Lighthouses

Eastern Cape Coast : Great Fish Point

Where is it?

Latitude: 33° 31’ 10” S
Longitude: 27° 06’ 34” E

How to get there:

Great Fish Point Lighthouse is situated near the mouth of the Great Fish River, about 25 km from the coastal holiday resort of Port Alfred.

From Port Elizabeth the N24 past Bushman's River Mouth, via Kenton-on-Sea proceed to Port Alfred and 24 km away in the heart of the Sunshine Coast is Great Fish Point Lighthouse. From East London the R72 wil pass Kidds Beach and Kayser’s beach on to Port Alfred.

Of interest

Before the lighthouse was erected, two ship lamps were erected on a flagstaff at Port Alfred, but these lights proved to be inadequate. The development of a harbour at the mouth of the Kowie River resulted in the establishment of the Great Fish Point Lighthouse on 1 July 1898. It has an octagonal concrete tower, and although only nine meters high it is situated 76 meters above sea level. The tower is painted in black and white bands, to make it distinguishable from the surrounding countryside during daytime.

To the north east of Great Fish Point Lighthouse along the coast, lies Riet and Stalwart Points, from which three shallow reefs run out to sea. Many vessels had come to grief on these reefs, such as the Waterloo, a Cape iron schooner wrecked near the Fish River mouth on 5 April 1848 at night during a south east gale, the S.S. Kilbrennan, a British steel screw steamer that struck a reef and sank in 1907 and the S.S. Cariboo that ran aground on 24 November 1928.

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