The Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves are a system of underwater parks in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, USA. They consist of

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

s of historic interest, both off the coast and inland, and are open all year round, free of charge. Similar programs have been created in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. There are eleven preserves in the

system: * '' Urca de Lima'' * ''San Pedro'' * '' City of Hawkinsville'' * USS ''Massachusetts'' (BB-2) * SS ''Copenhagen'' * SS ''Tarpon'' * ''Half Moon'' * ''Lofthus'' * ''

Vamar The ''Vamar'' is a shipwreck (which sank on March 21, 1942) near Mexico Beach, Florida, United States. It is located 3.7 miles offshore from Mexico Beach. It became the ninth Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve when it was dedicated in 2004 ...

'' * ''Regina'' * ''Georges Valentine''

References and external links

The Underwater Archaeological Preserves''"The Spanish Treasure Fleets of 1715 and 1733: Disasters Strike at Sea"'', a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan

Museums in the Sea
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Shipwrecks of the Florida coast Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida {{US-archaeology-stub