The Jules Undersea Lodge is the only underwater hotel in the United States. Located 30 feet (9 m) deep at the bottom of the Emerald Lagoo in Key Largo, Florida, guests have to scuba dive to get to their rooms. The hotel’s name comes from the novelist Jules Verne, author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Scuba certification is required for entrance as the front door is located 21 feet (6.4 m) under water.
Jules’ Undersea Lodge was formerly the La Chalupa Research Laboratory, an undersea marine lab operated off Puerto Rico in the 1970s.
While most guests at the hotel spend a night or two, on March 1, 2023, Dr. Joe Dituri, Ph.D. checked in with the intention of staying 100 days as part of Project NEPTUNE 100, an undersea mission to support marine research and conservation. After more than 75 days in the two-bedroom lodge, Dituri, a hyperbaric medicine researcher and diving explorer, who goes by the moniker “Dr. Deep Sea,” has already broken the record of 73 days for the longest time living underwater without depressurization. If all goes according to plan, Dituri will continue his underwater residency until June 9th.
“Dr. Deep Sea” has been keeping busy while at the lodge. He has been conducting experiments to study the effects of long-term exposure to pressure and working with other researchers and physicians on other diving-related medical issues, as well as teaching his hyperbaric medicine and medical school courses from inside Jules Undersea Lodge. Dr. Dituri is Chief Researcher for Underseas Oxygen Clinic in Tampa, FL.
Multiple researchers have joined the 100-day mission. The mission has featured regular broadcasts with scientists talking about their experiments in Jules’. Throughout the mission marine specialists were joined by students to highlight the important message of ocean conservation.
Thanks to Larry Witmer and Richard Thompson for contributing to this post.