Florida Keys Underwater Cemetery
Located about 3 25 miles off the coast of key biscayne in florida you will find neptune memorial reef which is truly an underwater world like no other.
Florida keys underwater cemetery. An underwater tribute that creates life after life. Key west is a good place to learn because it has shallow reefs with little current so you can enjoy your first couple of dives safely. Keith swirsky and marianne lachance swirsky look at a video of the mausoleum at the neptune memorial reef event to announce the enlargement of the underwater mausoleum three miles off key biscayne. Florida key underwater.
The neptune memorial reef also known as the atlantis memorial reef or the atlantis reef is an underwater mausoleum for cremated remains and the world s largest man made reef covering over 600 000 square feet 56 000 m of ocean floor. The place was chosen at 3 25 miles 5 2 km off the coast of key biscayne florida. If you would like to learn how dive safely you can always take the course which is given by any of the dive shops in key west. The city design involves underwater roads leading to a central feature with benches and statuary.
Around 40 feet 12m below the water s surface the structures have been modeled on atlantis complete with a majestic entrance. Although the cemetery is all on its own it wasn t always the case as once a schoolhouse and methodist church once bordered the cemetery. The place was chosen at 3 25 miles either 6 0 km or 5 2 km off the coast of key biscayne florida. However both were destroyed in the hurricane of 1935 which tore through the florida keys and caused so much devastation and loss of life as memorialized by the nearby hurricane monument.
Situated about 45 feet beneath the ocean s surface the cemetery with gates pathways plaques and even benches is not only a great final resting spot for those who loved the sea but also the world s largest man made reef covering over. Reef is a very unique dive site and it has to be one of most healthy and prolific reefs i have been on in south florida. Creators hope to make tourist hotspot expand underwater cemetery in which ashes of the deceased are mixed with concrete and turned into sculptures in neptune memorial reef. This underwater cemetery is a unique spot that you could make your final resting place one day.
It is a type of burial at sea and the first phase is estimated to be able to accommodate 850 remains 3 with an eventual goal of more than 125 000 remains. Also i don t know anyone in the keys that rents underwater scooters.
