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Santa Cruz Breakwater Light

Lighthouse · Santa Cruz County, California

Walton Lighthouse in Santa Cruz, California
Walton Lighthouse in Santa Cruz, California · Benjamin Cody / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Santa Cruz Breakwater Light is a lighthouse in Santa Cruz County, California. California has 52 lighthouses on record at Wayfarrow, 2 of them in Santa Cruz County.

It was built in 2001, in the postwar decades, making it the 33rd oldest of the 33 in California with a recorded construction date; the tower stands about 41 feet tall (16th tallest of 26 measured in California); its light sits 59 feet above the water; the light characteristic is recorded as Oc G 4s (a green light that briefly goes dark every 4 seconds), with a range of about 8 nautical miles; it guards Pacific Ocean.

Status check, 2026-11: The Walton Lighthouse was built in 2001 and dedicated in 2002, replacing a simpler 1964 box light on the west jetty, so the record's 1964 date refers to the first light, not the current tower. It stands at 36.9604° N, 122.0023° W.

Key facts

Current structure built2001
Tower height41 ft
Focal height59 ft
Light characteristicOc G 4s
Range8 nautical miles
Body of waterPacific Ocean
Coordinates36.96040, -122.00230

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Nearby places

Questions

Where is Santa Cruz Breakwater Light?

Santa Cruz Breakwater Light is in Santa Cruz County, California, at 36.9604, -122.0023.

How many lighthouses are in Santa Cruz County?

Santa Cruz County, California has 2 lighthouses on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.