Stone tower
29 metres.
Otávio Nogueira from Fortaleza, BR — CC BY 2.0 · Parzeus — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Parzeus — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Parzeus — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marinha do Brasil — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Parzeus — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Santa Marta Lighthouse stands on Cape Santa Marta in the municipality of Laguna, on a hill atop a small promontory 45 metres above the sea, the area's chief landmark. Its square stone tower, with walls two metres thick, rises 29 metres, surrounded by the low old keepers' houses. Since the 19th century it has steered ships away from the dangerous Campo Bom reef, though several wrecks still happened. It is one of Brazil's most powerful lighthouses, its beam reaching 46 nautical miles, about 85 kilometres, thanks to a French hyper-radiant Fresnel lens made by Barbier & Bénard of Paris. At night its light is a striking sight over the sea. Around the lighthouse lie a fishing village, lovely beaches and dunes, and from the surrounding hills in winter, usually between July and November, you can watch the southern right whales that come to the Santa Catarina coast to calve. It is reached by car from Laguna, the last stretch on a dirt road.
29 metres.
July to November.
Beaches and dunes.
Cabo de Santa Marta, Laguna, Santa Catarina
Usually in winter, between July and November, when southern right whales come to the coast to calve.