Diving Shipwrecks in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

One of the goals of the national marine sanctuary system is to provide opportunities for people to learn about our nation’s maritime heritage. Diving Shipwrecks. Therefore, many historical sites within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary are open to diving and snorkeling. The exceptions are those sites located within the sanctuary’s Special-use Research Only Areas. These “no-entry” zones … Read more

What Do You Know About Florida Keys Names

Ever wondered about Florida Keys Names and why certain locations are named as they are? You may be on vacation in the Florida Keys, or a resident, and asked that question. If you’re boating and come across Alligator Reef, don’t think the name means it’s overrun with reptiles. The reef was named after the USS … Read more

Best stops on the Overseas Highway – Key Largo

Road trips don’t come more spectacular than the Overseas Highway. Sailing through tropical savanna over the Florida Straits, it links Miami on the mainland with the 180-kilometer-long Florida Keys island chain. Most visitors head straight to Key West, the southernmost city in the continental United States, but if they stopped along the way they’d find secluded … Read more

5 years later $550K Mel Fisher Museum Gold Bar Still Missing

Lack of finding a 74.85-ounce gold bar plundered from a Key West museum five years ago come Tuesday has left an “open wound,” says the museum’s director. “The bar was insured but money will never replace an artifact that was part of so many museum visitors’ personal interaction and memories of the experience,” Melissa Kendrick, chief … Read more

Salvor Claims to Have Found Middle Keys Shipwreck

BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff  A shipwreck salvor has claimed to have found a wrecked sailing vessel somewhere off the Middle Keys, but as is usual with such cases, specifics about what treasures it may hold and from what year in history it hails remains shrouded in secrecy. A company called EPW Salvage, Inc., owned … Read more