World's First Underwater Cemetery In Florida Is A Must See For Divers.

Neptune MemorialPhoto byNeptune Memorial

If you’re planning a dive trip in Miami, Neptune Memorial Reef is a spot that you absolutely cannot miss. Not only is it the largest manmade underwater structure and artificial reef to ever exist, but Neptune Memorial is also an underwater cemetery, designed as an artistic replica of the Lost City of Atlantis.

The cemetery is located 40 feet underwater in Biscayne Bay, over three miles off the coast of Miami Beach. It’s GPS coordinates N25º 42.036′, W80º 05.409′.

The reef serves as an underwater mausoleum for cremated remains, as well as a home for a growing marine habitat, fulfilling its mission of “creating life after life”.

“It was a group of businessmen in the area who had the idea,” said Neptune Memorial Reef’s community resource director, Michael Tabers.

“So these gentlemen came up with an idea of building an artificial reef and making it not only an artificial reef, but also a work of art,” Tabers added. “That’s when the idea came about building the Neptune reef, and it was built from an artist conception of the Lost City of Atlantis.”

The way it works is simple: customers’ cremated remains are mixed with water and turned into “placements” at the reef, which has been outfitted with several other concrete structures that serve as reef bulwarks.

Of course, customers can choose which placement they want and where they’d like it to be situated. These placements can take the form of road columns, arches or local sealife.

“The ones that we have are of marine life that exist at the reef,” Tabers explained. “So we have starfish, seashells, stone crab, just to give you an example... We have nurse shark placements, puffer fish. We have sea turtle placements; those are some of our more popular ones.”

Neptune MemorialPhoto byEco Photo Explorers

The Neptune Memorial Reef is attracting recreational scuba divers as well as homeless fish, while enhancing the coastal environment and reducing demand on other fragile natural reefs.

The Neptune Memorial Reef™ has been approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM) of Miami, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Army Corps of Engineers. The Neptune Memorial Reef™ is also a member of the Green Burial Council.

This dive site is teeming with underwater activity- according to a report by the Department of Environmental Resource Management, marine life numbers at the Neptune Memorial Reef has grown from zero to thousands in just the first two years of its instillation. Large pillars encrusted with 14 different species of colorful reef-building coral and coralline algae rise from the sandy bottom, providing homes to parrotfish, smooth trunkfish, pufferfish, filefish, angelfish, bar jacks, and damselfish species such as sergeant majors.

Once complete, the reef is expected to stretch 16 acres across the seabed, with the capacity to fit remains for over 250,000 people. And that’s great news for the local sea life.

Coral reef conservation is a huge undertaking in Florida, with several groups across the state engaging in research to prevent coral reefs from potentially going extinct.

For more information about the reef or to ask about placements, visit the Neptune Memorial Reef’s website here.

Neptune MemorialPhoto byNeptune Memorial