While the history of the Atocha may be lost on a fair number of Key West visitors I am a shipwreck geek and dragged my wife along to visit Mel’s place. The artifacts on display are tremendous and there is so much history to read. The facade of the building was under construction when we visited and the sounds of jackhammers was a bit distracting but the museum is absolutely worth some time (and the construction should be finished shortly). Today’s the day!

An interesting stop - it only takes a couple of hours to get through the exhibits. Don't bother with the audio - you don't need it the information is duplicated within written the exhibits. Cute little gift shop - we picked up an interesting map of Florida ship wrecks.

An excellent walk through the long process of Mel Fisher’s discovery of the Atocha and other wrecks. Starts with a short film worth watching. We did not find the listening devices to be very useful. Lots of descriptions with the exhibits. An extensive collection of his finds, not just gold and silver, though there was plenty of that on display. Very educational about life on ship. Where and why the ships were collecting cargo and precious goods from South and Central America. The upstairs rooms and discussion of pirates, privateers and buccaneers was well done, as well as the area with US/Cuban history. Highly recommend visiting.

Right in the middle of Key West tourist attractions is this commercialized museum. The greeter at the top of the stairs had several interesting stories about the "wrecking" culture. In the heyday, there was 1 wreck weekly to be salvaged. Walk to the top of the lookout. Recommended ever if it's corny.