Underwater Graveyard Welcomes Divers, Living or Not

Neptune Memorial Reef, three miles off Key Biscayne, Florida offers a final resting place for those who love the sea. Earthly remains are cremated then mixed with cement and laid on the ocean floor, with a memorial plaque.

Artist Kim Brandell, who designed the reef, said he was given no parameters in the reef’s designs, which grew as they waited three years for permits. The structures are 90% cement. Some of the sculptural elements are in bronze and steel. It is the same pH balance as the sea, Brandell said.

“I designed it to be a divers’ location. I am hoping and planning it be to the most dived location on the planet. I didn’t want it to look like Roman or Greek architecture. I wanted it to be contemporary or modern in design.”

As a diver swims down the pathways of the reef there will be themed areas, like dancing or sports. “If it’s music I might have concrete or metal musical instruments,” Brandell said. “Nothing is going to be in words to describe these features. It will be sculptural elements.”

The cemetery lies 14 meters below the surface. Link to story. Link to website. -via Arbroath

(image credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP)