Vung Tau Lighthouse

A round white tower stands on the highest peak of Núi Nhỏ, 170 meters above the sea. For more than 160 years, a lighthouse has stood on this mountain, and its lamp is lit every night. If the statue of Christ the King is the picture of Vũng Tàu that people see first, this lighthouse is its symbol of perseverance.

This is no showpiece and no relic behind glass. It is a working piece of engineering. Every evening it serves the ships and boats entering the ports of Vũng Tàu and Cát Lái. It serves those bound for Saigon too.

The story begins in 1862.

The French called Vũng Tàu by another name, Cap Saint-Jacques. It was the point where ships coming in from the sea had to turn toward the Saigon River and the port of Saigon, then the largest trading center in French Indochina. For ships to enter safely at night or in fog, they needed a guiding light set high above the water.

In 1862, the French built the first lighthouse on Núi Nhỏ, at a height of 149 meters. Popular travel sources say that an engineer named Maucher designed it and that it opened on August 15, 1862. That detail has not been confirmed in the original archives. What is certain is that from that year on, Vũng Tàu had a light on the sea.

But 149 meters was not high enough. To throw light farther out beyond the bay, the tower had to stand higher. From 1910 to 1913, the French rebuilt it on a higher peak of Núi Nhỏ, at 170 meters. The lighthouse standing there today comes from that rebuilding.

The tower is a white cylinder built of stone, 18 meters tall and 3 meters across. The design is simple and sturdy, typical of the lighthouses the French built all over Indochina.

After 1975, the lighthouse kept working. It became part of Vietnam's maritime safety system. Today it is managed by the Maritime Safety Corporation of Southern Vietnam, which belongs to the Ministry of Transport.

Travel sources give three figures for the lamp. It uses a bulb of 1,000 watts. It makes two flashes in every cycle of 12 seconds. Its light is said to reach about 23 nautical miles, or 43 kilometers, at night. These figures come from travel writing and have not been checked against official technical records.

What anyone can check for themselves is the feeling of standing at the top.

From the lighthouse yard, a slow turn of 360 degrees takes in beach, bay and mountain. To the east and southeast lies Bãi Sau Thùy Vân, the Back Beach, more than 8 kilometers long. To the west and northwest lies Bãi Trước, the Front Beach, with its small bay, and Núi Lớn far beyond. Right below, on the lower peak of Núi Nhỏ, are the two white arms of the statue of Christ the King. One mountain, two symbols.

In the late afternoon, the lighthouse is one of the best places in the city to watch the sun go down. The sun sets in the west and sinks behind Gành Rái Bay and Núi Lớn. From here the view is wider and calmer, without the crowds of Bãi Trước below.

One claim needs care. This is not the oldest lighthouse in Southeast Asia in any absolute sense, because the region has many lighthouses of the same age, built by the British and the Spanish in Singapore and the Philippines. But Vũng Tàu belongs among the oldest that still work. What makes it special is that it keeps its original purpose. Every evening, once darkness falls, this lamp comes on.

For more than 160 years, there has been a light on this mountain to guide the ships.