Neptune Society Memorial Reef™ News and Video

Diving with the Dead

May 2, 2012

Welcome to Neptune Memorial Reef; it's unlike any other dive site. At 60 feet below the surface, spanning a quarter of an acre, the mythological city of Atlantis comes to life.

Massive sculptures and statues are surrounded by 44 columns, and scattered around the heart of this sacred place are 200 plots housing cremated remains of those who choose this as their final resting place.

"There's not anything in the world like it," said Drew Johnston, a dive captain.

video by Miami's FOX affiliate WFLX with article by Rachel Leigh

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Radical Reefs

May 1, 2012

The residents of the underwater cemetery Neptune Memorial Reef literally sleep with the fishes. Located on the ocean floor off the coast of Miami, columns and arches surround an eerie collection of sculptures.

with Photography by David Doubilet from Reader's Digest Magazine

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Florida's Exclusive Underwater Burial Ground

February 6, 2012

The closest thing to the Lost City of Atlantis may be located three miles off the coast of south Florida. Forty feet below the surface is a man-made, pristine reef where, several times a month, divers come to deposit stone urns containing ashes of the recently departed.

article by Les Coleman, Public News Service - FL

View the Public News Service article

An Underwater Cemetery off the Coast of Florida

November 8, 2011

This blog about Southern Graves shares:

Today, the reef resembles the lost City of Atlantis with its gates, giant lions and columns. Eventually, it should cover 16 acres with room for 125,000 "placements," says Jim Hutslar, who manages the reef's construction.

View blog here

Neptune Memorial Reef Monitoring Report

November 7, 2011

   This monitoring report, prepared by Brittany Huntington at the University of Miami, shows that the Memorial Reef is developing at a faster than expected pace, offering an ecosystem for species not expected for years, if ever.

Key species of the Florida coral reef community were observed at the Neptune Memorial Reef including predatory barracudas, scleractinian corals, the keystone grazing urchin Diadema antillarium as well as rainbow parrotfish, and the presence of transitory megafauna such as a large green sea turtle were observed…
    In addition, some of the nearly extirpated functional groups that were far more common in the Caribbean decades ago were noted at Neptune Memorial Reef, like large Rainbow Parrotfish.

Neptune Society Memorial Reef videos

November 7, 2011

Nine Neptune Memorial Reef videos offer a look at this extraordinary creation.

View video here

Miami Dive Sites

November 7, 2011

The Neptune Memorial Reef is an incredible piece of planning and execution resulting in the largest artificial man made reef ever. Set up as an amazing rest place for the departed this living reef is now full of marine life and continues to enhance the local environment. Cremation and placement in the reef is pollution free and whilst reducing the need for burial land around Miami it provides an expanding home for marine life.

    Florida scuba diving blog

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Facebook Page for Neptune Memorial Reef

November 7, 2011

Join us on facebook for updates on the Reef.

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Dive the Neptune Memorial Reef

November 7, 2011

The term ‘Burials at sea’ have taken on a brand new meaning in Miami, Florida. The Neptune Memorial Reef is not your average cemetery, but the first of its kind underwater cemetery.

from Aquaviews, the online SCUBA publication of LeisurePro 

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Extreme Burial

November 7, 2011

Key Biscayne is Miami's small island paradise just off Florida's coast. It's also home to the only underwater cemetery in the world. Forget 6 feet under, at Neptune Memorial Reef, the ashes of loved ones are laid to rest 45 feet below the ocean's surface.

Accompanying video from the Travel Channel available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zySI3FE6IQM

View article here

French TV program Thalassa highlights the Neptune Memorial Reef

November 5, 2011

13 minute video from Miami Beach highlighting the process of adding to the Neptune Memorial Reef. French over English.

View video here

National Geographic Sells Memorial Reef Images

November 4, 2011

In this photo, sold in National Geographic's online print store, tomtate grunts and yellowtail snapper swim through Neptune Memorial Reef, an underwater cemetery with decorative arches and columns installed on the ocean floor off Miami Beach. The cremated remains of about 200 people have been mixed with cement and molded into memorial sculptures. 

Got to the National Geographic Print Store

Artificial Reefs Featured in National Geographic

November 4, 2011

Artificial reefs aren't just the final resting places of tires and ships. Several companies have arisen to serve people who have the desire to become artificial reefs themselves, but reef burials are still a microscopic niche market of the funeral industry. Jim Hutslar, one of three partners behind Neptune Memorial Reef, invited me to accompany him one spring morning on a maintenance run to the underwater cemetery he's constructed in 40 feet of water four and a half miles off Miami Beach.  

View the Article

Visit a Cemetery for Halloween

October 31, 2011

As part of our Strange and Bizarre Travel Tip Series, I’d like to encourage you from now on to visit cemeteries every time you travel.  It’s a great way to examine local culture, religion, art, and history.  And you’ll find that some are more like parks than places to be scared of.

The Neptune Memorial Reef (also known as the Atlantis Memorial Reef or the Atlantis Reef) is an underwater graveyard that just opened in 2007, off the coast of Miami Beach, FL.  It’s a classical re-creation of the Lost City, 40 feet under the sea.

by Lori Allen, The Travel Writer's Life

View article here

Top 15 Cemeteries to Visit

October 28, 2011

From this blog of 15 Cemeteries to Visit Before you Die:

This city of the dead is in fact a recreation of the Lost City of Atlantis – otherwise it wouldn’t exactly live up to its name now would it? 40 feet below the surface of Key Biscayne in Miami Florida, the project is the largest man-made reef in the world. It is first and foremost a place where the Neptune Society cremation service offers family and friends scatter their loved ones.

View blog here