Cape San Juan Light

Cape San Juan Light stands on the northeastern tip of Puerto Rico near Fajardo, perched on the highest point of the cape it's named for — one of the Caribbean's best-preserved 19th-century lighthouses. The classicist stone structure was built in 1880 and officially lit on May 2, 1882. Its original apparatus cast a fixed white beam that flashed red every three minutes, reaching 18 miles out to sea and guiding vessels navigating between the Atlantic and the approach to San Juan harbor. The original illuminating apparatus remained unchanged until after 1898 — the year the United States took control of Puerto Rico from Spain. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the site today rewards visitors with sweeping views across the Atlantic and Vieques Sound, with little around but wind and open water.