AT A GLANCE
Why go?
The Willemstoren is Bonaire's oldest and most iconic lighthouse, a 21-metre white column standing sentinel over the island's treacherous southern tip since 1838. Built from local coral limestone and painted with a single red stripe, it marks the dramatic point where Cargill's vivid pink salt pans meet the deep blue Caribbean Sea.↗↗
Though its door stays locked — the tower remains an active, automated navigation aid — the setting itself is the attraction. Visitors walk around the base, peer at Klein Bonaire just 800 metres offshore, and photograph the surreal colour contrast of rose-coloured lagoons against white salt mountains and ocean blue. It is one of Bonaire's most photographed sites and a free, always-open stop on the southern coastal route.↗
Why the Willemstoren Was Built
Bonaire's southeastern shore has claimed ships for five centuries. The low, flat reef at Lacre Punt was nearly invisible to passing sailors at night, especially on calm evenings when no wind broke the waves against the rocks. In 1730, a plan to erect a beacon was proposed and promptly rejected by three merchant captains who feared a lighthouse would guide pirates to the island instead of away from it. One of those captains, ironically, wrecked his own ship on that same southern tip and perished.
