Name and Location

The Phare de Vieux-Fort, also known locally as the “Pointe du Vieux-Fort Lighthouse,” stands at the southern tip of Basse-Terre Island in Guadeloupe. Its official name is Phare de Vieux-Fort, with Wikidata ID Q3378491.

2. Construction and History

The exact date of construction for the Phare de Vieux-Fort is not confirmed in primary sources. However, it has been an active aid to navigation since its construction, serving as a coastal beacon and never staffed as a major keepers’ station.

3. Architecture and Materials

The lighthouse is a cylindrical masonry tower, painted white with a grey lantern roof. It stands 23 meters tall, with a focal plane at 26 meters above sea level. The materials used in its construction are reinforced concrete or rendered masonry, typical of mid-20th-century French Caribbean lighthouses.

4. Light and Navigation

The Phare de Vieux-Fort displays a group flash characteristic: two flashes followed by one flash (2+1), with a period of 15 seconds. The range of the light is 22 nautical miles, with sectors covering 271°–297° and 331°–176°. In case of main apparatus failure, an emergency light emits a standby white flash of the same characteristic.

5. Accessibility and Visiting

The tower itself is fenced and not open for interior visits. The base and adjacent promontory are reachable on foot from Rue du Phare. Limited roadside parking is available along Rue du Phare. Unfortunately, there are no on-site facilities (visitor center, restrooms) or formal guided tours.

6. Notable Views and Landscape

The lighthouse offers stunning views of the Caribbean Sea to the south, the Pointe-à-Pitre shipping channel to the east, and Baie de Trois-Rivières to the west. Visitors can enjoy the nearby Plage de Vieux-Fort (white-sand beach) and snorkeling opportunities.

7. Anecdotes and Folklore

Local fishermen share tales of sea spirits guiding nocturnal voyages when the wind is low, as reflected light dances across the calm lagoon. While no major shipwrecks are directly attributed to the lighthouse’s failure, several colonial-era sloops sought shelter here during sudden squalls.

8. Technical and Operational Details

The Phare de Vieux-Fort is an active, fully automated light station under the authority of the French Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine (SHOM). It appears on Admiralty Chart J5704 (Guadeloupe—Les Saintes to Pointe-à-Pitre) and French chart SHOM 7029 (Baie de Trois-Rivières).

9. Further Information

For further reading, consult the SHOM website (Notices to Mariners), “Lighthouses of Guadeloupe and Les Saintes” by Jean-Pierre Caubert (1998), or Wikipedia (French) at fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phare_de_Vieux-Fort.