanzibar Channel. Site open, tower open but dangerous. ARLHS TAN-008.
Ras Kanzi Light
Ras Kanzi Light ruins, Kidagaa Village, September 2014
photo by Jarle Naustvik posted by Lighthouse Beach Resort
Ras Kanzi (2)
Date unknown (station established 1897). Active; focal plane 28 m (92 ft); white flash every 10 s. Approx. 12 m (40 ft) round hourglass-shaped white fiberglass tower colored with red and white horizontal bands. Amots Oko has a distant view (second thumbnail), Edwin Feruzi also has a distant view, and Google has a satellite view. Located adjacent to the ruined historic lighthouse. Admiralty D6668; NGA 31484.
Nyororo (Niororo) Island
Date unknown (2012?). Active; focal plane about 13 m (43 ft); white flash every 10 s. 10 m (33 ft) round barbell-shaped fiberglass tower colored with red and white horizontal bands. Athuman Bakari has the 2020 closeup photo at right and Bing has a distant satellite view. Located on a small island about 25 km (15 mi) west of Ras Mkumbi (next entry). Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty D6667.
** Ras Mkumbi (Moresby Point, Mafia Island)
1894. Active; focal plane 31 m (102 ft); white flash every 5 s. 30 m (98 ft) square masonry tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story keeper's house. Lighthouse painted white with red horizontal bands on the upper half; the lantern dome is also painted red. Gilbert Mushi has the 2023 photo seen at the top of this page, Wikimedia has Harry Davis's 2012 photo, Matt Hinckley has a photo, Peter Byrne has a photo, Aali Sheikh has a 2021 photo, and Google has a satellite view of the station. Mafia Island is a 50 km (30 mi) long island off the southeast coast of Tanzania; it was under Arab control until it was purchased by Germany in 1890. Part of the island and the waters around the island are now incorporated in the Mafia Island Marine Park, and a number of resorts have been built on the island. The lighthouse is located on the northernmost tip of Mafia Island, accessible by 4WD. Site open; it is reported that the tower is open for climbing. . ARLHS TAN-011; Admiralty D6666; NGA 31492.
Fanjove Island (2)
1924 (station established 1894). Reactivated (inactive from sometime after 1987 to sometime between 2015 and 2018); focal plane about 13 m (43 ft); white flash every 10 s. 17 m (55 ft) square tower with lantern and gallery rising from the center of a 1-story keeper's house. Lighthouse painted white. Mark Tluszcz has the 2022 photo seen below right, Adam Moore has a 2019 street view from the beach, and Bing has a satellite view. The abandoned lighthouse was deteriorating rapidly and was clearly endangered; a 2015 photo shows its poor condition. However a 2018 photo by Johan Wessels shows the tower restored and apparently reactivated. The original lighthouse was a round, tapered tower. Located on a small island at the southern end of the Mafia group. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS TAN-015; Admiralty D6659 (ex-D6662).

Nyororo Island Light, March 2020
Google Maps photo by Athuman Bakari
#Fanjove Island (3?)
Date unknown. Removed. This was a 10 m (33 ft) round barbell-shaped tower colored with black and white horizontal bands. The light is seen behind the the old lighthouse in a 2015 photo. In a 2021 photo by Katharina Marx the barbell-shaped tower has disappeared. Site open, tower closed.

Lindi Region Lighthouses
Rukyira Spit
Date unknown. Active; focal plane about 12 m (39 ft); white flash every 10 s. 10 m (33 ft) round fiberglass tower colored with black and white horizontal bands. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located on a sandy spit at the entrance to the small port of Kilwa Masoko. Probably accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6658.
Ras Shuka
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 15 m (49 ft); white flash every 5 s. 6 m (20 ft) post attached to a square service building. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. Located on a promontory at the eastern entrance to Lindi Bay. Probably accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6654; NGA 31500.

Mtwara Region Lighthouse
Mtwara Range Front (2?)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); quick-flashing white light. 9 m (30 ft) white concrete tower, upper part round and lower part square, with a red vertical stripe. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. NGA lists a skeletal tower. This is the entrance range for Mtwara, a small deepwater port in southernmost Tanzania. Located on the east side of harbor entrance. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6651; NGA 31520.

