The candy-striped lighthouse at Hope Town is the most photographed landmark in the Abacos and one of the most distinctive in the Caribbean. The red-and-white barber-pole tower rises 89 feet from the northern tip of Elbow Cay and has guided ships around the shallow reef since 1863. It is one of only a handful of manually-operated kerosene lighthouses still functioning anywhere in the world.
The climb is 101 steps up a spiral staircase. At the top, the mechanism — a French-made Fresnel lens mounted on a mercury float — still works by the same principle it always has. The keeper winds a weight, the weight descends, and the lens rotates. From the gallery you look out over the Sea of Abaco in one direction and the Atlantic in the other. The lighthouse is managed by the Bahamas Lighthouse Preservation Society and is open to visitors most mornings; the schedule varies, so check locally.