Hole In the Wall Lighthouse, Abaco Bahamas

The Abacos Other Lighthouse
From Sandy Estabrook’s Guide to the Abacos, Bahamas

Photo by ShareAbaco.com

Everyone if familiar with the candy striped lighthouse in Hope Town. Yet in Abaco there are two others, a mini tower in Little Harbour and a considerably more important lighthouse on the baron Southeast Coast of Great Abaco where there stands guard the Hole in the Wall Lighthouse. It’s name supposedly comes from literally a hole in the wall of a rocky outcropping in the wall shown below. But to most it’s name would suggest an out of the way location which is in fact a lonely but beautiful spot all alone and 15 miles from the nearest paved road. It’s access is through a single lane unpaved, rock strewn and bumpy road taking you through the pine barons of the Bahamas National Trust where you can find the endangered Bahamian / Abaco Parrot. Car rental companies wont permit you to go in anything but a four wheel drive car with good clearance for such a rugged trip. I’ll take you over an hour with no civilization to be found in case of an emergency or breakdown. Yet the Lighthouse beckons and visitors still go there. If you rent to explore the island skip Hole in the Wall unless you rent a 4-wheel drive specifically for that purpose. Guided tours have been available as recent as 2005 but they seem to be an on again off again thing as are the organizations listed here. Here is our contact info of last record:

www.abacoislandtours.com. 242-367-2936
www.abacooutback.com. 242-367-5358
Bahamas Naturalist Expeditions at 242-367-4505

The Hole in the Wall Lighthouse was built in conjunction with the Hope Town Lighthouse in 1838. This was despite the objections of the local residents as a good portion of their lively hood came from salvaging of the wrecks of the Abaco reefs. Sabotage of the building process commenced. However maritime interests prevailed and the commerce of wrecking diminished in the Abacos. The Hole in the Wall Light became automated in 1995 and serves as a beacon for Maritime traffic from the Bahama Bank, Nassau the the Communities on northern Eleuthera. Today the lighthouse is run down and beat up by the hurricanes of 1999 & 2004, but it still operates. Folks still climb to the top albeit a bit rickety. The views from the top are spectacular as you will see below. On occasion you might run into a naturalist group, dolphin researchers or whale watchers that go there to observe the Beaked Whale that frequent the region. (We once passes a pair of beaked whales when trolling off Hope Town - written about in My Solo Trip report).

For more lovely pictures like the two above check Marinas.com.
For administrators and information click Lighthouses of the Bahamas.

For the adventurous who want to go.

In 2007 we covered mainland Abaco from top to bottom. It’s all written about in our 2007 Update. Hole in the Wall was not part of that trip but stops along the way are, along with the settlement Sandy Point on Abacos Southwestern point. Others have made the journey and their posted their reports on the Abaco Message board or Abaco Forum. One is included here.

The road to Hole in the Wall

Wynne72
Member: Abaco Message Board

Photos from our Journey to Hole In The Wall Lighthouse
....... In October my uncle took me to Hole in the Wall. The drive down the rocky road took 2 hrs. The two wood doors which lead into the lighthouse were destroyed. I do not know what I was thinking but I decided to venture up to the top. I would never do it gain. Way too dangerous! There are 6 concrete landings that bridge the wood stairs up to the top. These landings are beginning to detach from the lighthouse walls as the rebar is rusting and busting out. The spiral iron railings are beginning to break away in addition to several of the wood steps are broken and split. The top of the lighthouse is separated into (2) levels. The first level has smaller windows. There is a separate steel staircase that takes you from this level up to where the light is. Many of the windows are broken allowing the salt air, almost like a cancer destroying it from the inside.

This is the so called "Hole in the Wall." for which the name was given back in the 1800’s.