How To Live Like A Fish

Want to experience a really unusual vacation?  Check out Jules Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida.  I already wrote about this hotel in one of my previous posts (Hotel Wish List), but I wasn’t able to post any pictures or write more details.  But I promised myself I would rave more about this unique hotel in another post. 

 

                     

 

The lodge originally began as the La Chalupa research laboratory, an underwater habitat used to explore the continental shelf off the coast of Puerto Rico.  It’s the first underwater research lab to have been made accessible to the public.  The lodge is located in a protected mangrove lagoon, which is a natural nursery area for many reef fish. Guests will get the added benefit of learning more about the marine environment, especially since scuba gear is provided by the lodge, along with an unlimited supply of tanks.  Divers will also see some amazing technology in the lagoon, including the Marine Lab and a recreation of a Spanish galleon wreck. 

To get in, you must actually dive 21 feet below sea level to enter the lodge.  For the non-divers, you can take a three hour class to let you stay in lodge, or choose to take their full complement of advanced and specialty dive training.  The Lodge ordinarily hosts two couples, or a single group of up to six.  Of course, arrangements can be made if you want to stay alone with your honey.  The accommodations include two private bedrooms and a common room.   Each of the bedrooms and the common room is equipped with air conditioning, telephone, intercom, VCR/DVD and a stereo sound system. But the main focus of attention is the big 42 inch round window that graces each room with views of passing angelfish, barracudas and snappers.  An enclosed shower and toilet with hot and cold water are located off the wet room.

The staff is available 24 hours a day to provide whatever services the quests may need. The Lodge’s luxury packages even include the services of a “mer-chef” who scuba dives down to the hotel to prepare and serve a gourmet dinner for the guests. Late night snacks can even include the underwater delivery of a pizza from a local shop.