10 Lovely Lighthouses In South Australia – Check Them Out!

I’m a lighthouse lover from waaay back. There’s something about those clean lines against the dramatic coastline that makes my shutter-button finger itch!

It’s itched so much after all my years road-tripping around Australia, that I’ve ended up with hundreds of lighthouse shots from all over!

So I decided to embark on the difficult task of ranking them. There are over 20 lighthouses in SA, but here’s my pick of the 10 most beautiful ones.

It’s not a complete list by any means, I’m sure I’ve missed a few. Check it out and let me know in the comments which South Australian lighthouses should have made the cut!

1) Cape Banks Lighthouse, Canunda National Park

This rugged and remote stretch of shipwreck-strewn coastline is at the southern end of Canunda National Park.

The place is so wildly beautiful it’d take a special kind of lighthouse to really stand out… Maybe that’s why this one’s painted in Toxic-Waste-Orange?

2) Cape Jaffa Lighthouse, Kingston SE

Ironically, Cape Jaffa Lighthouse is NOT at Cape Jaffa. It’s actually a 20-minute drive north from said cape.

Nowadays, this little lighthouse peeks out above the holiday shacks, houses, and Norfolk Island Pines on the Kingston SE foreshore.

It’s not operating as a lighthouse any more, but it DOES double as a lookout over the awesome panorama of Lacepede Bay.

3) Cape du Couedic Lighthouse, Kangaroo Island

This lighthouse was built between 1906 and 1909. It was needed for many years before, as the dangerous waters had already caused a few disastrous shipwrecks.

That makes lugging 2000+ blocks of stone and all equipment up a 92-metre-high cliff by foot in order to build it SO worth it!

4) Port Adelaide Lighthouse, Port Adelaide

Is this the most well-travelled little lighthouse in OZ?

In 1869 it stood at the mouth of the Port River, before being relocated to the nearby Wonga Shoal off Semaphore Jetty in 1901.

Then in 1986, after a long stint on South Neptune Island off the Eyre Peninsula even further away, it was restored and re-built on the Port Dock!

5) Troubridge Island Lighthouse, Troubridge Island

What makes the archetypal lighthouse? Let’s see – classic colours, striking silhouette, killer view from the top, lighthousekeeper’s cottage… Oh, and it’s on a deserted island, only accessible by boat.

This splendid lighthouse fits all the criteria, as it’s 6km by boat from Edithburgh, at the foot of the fabulous Yorke Peninsula.

But be warned! Visit the island only in the company of people you get on well with – because there’s nowhere to hide.

6) Troubridge Hill Lighthouse, Yorke Peninsula

This unusual, award-winning cylindrical lighthouse was built from specially fired wedge-shaped bricks. Why? To withstand the above-average winds plaguing this part of the southern Yorke Peninsula!

But high winds are the least of the problems ships face through these heavy seas. At least they’ve got an architectural marvel to look at!

7) West Cape Lighthouse, Pondalowie Bay

The thundering seas prove once and for all why the lighthouse has to be there. But shade your eyes if it’s a sunny day, the sunlight reflecting off the stainless steel plates coating can be blinding!

Missing the kangaroos, rock parrots, and wildflowers on the Cape would be a tragedy. But it’d be even MORE of a tragedy to lose your footing on the rough, rocky path, and plunge into the sea WAAAAAY below!

8, 9) Cape Spencer Lighthouse, Yorke Peninsula AND Althorpe Island Lighthouse, Althorpe Island

Ok, yes, this is a two-for-one kind of deal. Because on a fine day, the staggering panorama of and from Cape Spencer is a TWO-lighthouse view!

At the end of the Cape, the mainland lighthouse overlooks its counterpart on Althorpe Island, 8 km away at the western end of Investigator Strait. Is this the ultimate lighthouse-lover fantasy?

10) Point Malcolm Lighthouse, Narrung

I’ve only been to the Point Malcolm lighthouse once. It’s on a narrow spit of land separating Lake Albert from Lake Alexandrina, near the end of the massive Murray-Darling River system.

This makes it the only inland lighthouse in the Southern Hemisphere!

Sadly, I didn’t take a photo on that visit, I didn’t have a digital camera back then! But Kathy from 50 Shades of Age has kindly given me permission to use her photo! Thank you, Kathy:

The bottom line

There are over 20 lighthouses in South Australia. Each one of them offers a unique glimpse into the region’s dramatic coastline and maritime history.

From the remote and rugged to the quirky and quaint, each lighthouse has its own story to tell!

Did I leave out your favourite? Let me know in the comments!