Jules’ Undersea Lodge: The Florida Hotel You Have to Scuba Dive to Reach
There is a hotel in Key Largo where the check-in process requires a wetsuit, a scuba tank, and a 21-foot dive to the bottom of a tropical lagoon. Jules’ Undersea Lodge is the only underwater accommodation in the United States, and sleeping there might be the most Florida thing you can do.
From Research Lab to Hotel Room
The structure started its life in the 1970s as La Chalupa, an underwater research habitat stationed off the coast of Puerto Rico. Marine scientists lived inside it for days at a time, studying ocean ecosystems from the inside out. In 1986, the habitat was hauled to Key Largo’s Emerald Lagoon, refurbished, and reopened as Jules’ Undersea Lodge, named after Jules Verne, the author of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
What It Is Like Down There
The lodge sits on the floor of the lagoon, anchored in place with its entrance on the bottom. You swim underneath and pop up through an opening into a pressurized, dry living space. Inside there are bedrooms, a small kitchen, a living area, and 42-inch windows where fish drift by like living wallpaper. The air is pumped in continuously from the surface, and the whole setup is surprisingly comfortable once you get past the fact that you are sleeping under 21 feet of water.
Space, Science, and 100 Days Underwater
Jules’ has a serious research side too. In 1995, ocean pioneer Scott Carpenter and astronaut Mike Gernhardt held a live sea-to-space conversation from the lodge to the space shuttle Endeavour. In 2023, Florida researcher Dr. Joseph Dituri lived inside Jules’ for 100 consecutive days, studying undersea medicine and breaking the world record for the longest time living underwater. The lodge now operates under the nonprofit MarineLab, combining overnight stays with marine science education programs.
How to Book It
Jules’ Undersea Lodge is located at 51 Shoreland Drive in Key Largo. You do not need to be a certified diver to stay. The staff offers a three-hour introductory scuba course that covers everything you need to make the dive down to your room. Overnight packages run $1,800 per couple, with additional guests at $500 each, and yes, they deliver pizza to you underwater.
