Mel Fisher Museum: Accredited Maritime Adventure Tour
4.4
23 Ratings
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum

The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum stands alone as the sole fully accredited museum in the Florida Keys. Beyond its thrilling tale of adventure, it is distinguished as a nationally acknowledged research institution.

Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum - Relive Mel Fisher’s battles with the government to retain the artifacts they found - all the way to the US Supreme Court. A true folk legend right in Key West where it all happened!

See the amazing treasure in the Spanish Treasure Galleons galleries discovered by Mel Fisher and his crew, plus so much more! The thought provoking Slave Ship and Key West African Cemetery exhibits provide a stark look into the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Key West’s unique role in it.

Discover the relics found aboard the Henrietta Marie, an English merchant slave ship dating back to 1699. The wreck as discovered in 1972, but was only partially excavated until years later. Hear about the story behind this important piece of history,

Learn about Spanish Coins in the New World, the Real Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Science of Shipwrecks. You can even take a lab tour and see how history is revealed through conservation every day!

Celebrate 30 years of treasure!

Audio Tour of the history and treasure gallery is included in this package. Audio tour is in English.

What's Included
  • Audio tour in English included
What's Not Included
  • DVD (available to purchase)
Location
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum
200 Greene St,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.4
(23 Ratings)
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Diomasaighes
Aug 27, 2023
The Mel Fisher Story was fascinating - I found this dory fascinating and the articles in the museum intriguing. There is a great deal of history in Key West and this museum provides a unique piece.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Izzy812
Feb 28, 2023
Great Museum and Adventure Story. - Amazingly driven man and family. Great museum with outstanding artifacts from the treasure fleet that sank. Well laid out and only takes about 1.5 hrs to see it all. Great displays and descriptions. Bringing kids would be pushing their level of interest to the max, better to tie them up outside or leave them with the crazy uncle you are traveling with. “Today is the day”
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sharon
Oct 14, 2022
Treasure Seekers Look No Further - Very interesting to see and hear about Mr. Fisher’s treasure hunting expeditions! Not a large exhibit, but packed with great artifacts and information. Great family fun!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Trav115
Sep 30, 2022
Great Museum - Very interesting museum, we both did the audio tour for an extra 2.00 and it was well worth it. Enjoyable visit, highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Maureen
Jun 27, 2022
Great Museum - A Native Floridian and frequent visitor to Key West.. I have walked, drove, and biked by this museum. Did the audio tour which was really informative. I actually learned things. A must see.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jon_d
Apr 12, 2022
Worth the visit - A wonderful story of a dream a family, and a long journey. Real gold and silver, tragedy and success.
Review provided by Viator
Aprildadams
Mar 12, 2022
Go learn about marine wreckage and salvage. - We did the additional lab tour and it was well worth it. So informative and neat! It just shows you how the artifacts are cleaned and preserved after salvage but the work they do it so historically necessary. I thoroughly enjoyed the museum and was dumbfounded to find out that the museum is a non-profit so they are operating an very limited funds and don’t even have an x-ray machine to do their work. This museum is also a must see on your Key West visit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Vicki
Dec 13, 2022
museum tour - great lesson in perseverance (he looked for so many years) exhibits are good and audio adds to the value.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christophercl2982pz
Oct 16, 2023
Unaccommodating entrances and staff - The museum and the artifacts are great. The museum provides a ton of information about Mr. Fisher, his operation, and the history behind the Atocha and Margarita shipwrecks. I am deducting 2 stars from my review however, due to the Museum and staff not being "parent friendly". We were not allowed to use the handicapped platform lift to get to the top of the stairs outside to enter the building with our 2 small children and stroller, and there is no ramp alternative to enter the building. The employee that notified us that we were not allowed to use the lift was very snarky and rude when telling us that "it's for Handicap only" and then walking away before we could ask if there was another way to get our stroller up the stairs. She stood there and watched as me and my wife lifted the stroller and our 2 kids up and walked them up the stairs. I don't understand why we were not allowed to use the platform lift to get up the stairs to enter the building, but we were allowed to use the actual handicap elevator inside to get to the second floor exhibit. The blond lady with the Australian accent that gave us our audio guide devices and offered to take us to the second floor on the handicap elevator was very nice, courteous, and professional. The other two that day however were not. After we finished the tour my wife took the kids to the bathroom to change diapers while I browsed the gift shop. The courteous blond employee must have had to step away from the podium where the audio guides were handed out, so the employee outside (the snarky one that said we were not allowed to use the platform lift) stepped in to man the podium. While I was walking around the gift shop her and the other employee that sold the admission tickets were "gossiping" (to put it politely) about me and my wife wanting to use the platform lift. I poked my head around the wall of the left side of the gift shop where I could be seen and they knew I could hear them and they didn't say anything else. The fact that they were "gossiping" about me and my wife is the whole reason I am writing this review. The museum was excellent, and while not being able to use the platform lift to get our stroller and 2 kids up the entrance stairs of the building was an inconvenience, if that's their rules, it's their rules. Even if it's a silly one that leaves parents in the position of inconvenience and possibly safety concerns lifting children, stroller, diaper bag... up the stairs. But to blatantly "gossip" about 2 customers for doing nothing more than trying to enter a museum with their children in the middle of a gift shop, is unprofessional. I wish the museum the best and don't wish to "tarnish its name" for lack of better phrases with this review, because the museum certainly is spectacular, and I will still return to visit it again as we visit the keys every October.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Companion730089
Mar 8, 2024
Disappointed - First of all there was no line. Second there was no record of my having paid for entrance, let alone enter…. Since I was there, I offered to pay a second admission. I will be hard pressed to use your service in the future.
Review provided by Tripadvisor