This is the lighthouse from a boat.

The lighthouse was built by a French architect in 1910, and stands on a small plateau named Hudishibana, an Aruban Indian name. It stands a couple of hundred yards from the Tierra del Sol Golf Course, near the town of Malmok and adjacent to the California White Sand Dunes where kids go dune surfing (wear tough jeans).

The lighthouse and the area around it was named after a steamship named California which wrecked just off the coast on September 23, 1891.



According to Sergio, ABB

Onboard there was a great deal of merchandise such as clothing, provisions and even furniture. [which]... were thrown overboard in an attempt to keep the ship afloat. As goods floated up to the shore they were picked up by locals... Two police officers from Curacao were called to Aruba to help stop the locals from stealing the goods... Traveling to the northern edge of the island, they stopped and asked for directions. They were not aware that California was a ship as their orders were simply to help local police. The locals thought it amusing that the cops were looking for a "place" that no one had ever heard of. Thus the nickname and reason why this area has became known as California.




The California that was wrecked here was NOT the same as the ship Californian that was in proximity of, and received distress signals from, the Titanic, as she went down in 1912. That Californian was wrecked in Greece after the lighthouse was built.

The lighthouse is not open to the public, but from the base of the lighthouse, you can see down both the south and north coast of the island.



Part of Bob's Aruba tour including the California Lighthouse. I told him to be sure to take pictures of the lighthouse for me, because I was taking a snorkeling trip instead of taking a land tour. So he took two pictures, plus a picture looking down at the beaches and sea. In that picture, you can see the catamaran that I was on (Pegasus II).