Visit Kiama Lighthouse on Blowhole Point

Check the Kiama Lighthouse facts

The lighthouse is a short white tower on the high point of Blowhole Point, with the Blowhole on the rocks just below it and Kiama Harbour on the other side. Here are the key facts from the official and heritage sources in one place.

Park at Blowhole Point

Destination Kiama lists a car park and coach parking at the lighthouse, and Kiama Council says there is ample parking near the Blowhole Point rock pool, reached from the harbour road. Most visitors park on the headland and walk up the short path to the tower.

The point is one of the busiest spots in Kiama, so the car parks fill up on sunny weekends, long weekends and school holidays. Arrive before about 10am, or come late in the afternoon for the sunset.

Time limits and any charges can change, so read the signs when you park. Our Kiama parking guide covers the other car parks in town. If you are staying with us, the easiest option is to leave the car in your garage and walk in.

Walk, drive or catch the train to the lighthouse

From Kiama Ridge Waters: the lighthouse is about a 35-minute walk (2.8 km) or a 5-minute drive from 2 Surfleet Place. The walk takes you through the town centre and out along the harbour to the point.

From Kiama station: it is about a 12-minute walk (1 km). Kiama is on the South Coast Line, so you can plan the trip on Transport NSW.

From Sydney: Kiama is about 1 hour 45 minutes by car from the Sydney CBD. See Sydney to Kiama for the drive.

Get directions to Kiama Lighthouse in Google Maps.

Learn the history of the Kiama Lighthouse

Kiama's harbour came first. The Robertson Basin was completed in 1876, and with more ships using it the town needed a light. The State Government put in £2,000 in 1884, the site on Blowhole Point was chosen in October 1885, and Messrs Anderson and Taylor won the tender to build the tower and a keeper's cottage.

The design is credited to Edward Moriarty, Chief Engineer of the Marine Board. According to Kiama Library, it is the only known New South Wales lighthouse of its era not designed by the Colonial Architect's Office under James Barnet, and the only one attributed to Moriarty.

A lantern made by Chance Brothers in England was fitted in 1886. Building finished in November 1886, and the light went into service on 1 January 1887 as a fixed green light that could be seen for 9 miles.

Its keeper never actually lived beside it. The harbour pilot in the cottage down the hill watched the light, so the keeper's cottage stood vacant. That cottage later became a kiosk in the 1930s and an aquarium in the 1970s, and it was demolished in the late 1980s, according to Kiama Library. (Visit NSW gives a different account, saying the Principal Keeper's House was destroyed by vandals in the 1920s.)

The State handed the light to the Commonwealth in 1915, and the lighthouse was listed with the National Trust of Australia in 1978. For the full story with archive photos, read the Kiama Library history of the lighthouse.

See how the light has changed since 1887

The tower has kept its original Chance Brothers lens, but the light behind it has changed several times.

Today it shows four white flashes every 20 seconds, at an intensity of 28,000 candela, according to Lighthouses of Australia. It is still a working aid to navigation, maintained by NSW Maritime.

Visit the Pilot's Cottage Museum

Just down the hill from the lighthouse is the Pilot's Cottage, built in 1880 and 1881 with basalt walls, red cedar joinery and ironbark floors, according to Kiama Library. It was home and office to Kiama's harbour pilots from 1881 until the last pilot retired in 1978. The Kiama Historical Society restored it in 1984 and 1985 and now runs it as a museum.

Inside, displays cover Kiama's shipping, the cedar industry and the basalt quarries that shaped the town. Destination Kiama lists it as open Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3pm, with disabled access. Entry costs are not published, so check before you go.

Contact: 02 4232 2492 or 0438 520 448, or kiamahistory@outlook.com. See the Pilot's Cottage Museum listing.

Explore Blowhole Point Reserve around the tower

The lighthouse is the centrepiece of Blowhole Point Reserve, and you can easily spend an hour or two here.

• Kiama Blowhole: a short walk from the tower, on the rocks below. Destination Kiama says it puts on its biggest show when the swell runs from the south-east. Read our Kiama Blowhole guide.
• Blowhole Point rock pool: an ocean pool with a natural rock floor and a shallow area for small children, with toilets and change rooms. See Kiama's rock pools.
• Kiama Harbour: the reason the lighthouse exists. Watch the boats or try fishing at Kiama Harbour, and read our Kiama Harbour guide.
• Kiama Coast Walk: the Kiama Coast Walk passes through town and the Blowhole on its way from the Minnamurra River in the north to Werri Beach at Gerringong in the south.

Kiama Council lists toilets and an accessible toilet, showers and change rooms, barbecues, a playground, outdoor gym equipment, undercover picnic tables and a cafe on the reserve. There is also an Emergency Relay Beacon, installed by the council with Surf Life Saving NSW. The reserve is a council-listed wedding ceremony venue too. If you are coming for a wedding, see our Kiama wedding accommodation.

For a meal after your visit, see where to eat in Kiama or fish and chips in Kiama.

Photograph the lighthouse at sunrise and sunset

The tower stands on open ground with sea on three sides, so the time of day changes the whole picture.

• Sunrise: the sun comes up over the ocean on the eastern side of the point, which lights the tower from behind and puts the Blowhole spray in silhouette.
• Late afternoon and sunset: the western sun turns the tower gold and the sky behind it deep blue. Shoot from the harbour side or the path below.
• A big south-east swell: frame the tower with the Blowhole firing in the foreground, as the old postcards did. Stay behind the barriers, as spray and waves can reach the platform.
• After dark: the flashing light makes a good long-exposure subject.

The headland also makes a good spot to scan the sea for whales in season. See whale watching in Kiama, sunrise and sunset spots in Kiama and Kiama lookouts.

Plan for access needs

Destination Kiama and Visit NSW both say the lighthouse site does not cater for people with access needs. The tower sits on a grassy rise, reached by steps and sloping paths.

The rest of Blowhole Point is easier. Kiama Council lists the reserve as accessible, with an accessible toilet, and the Blowhole has accessible viewing platforms. The Pilot's Cottage Museum lists disabled access. Call the museum on 02 4232 2492 to check details before you visit.

See more lighthouses on the NSW coast

If Kiama starts a lighthouse habit, Lighthouses of Australia lists three related lights nearby: Wollongong Harbour and Flagstaff Point (Wollongong Head), both in Wollongong, about 35 minutes north by car, and Crookhaven Heads further south on the Shoalhaven coast. See the Lighthouses of Australia page for Kiama for details of each.

There is no lighthouse accommodation at Kiama. To stay close by, see where to stay in Kiama.

Stay a 5-minute drive from the lighthouse

Watch the lighthouse at sunrise or sunset, then be back at Kiama Ridge Waters in about 5 minutes by car. Each of our three-bedroom apartments at 2 Surfleet Place sleeps six, with a full kitchen, a laundry and secure parking for two cars. On foot, the lighthouse and Blowhole are about a 35-minute walk away, and Easts Beach is a 15-minute walk in the other direction.

Most of our apartments welcome pets on request (a $200 cleaning fee applies). Check-in is from 3pm and check-out is by 10am. See our three-bedroom apartments in Kiama, book several apartments for a group, family accommodation in Kiama, or check availability.