Two lighthouses, one legend
When tourists arrive in Ushuaia and board a catamaran to see "the lighthouse at the end of the world," almost all of them photograph Les Éclaireurs — a small red-and-white tower on a rocky islet in the Beagle Channel, 14 km east of the city. And almost none of them know that Jules Verne wrote his novel "The Lighthouse at the End of the World" (1905) not about this tower at all.
The real literary lighthouse is Faro San Juan de Salvamento on Isla de los Estados, 200 km further east, at Argentina's wildest and most inaccessible point. You can only get there on a special expedition, and a few hundred people see it all year. Les Éclaireurs is the tourist double that took on all the symbolic weight of "the end of the world."
Les Éclaireurs: the red-and-white tower in the Beagle
Les Éclaireurs lighthouse (French for "scouts" or "illuminators") was built by the Argentine navy in 1920. They placed it on the easternmost of a group of five small rocky islets called the Islotes Les Éclaireurs. The tower height is 11 meters, base diameter about 3 meters. The characteristic coloring — three red horizontal stripes on white background.
The light was automated in 1937. From construction to automation, work was done by Argentine navy sailors rotating every few weeks. Living on a bare rock in the middle of the windy channel was tough: no fresh water, supplies came by boat.
Today the lighthouse runs on solar batteries, its light visible 7.5 nautical miles. The tower remains as a monument to the age of sail and steam — and as the most recognizable landmark of Ushuaia.
Three lighthouses of the Beagle Channel
Les Éclaireurs isn't the only lighthouse near Ushuaia. The Beagle Channel, discovered in 1830 by the HMS Beagle expedition, has always been complex for navigation.
- Les Éclaireurs — on the eastern approach to Ushuaia, the red-and-white one.
- Faro Trochita — a small automatic lighthouse closer to Gable Island.
- Faro Cabo San Pío — at the southernmost point of the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina's southernmost continental point.
From the catamaran tourist route only Les Éclaireurs is accessible.
Shipwrecks at the lighthouse's feet
The most famous catastrophe — the loss of the Argentine cruise liner Monte Cervantes in January 1930.
Monte Cervantes belonged to the German company Hamburg Süd and made cruises from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. On board were 1,117 passengers and 330 crew. On the morning of January 22, 1930, leaving Ushuaia, the ship hit submerged rocks at full speed near the Les Éclaireurs islets. Captain Theodor Dreyer managed to turn the sinking ship and beach it on a shoal, allowing evacuation of all passengers and crew — except the captain himself, who, by maritime tradition, perished with the ship.
The Monte Cervantes hull lay on its side near the rocks for over a year. In October 1931, during an attempt to raise it, the ship sank for good. Today the wreckage lies at a depth of about 70 meters — a popular but very technical diving site.
Before Monte Cervantes, the British HMS Sussex went down in these same waters in 1885.
The real "Lighthouse at the End of the World"
Faro San Juan de Salvamento is the lighthouse that Jules Verne described in his deathbed novel "The Lighthouse at the End of the World" (Le Phare du bout du monde), published in 1905.
The real San Juan de Salvamento was built in 1884 on Isla de los Estados — a small mountainous island 30 km east of Tierra del Fuego, separated from it by the stormy Le Maire Strait. Tower height — 7 meters, octagonal wooden base sheathed in copper. The lighthouse worked only 18 years — until 1902, when it was replaced by the newer Faro Año Nuevo on a neighboring islet.
Jules Verne was never on Isla de los Estados and learned of the lighthouse from newspaper articles. The novel builds on a classic plot: three keepers, pirate attack, fight for the light.
In 1998 the Argentine navy restored the original building of Faro San Juan de Salvamento from old plans. The replica can be seen at the Museo Marítimo in Ushuaia — one of the most-visited exhibits at the prison museum.
How to see Les Éclaireurs from Ushuaia
Practically all Beagle Channel excursions from Ushuaia port include Les Éclaireurs as a mandatory route point. The standard 4-hour cruise goes like this:
- Departure from Ushuaia port.
- Islets of Isla de los Lobos — South American sea lion colony.
- Islets of Isla de los Pájaros — cormorant and gull colonies.
- Les Éclaireurs — approach to the lighthouse at 30–50 meters, photo stop, 15–20 minutes.
- Return to port.
Catamarans come as close as possible to the lighthouse — sometimes literally meters from the rock. The upper open deck gives the best shots. In peak season multiple trips per day, ticket from $40 to $80 USD.
When to photograph
Les Éclaireurs is one of the most photogenic objects in Tierra del Fuego:
- Best time of day: afternoon, 15:00–18:00 in summer. The sun lights the western side of the tower — the one the catamaran approaches.
- Best weather: clear with light clouds.
- Season: November–March gives calm water and long daylight.
It's useful to have two lenses: wide-angle (24–35 mm) for overall shots with mountains, and medium telephoto (70–200 mm) for close-ups of the lighthouse and waves on the rocks.
The lighthouse in literature and national identity
For Argentines, Les Éclaireurs and Faro San Juan de Salvamento aren't just navigation structures but symbols of national sovereignty over the far south. One of these two lighthouses appears on coins, postcards, and tourist posters.
Besides Jules Verne's novel, there's the Argentine film "El faro del fin del mundo" (2018) with Ricardo Darín, dramatizing the story of San Juan de Salvamento.
Similar Patagonian lighthouses
- Faro Cabo Vírgenes — at the Atlantic entrance to the Strait of Magellan, Santa Cruz province. Built 1904, operating, with a large Magellanic penguin colony nearby.
- Faro Cabo Espíritu Santo — on the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego.
- Faro Punta Dúngeness — the easternmost point of the Strait of Magellan.
What to bring on the excursion
- Warm windproof jacket — even in January the upper deck is cold from wind.
- Hat and gloves — mandatory.
- Camera with spray protection.
- Seasickness medication — if prone.
- Binoculars — useful for sea lions and birds.
If you plan to film with a drone — that's prohibited by the rules of all tour companies.