Fanjove Island Light, Mtwara, December 2022
Google Maps photo by Mark Tluszcz
Mtwara Range Rear (2?)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 19 m (62 ft); white flash every 2.5 s. 9 m (30 ft) white concrete tower, upper part round and lower part square, with a red vertical stripe. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. NGA lists a skeletal tower. Located 225 m (245 yd) southeast of the front light. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6651.1; NGA 31524.
Ras Jandoni Range Front
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); white flash every 2 s. 9 m (30 ft) white concrete tower, upper part round and lower part square, with a red vertical stripe. Amin Ben Eshaq has the closeup photo seen at right and Google has a satellite view. This is the second range for Mtwara. Located on the east side of harbor entrance. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6653; NGA 31528.
Ras Jandoni Range Rear (2?)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane about 22 m (72 ft); two white flashes every 5 s. 12 m (39 ft) white concrete tower with a red vertical stripe. Faraji Benady has a very distant view and Google has a satellite view. The view also shows an older skeletal tower. Located on the mainland at the south end of the harbor, 715 m (0.44 mi) south of the front light. Site status unknown. Admiralty D6653.1; NGA 31532.
Ras Msangamkuu
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 26 m (85 ft); white flash every 10 s. 21 m (69 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available but the shadow of the tower is seen in Google's satellite view. Located on a sharp promontary at the eastern entrance to Mikindani Bay, about 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Mtwara in the far south of Tanzania. Site status unknown. ARLHS TAN-014; Admiralty D6650; NGA 31516.

Ras Jandoni Range Front Light, Mtwara, December 2017
Google Maps photo by Amin Ben Eshaq

Lake Victoria Lighthouses

Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake, borders northwestern Tanzania, southern Uganda, and the southwestern corner of Kenya. The lake provides an important means of transportation between and within the three countries. In 2014 the Comarco Group received a contract to install lightbeacons at five locations on the lake in Tanzania, at Kisumu in Kenya, and at three locations in Uganda. Four of the five Tanzanian lighthouses are listed below; the lighthouse of Kemondo Bay on the west coast has not yet been located.

Bukoba Port
2015. Active; focal plane about 15 m (49 ft); light characteristics unknown. Approx. 11 m (36 ft) tower. No photo available but Google has a satellite view that probably locates the lighthouse (in front of the large square building). Bukoba is a city of about 145,000 residents on the southwest shore of the lake about 50 km (30 mi) south of the Ugandan border. Site status unknown.
Mwanza South Port
2015. Active; focal plane about 15 m (49 ft); light characteristics unknown. Approx. 11 m (36 ft) round barbell-shaped fiberglass tower colored with red and white horizontal bands. A 2022 photo by Gilbert Charles is at right and Google has a satellite view. Located at the southern end of Lake Victoria, Mwanza is a regional capital and the second largest city of Tanzania with a population of more than one million. Rail ferries arrive here from Jinja, Uganda, at the other end of the lake. The lighthouse is located at the rail ferry terminal. Site and tower closed.
Mwanza North Port
2015. Active; focal plane about 15 m (49 ft); light characteristics unknown. Approx. 11 m (36 ft) round barbell-shaped fiberglass tower colored with black and white horizontal bands. In Youngsan Lim's view from the lake the light can be seen near the foot of the pier (zoom in!) and Google has a satellite view. Nearby the improbably balanced Bismarck Rock is a well-known attraction. Located in the Kamanga Ferry Terminal, one of two ferry terminals in Mwanza's north port. Site status unknown.

South Port Light, Mwanza, October 2022
Google Maps photo by Gilbert Charles
Musoma Port (?)
2015 (?). Active; focal plane about 20 m (66 ft); light characteristics unknown. Approx. 15 m (49 ft) square skeletal tower. One side of the tower is seen in Jaribu Gobanya's 2020 photo and Google has a satellite view. Although this appears to be the obvious location for the light this has not been verified. Located on the main quay at Musoma, a city of about 165,000 residents and the capital of the Mara Region. Site status unknown.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: Kenya | East: Zanzibar | South: Northern Mozambique | Southwest: Zambia | Northwest: Burundi

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Posted June 12, 2005. Checked and revised March 9, 2026. Lighthouses: 39. Site copyright 2026 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.