Phu Quy Lighthouse

Poulo-Cécir-de-Mer was the island's official name under the French protectorate. In folk usage it is also called Cù lao Thu or Cù lao Khoai xứ (cù lao means an island). Today, on the summit of núi Cấm, the highest of the island's three hills, a lighthouse is still at work. It does not sit behind museum glass. When darkness falls it switches itself on, then turns without stopping.

Phú Quý Lighthouse: a heritage site still on duty

According to the lighthouse keeper, in French times the island had a light in a different spot. For the present light, the managing unit records 1997 as the year it was established. The tower is square in plan, not the round column many people picture when they think of a lighthouse. It stands roughly twenty metres tall, with a lantern room and a balcony, on top of a two-storey station house painted yellow. Because the tower already sits on a hilltop, the light shines from more than 120 m above the sea: white, flashing in groups of two, sweeping the full circle.

So what does this heritage still mean today? The answer is surprisingly plain: it still does its job. The light lies 6–12 nautical miles from an international shipping lane. It marks the island's position, serves as a landfall light guiding vessels in and out of the waters off Phan Thiết, and ships far offshore can still see it. The keeper says foreign sailors call it the eye of the sea. Are you curious why a solar-powered light that switches on and turns by itself still needs people on watch? In 2021 the station had six staff. Their duty is clear: if the light goes out it must be fixed within fifteen minutes; if it cannot be, they switch on a backup light and issue a notice to mariners. The station also keeps watch over the surrounding sea. According to the keeper, on the night of 9 November 2006 a storm with gusts of force 14 blew out all the glass, knocked the lamp away and damaged the solar power system. Three people were at the station that day. Repairs took almost a month, and the lamp was replaced with a domestically made system.

From up here you can see the whole island, a field of wind turbines with white blades, and further out the islets (hòn) of Trứng, Đen and Trào. Right beside the lighthouse stands the Hồ Chí Minh Torch, 19.5 m tall, a figure that echoes Hồ Chí Minh's birthday, 19 May. Officials, soldiers and residents of the island raised the money for it themselves, many climbing up to lend a hand on their weekends off, and it was inaugurated in 2011. The square around the torch is where islanders pay their respects to him and report their achievements on major holidays. Two structures share one hilltop: one the islanders built for themselves, the other shining for the ships passing offshore. More than a century ago, putting a light on this island was still a line of text in a treaty. Today people still stay awake so that a light on the hill does not go out. Would you like to stand at the foot of the tower just as night falls, and watch it switch itself on?

Enough to decide whether to go

What it is

A working, staffed lighthouse, managed by the maritime safety service

Location

Summit of núi Cấm, north-west corner of Phú Quý Island, Phú Quý special zone (đặc khu, an island-level administrative unit), Lâm Đồng province

Year established

The managing unit records 1997 as the year it was established

The light

White, group flashing 2, 15-second period, 360° coverage

Getting up

At the end of the road up to Linh Bửu pagoda (chùa Linh Bửu), then roughly one hundred and twenty stone steps on foot

Tickets

No entrance ticket is sold