Tower painted white; the gallery and lantern roof are black. The original lighthouse was destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami of 11 October 1918. The original lantern was installed on the new tower and remains in use today. The lighthouse is the centerpiece of El Faro Park, a popular surfing and whale watching site. The park includes a visitor center and gift shop. Located off highway 413 north of Rincón at the easternmost point of the island, marking the entrance from the Atlantic to the Mona Passage.
The second Rincon or Point Higuero lighthouse entered service on January 12, 1922. It was built by the government itself on the western tip of the island, near the first lighthouse, which was damaged by the 1918 earthquake and demolished when the second one was inaugurated. To reduce the likelihood of damage by earthquakes, the new lighthouse was constructed of concrete. The wooden house built near the old lighthouse after the earthquake continued to be used as the keeper’s residence. The tower is 70 feet tall and is very similar to that of the second Aguadilla lighthouse, but it is narrower and taller, aside from the fact that the stairway and central column are made of cement instead of metal. Although the original intention was to install a helical bar lantern, like those used in the second Aguadilla and San Juan lighthouses, the first lighthouse’s lantern was installed tentatively and as such remains today.
The tower was automated in 1933 and the residence plus the other support structures were destroyed by fire years later. A 1922 report suggests that the lens of the first lighthouse survived the earthquake and was used in the new lighthouse. The buoy light illustrated below was installed later and used at least until 1978, today it is kept at the Coast Guard Museum in San Juan. Currently the light is produced by a small beacon fed by solar panels. The lighthouse is the main attraction of a passive park administered by the Rincon municipality and which opens daily to the public. The tower, however, is closed.
