Jules' Undersea Lab — Hotel in Key Largo

I'm a professional technical and cave diving instructor who served as the training director for 2 certification agencies, and I'm a recipient of the SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Award for making over 5,000 lifetime dives in a 38 year career. I did two missions in Jules' Undersea Lodge: Mission #4005 in 2009, where my girlfriend and I completed the PADI Underwater Habitat Diver specialty course, and Mission #4109 in 2011, where we received the PADI Aquanaut Recognition for a dive that lasted longer than 24 hours. I couldn't believe how much fun we had! I had made many pop-ups into the wet room when working as a SCUBA instructor in Key Largo and teaching classes in the lagoon. There is nothing like the experience of living underwater! Making a nocturnal excursion with lots of bioluminescence, returning to the glow of the moon pool, getting out of our gear, changing into my favorite jeans and T-shirt, and watching the video, "Hello, Down There!" about living in an underwater habitat while living in an underwater habitat was beyond cool. When I was 4 years old, I used to watch the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, "Sealab 2020," on Saturday mornings. I can honestly say, that if you could only ever do 1 scuba diving experience, this would take the cake! I became as excited as a kid at Christmas! During our second mission, the landline phone had been installed and we received a wrong number call. The woman on the other end hung up in disbelief that she reached two divers 5 fathoms below the surface in Key Largo, FL. I would totally recommend this experience for a romantic getaway unlike any other, for grown-ups who are kids at heart, for families who really want to share a relaxing yet extraordinary experience together, or for students, boy scouts, or girl scouts who want to learn about life underwater. Jules' offers something for everyone. You can just be a slam-clicker and shut yourself off from the world with the quiet hum of the habitat for company, or you can take certification courses and enrich yourself with a knowledge of habitat operations and play outside during multiple excursions. Completely amazing! Just don't expect pretty blue water in the lagoon. Enjoy the greenish mystery and live the dream. We booked the place for ourselves and enjoyed it to...

This is one of those old Keysey legends that everyone knows about but not many have been to. It's a green lagoon oceanside that's been blocked off and somewhat protected. Unfortunately, that has also caused the silting problem to get pretty bad.

That said, it's got so many amazing businesses operating within this Undersea Park. First, there's Jules' Undersea Lodge, a submersed hotel underwater (~21 ft below the surface) that can only be accessed via scuba diving. It sits in the far back corner (look for the bubbles). The lodge is fully equipped with a shower, bathroom, beds, coffee machine, wifi, and pizza delivery (sometimes by a free-diving mermaid, if you're lucky!). Jules also has a small garden underwater growing actual living plants! It's rad, and the goal is to show that we can harness the underwater world and natural condensation processes to grow food to feed the masses. Next to Jules is my favorite dive operator in the keys -- Island Ventures! They're "Stress free diving!" motto is so true. Every trip out with them is full of excitement and joy, even if it's choppy seas and cold weather. They live and believe that the worst day on the water is still better than the best day in the office, and it shows. Finally, there's Marine Lab, a cool educational outfit with old undersea laboratories on site for viewing.

The land leading to the underwater park has lots of random underwater memorabilia (like a shark from an old Shark Week feature coming through the fence), Old escape hatches painted to show Hurricane Irma's damage, and old school research laboratories. Underwater, there's several structures within the park (long tubes, big oil drum, etc.) that staff will tour you around to see.

Wildlife that's been seen in the underwater park: manatees, fish, moray...

I booked the aquanaut package with the lodge months ago and have been looking forward to my stay. Because of bad weather, an activity I had reserved for the days leading up to my stay at the lodge was canceled. So, I thought I would call the lodge today to see if they had room for me a day or two earlier than I had planned. The person I initially spoke to said she wasn't sure if they could accommodate me arriving early but would check with her boss. I told her that was fine but that it wasn't a big deal if they couldn't fit me in early and I would see them on my scheduled arrival date. I used those exact words: "No big deal." I received a call from Teresa a few minutes later. After customary phone greetings, she abruptly launched into a long reprimand regarding "this is why [they] ask guests to plan ahead" and if I was "having a hard time...". Dumbfounded, I finally cut her off and told her no one was having "a hard time" but then asked what they do for guests who can't make it to the lodge after their deposit refund window has ended because my desire to visit the lodge at that point was nonexistent. When Theresa said the trip could be rescheduled for a later date without even selecting a future date, I took that offer as I have no desire to give the lodge any more of my money at this time. I am regretful that I ever gave the lodge a dime as I have no interest in ever completing my booking...