Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Florida Panama City Beach Man in the Sea Museum

Man in the Sea Museum

A graveyard of bathyspheres and diving bells paints a weirdly accurate account of ocean exploration's rickety history.

Panama City Beach, Florida

Added By
AMissile
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The Navy’s first experimental underwater habitat: SEALAB-1   Flickr user jasoneppink
Display at the Museum of Man in the Sea   Wikimedia user Ebyabe
Mine Counterfoils Hydromeasures   Flickr user jasoneppink
Educational area for lectures   therustyfox / Atlas Obscura User
  notoriousFIG / Atlas Obscura User
diving goldfish   Mom0ja / Atlas Obscura User
Home of SEALAB   carltouchet71 / Atlas Obscura User
Military Diving Museum   carltouchet71 / Atlas Obscura User
Man in the Sea   carltouchet71 / Atlas Obscura User
SDV’s   carltouchet71 / Atlas Obscura User
Pearl Habor Exhibit   carltouchet71 / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
Mk V U.S. Navy Diving Helmet   therustyfox / Atlas Obscura User
SEALAB I   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
Regulators   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
outside   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
welcome sign 2024   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
Trieste II Personnel Sphere, dove to 16,500 feet   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
Pearl Harbor Divers exhibit   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
Sign   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
Experimental Dive Helmets   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
inside   in2dh2o / Atlas Obscura User
Mk V Navy Dive Helmet   therustyfox / Atlas Obscura User
Submersible inside the museum   therustyfox / Atlas Obscura User
MK V Navy Dive Helmet   therustyfox / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Among the most complete – and oddly nonchalant – assemblages of its kind in the world, the Man in the Sea Museum has an almost absurdist air to the frankness with which it portrays man's attempts to explore the bizarre worlds at the heart of our oceans. 

Founded in 1982 by the Institute of Diving, a collective of divers from the U.S. Navy's SEALAB Program, the Man in the Sea Museum charmingly follows the history of mankind's attempts at deep sea exploration. from early diving bells and diving suit rigs dating back to 1837, to bathyspheres prototypes for modern day manned mini-submarines and remotely piloted exploratory craft. As a bonus, treasures recovered from 16th-century sunken galleons off the Florida coast are peppered throughout the museum's 5,000-square-foot interior.

The true magnificence of the Man in the Sea Museum, however, is born of the cumulative effect of laying these craft out in a linear, straightforward display paired with the ability to examine them up-close. Such examination quickly reveals just how brave (or insane) the earliest captains must have been to undertake these ventures. 

Strangely enough, the part of the museum best illustrating this is actually the parking lot, which is rimmed with the collection's biggest features. 

Streamlined like a spaceship pointed in the wrong direction and painted a Pepto Bismol-pink, SEALAB-1 is Man in the Sea's crown jewel. First launched in 1964, the world's first working undersea habitat is kept with ports open for the curious of all ages to scramble through, marveling at the idea of being stuck inside such cramped quarters without escape. 

Next in chronological order comes the Deep Dive System Mark 1, an experimental prototype dispatched in 1968. A quick glance from SEALAB-1 to the white contraption ahead reveals what a difference four years of the 1960s psychedelics crazy had on the Navy's engineers. Seemingly constructed from what appears to be an assortment of elbow joints leftover from your great-uncle's failed plumbing project, hoping a white paint job would present a mod aesthetic. 

We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that some of the displays (both inside and out) are not the most spit-polished in appearance. But, aside from adding to its homespun charm, that's rather fitting for a museum celebrating this specific type of exploration that has never not-involved a healthy dose of both finger crossing and duct tape – figuratively, and it would appear, literally.

Related Tags

Oceans Exploration Museums And Collections Museums

Community Contributors

Added By

AMissile

Edited By

littlebrumble, Mom0ja, notoriousFIG, Collector of Experiences...

  • littlebrumble
  • Mom0ja
  • notoriousFIG
  • Collector of Experiences
  • therustyfox
  • carltouchet71
  • in2dh2o

Published

October 29, 2015

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.sealtwo.org/page13.htm
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEALAB
Man in the Sea Museum
17314 Panama City Beach Parkway
Panama City Beach, Florida, 32413
United States
30.232458, -85.89311
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Panama City Publishing Company Museum

Panama City, Florida

miles away

Underwater Museum of Art

Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

miles away

Moss Hill Methodist Church Handprints

Vernon, Florida

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Florida

Florida

United States

Places 435
Stories 47

Nearby Places

Panama City Publishing Company Museum

Panama City, Florida

miles away

Underwater Museum of Art

Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

miles away

Moss Hill Methodist Church Handprints

Vernon, Florida

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Florida

Florida

United States

Places 435
Stories 47

Related Places

  • Inside the museum.

    Cuernavaca, Mexico

    Museo Robert Brady

    An incredible little museum of interior design full of artifacts collected from around the world.

  • Congolese Kuyu sculptures.

    Birchington-on-Sea, England

    Powell-Cotton Ethnographic Collection

    A vast archive of cultural artifacts collected from numerous expeditions across Africa and Asia.

  • Nao Victoria Replica.

    Punta Arenas, Chile

    Nao Victoria Museum

    A display of hand-built replicas of the legendary vessels used by Patagonian and Antarctic explorers.

  • One of the museum’s dioramas of animals staged in their natural habitats.

    Birchington-on-Sea, England

    Powell-Cotton Dioramas

    An English explorer's vast natural history collection has the first realistic dioramas of animals staged in their natural habitats.

  • The exhibits at John’s Beachcombing Museum.

    Forks, Washington

    John's Beachcombing Museum

    One man's eclectic collection of treasures found at sea.

  • The entrance to the Story Museum

    Oxford, England

    The Story Museum

    An Oxford museum where visitors can have tea with the Mad Hatter and climb through the wardrobe to a fantasy land.

  • The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum.

    Santa Cruz, California

    Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

    Housed in a memorial lighthouse, this museum relays the history of surfing, beginning with the antics of royal Hawaiian teenagers.

  • Charleville Castle.

    Tullamore, Ireland

    Charleville Castle

    An 1814 castle that hosts an exhibit of "explorabilia".

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.