The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, renowned for housing sunken Spanish galleons Nuestra Senora de Atocha and Santa Margarita, and the slave ship Henrietta Marie, welcomes visitors seven days a week. With the last admission at 4 pm, the museum opens at 10 am daily, charging an entry fee of $17.50 for adults and $8.50 for children. The museum boasts several ongoing exhibitions such as:
- "Today's The Day", the narrative of Mel Fisher's 16-year-long pursuit to discover the Spanish galleon Atocha.
- "Treasure & Tragedy: The 1622 Fleet", offering a tangible journey between Europe and the New World through rare artifacts.
- "Spanish Coins: New World Coins, Old World Treasure", showcasing Spanish coins from the Golden Galleons.
- "The Treasure Gallery", featuring the superior craftsmanship in gold, silver, and emeralds that highlight the best of the Spanish Empire.
- "The Search for the Atocha", detailing the Spanish salvage of the Atocha and Santa Margarita in 1622.
- "The Science of Shipwrecks", elucidating the application of archaeological techniques underwater to document and identify shipwrecks.
- "The Art of Conservation", revealing the captivating process of bringing artifacts from the ocean floor to the museum display.
- "Piracy in the New World", recounting the tales of Buccaneers and their quests for the cargoes from the Golden Galleons.
- "A Slave Ship Speaks; The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie", documenting the history of the only merchant slave ship to sink during the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the western hemisphere.
- "The Last Slave Ships", narrating the incredible stories of the slavers William, Bogota, and Wildfire in Key West.
Beyond these exhibitions, the museum is also home to an active archaeological research program, focusing on humanity's maritime past throughout the Florida and Caribbean region. The program conducts full-scale investigations from historical research, excavation, artifact conservation, analysis, to sharing findings through publications, media, and museum exhibits. Research covers shipwrecks from the colonial era and extends to subjects within their capabilities that help illuminate the maritime past.
Notably, the museum is home to materials recovered from the Spanish galleons Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita of 1622, and MFMM archaeologists are studying subjects like the 1700 London-based slave ship Henrietta Marie, among others. As the only fully accredited museum in the Florida Keys, the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum is more than an adventure story, also functioning as a nationally recognized research and archaeology institution.
