Shipwrecks and Treasure at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West

I love boats and history and treasure, so for somebody like me the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West is a great place to visit. If you’re not familiar, Key West has a long history of being built up on the wealth of wrecked ships, and the guy who years later uncovered one of the biggest wrecks in the Florida Keys was Mel Fisher. Today, his story and finds make up the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

Have you gotten to visit this museum or are you into maritime history? If not, add the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum to your Key West itinerary now. If you have any questions about visiting the museum or need more recommendations for things to do in Key West, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you plan a great visit to the Florida Keys.

Why Visit the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

I feel like shipwrecks and treasure are engrained in our obsessions from an early age, or at least they have been for me. There’s something about the mysteries of the deep that I just love and thankfully my kids do too. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West is THE museum to feed this interest because it really lays out the whole process, from research to discovery to recovery and then the history behind so much of what’s been recovered. I love learning, so the well written exhibits, creative visuals and the actual artifacts themselves make for a really cool museum to explore.

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The real highlight for me, in terms of what I simply thought was so cool for being treasure, were the gems and Spanish jewels that were recovered from the wrecks of the Atocha and Santa Margarita. Emeralds, rubies, diamonds, gold, ivory… really it’s the treasure that pirate stories and period movies have brought to the front and center of shipwreck and treasure lore. And yes, there are plenty of gold coins, silver ingots, swords, canons and more. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum checks all the boxes for fascinating finds from the bottom of the ocean. This is a very different sort of museum from the nearby Shipwreck and Treasure Museum.

One of the exhibits that I very much appreciated seeing but was hard to go through was the section about slave trade. Within the different exhibitions in the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum there is a large section telling the story of slaving ships and their practices. There are visuals, shackles, stories and it’s a lot to take in. If you’re visiting with kids it’s an important area to go through, but it’s hard and there will likely be some difficult questions. Just be ready to talk to your kids about it, and be honest about the history of slavery in the USA and the Caribbean.

Tips to Make the Most of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

Museums have always been easy for our family because our kids are so full of curiosity and they are very patient readers. If that’s you or your crew, you’ll have a great visit and it’ll be an easy win on your Key West itinerary. If that’s not the case with your travel companions, you may need to really sell the treasure and swords to get everyone excited to visit the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. There’s plenty of it to enjoy, but let’s be real: museums may not be everyone’s thing, especially when they’re in Key West surrounded by beautiful turquoise water. Still, try to get everyone excited for it because it’s a cool museum.

One of the things we do to keep our kids engaged when we’re visiting museums is to have them treat the visit like a scavenger hunt. Within the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum there are lots of unique exhibits you can turn into scavenger hunt topics. A great way to make it a fun visit for kids is to have them look for jewels of different sorts, different precious metals, different kinds of artifacts and treasure… Basically, you go through the museum looking for specific things and it will lead you through while keeping everyone’s eyes and brains active.

To make it through the whole thing, you need to give yourself 90 minutes to explore the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. You may be able to do it faster, but do you really want to? It’s fascinating and has great air conditioning! Between the different films that play and the exhibits full of information to read, you could probably spend longer than 90 minutes, but I think that’s a good expectation to set.

Being Prepared for a Key West Museum Day

There’s not much to consider when you’re planning a visit to a museum, but when it’s a really good one like the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum you’ll want to have comfortable shoes because it can take a long time to get through everything. There is so much information to take in that you’ll need a short sit midway through. Thankfully there are some films to break it up a bit.

When you’re in Key West, you’ll likely be aching for some really good air conditioning during your day, particularly if you’re visiting the Florida Keys in the summer, and the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum has some of the best, freshest AC in town. There’s no shame in lingering just to enjoy the cool in one of the muggiest towns in the USA. Bring a pocket fan with you or purchase one in the gift shop to maximize your AC enjoyment and to manage the heat better when you leave the museum. Besides that, there’s not much else to prep for. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum is wheelchair accessible, so all part of the exhibits can be enjoyed even if you’re unable to do the stairs.

Parking for the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum near Mallory Square

There are a few parking options when you visit the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, but the best way to approach it is by walking. Parking in the Mallory Square area is a pain or it’s expensive. If you’re staying in the Historic District or marina areas, just walk or even get dropped off if you need to. Parking options include a few small parking lots scattered around the Mallory Square neighborhood and then precarious street parking. Be mindful of the parking restrictions and signs. The museum is very near the Customs House which houses the Key West Museum of Art and History and the Key West Aquarium, as well as the depot for Old Town Trolley Tours and the Conch Train Tour.