This is the 13090th most frequent Turkish word.
karaya
"Karaya" means "to the land" or "ashore" in English.
In this sentence, 'karaya' refers to 'to the shore' or 'towards land', used as a locative directive indicating the destination where the ships arrived.
Gemiler sonunda karaya ulaştı.
The ships finally reached the shore.
Here, 'karaya' means 'ashore', indicating the action of fishermen moving or heading towards the land from the water.
Balıkçılar sabah erken saatlerde karaya çıkar.
Fishermen go ashore early in the morning.
In this context, 'karaya' is used to suggest 'on the land' as the location where the lights were seen.