Sombrero Lighthouse Travel Guide

Sombrero Lighthouse stands on Sombrero Island, a flat, uninhabited, and rocky island that's part of Anguilla. The island, once topped with forest, got its name because it resembled a hat. However, years of guano mining stripped the island of its vegetation, leaving a unique, almost lunar landscape.The lighthouse marks the Anegada Passage, a crucial shipping lane for vessels traveling from Europe into the Caribbean. The original lighthouse, built in 1868 by an American company extracting phosphate, was a skeletal tower. It was managed by the British Board of Trade by 1893. In 1931, the light system was upgraded, and the tower received concrete encasement. Hurricane Donna severely damaged it in 1960, leading to a replacement in 1962. The current automated lighthouse, donated by Trinity House, has been in operation since 2001. It's a white cylindrical tower, 15 meters (49 ft) high, with a light reaching 17 nautical miles (20 mi).Today, the Anguilla Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources maintains the aids to navigation since 2001. Sombrero Island offers a unique destination for sustainable excursions, especially for bird enthusiasts. The island is home to vast nesting colonies of various seabirds, including Bridled Terns and Brown Boobies. The Sombrero Island lizard is found nowhere else in the world.