Everything You Need To Know About Floridas Neptune Memorial Reef

Off the Florida shore, more and more people are sleeping with the fishes. The Neptune Memorial Reef contains the remains of hundreds of people, 40 feet (12 metres) down in clear seas near Miami.

Here, you’ll find statues of lions, pillars, benches, passages and a sundial, alongside sculptures of shells and starfish. These sculptures are spaces where the ashes of people who’ve been cremated can be mixed with natural concrete to form a lasting memorial.

The result is a surreal undersea world, with barnacles and coral forming around the classic features of a cemetery. Colorful fish, eels and lobsters dart around plaques and arches, the blue sea and bright colors mixing with more somber reminders of death to create a site that looks back in sorrow but is also full of life.

The Neptune Memorial Reef is located just three miles from Key Biscayne

Being buried in Atlantis

The site, three miles (five kilometers) off Key Biscayne – which is connected to Miami by bridge – is free to visit. Anyone can dive here, although fishing is not permitted. Preserving your remains here is called ‘deployment,’ and various packages are available, including arranging family plots. Family members can watch the deployment from a boat or by diving to the memorial reef itself.

The life of the reef

Placing large objects on the seabed often encourages life, by providing hiding places for fish, reducing erosion and providing multiple surfaces for creatures such as corals and oysters to attach to. These animals then attract larger species, encouraging a flourishing ecosystem. There’s some doubt over just how beneficial artificial reefs are, and some biologists believe most animals move to the new reef from neighboring areas, rather than actually developing on it.

According to its founders, the Neptune Memorial Reef has been very successful in transforming its environment. Hundreds of coral colonies, bluehead wrasse, bar jacks, sergeant majors, spiny lobsters, long-spined sea urchins, moray eels and rainbow parrotfish can all be seen in the reef – alongside plaques celebrating many human lives.

landscape with balloons floating in the air

KEEN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD?

Connect with like-minded people on our premium trips curated by local insiders and with care for the world

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.