Ponce's Lighthouses

The municipality of Ponce governs seven uninhabited islands on its coast. Two of the island have active lighthouses, Cardona Island and Muerto Island. Both Cardona Island and Murto Island lighthouses are in the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday list of Endangered Lighthouses.

The Cardona Island lighthouse is listed in the U.S. National Registry of Historic Places, as are all the other lighthouses in Puerto Rico. In 2010 the Puerto Rican Bird Society and the Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club launched a campaign to eradicate black rats from Cardona Island for the island to be safe for visitors.

Muerto Island is an uninhabited island only available by charted boats or ferry. It is a Nature Reserve. The Island was designated a Nature Reserve in 1980 for its ecological value. The land is dry and arid. The native turtles in the area of Muerto Island are listed as an endangered specie. It is said that Murto Island inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write the novel treasure Island.