San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve State Park is a

Florida State Park There are 175 state parks and 9 state trails in the U.S. state of Florida which encompass more than , providing recreational opportunities for both residents and tourists. Almost half of the state parks have an associated local 501(c)(3) non-pr ...

located in of water, approximately south of Indian Key. It became the second

Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve The Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves are a system of underwater parks in the state of Florida, USA. They consist of shipwrecks of historic interest, both off the coast and inland, and are open all year round, free of charge. Similar pro ...

when it opened to the public in 1989. The heart of the park is the ''San Pedro'', a submerged shipwreck from a 1733 Spanish flotilla, around which visitors can dive and snorkel. The ''San Pedro,'' a 287-ton Dutch-built vessel, and 21 other Spanish ships under the command of Rodrigo de Torres left Havana, Cuba, on Friday, July 13, 1733, bound for Spain. The ''San Pedro'' carried a cargo of 16,000 silver Mexican pesos and crates of Chinese porcelain. A hurricane struck the fleet, while entering the Straits of Florida, and sank or swamped most of the fleet. The wrecksite includes an "eighteenth century anchor, replica cannons, ballast stones encrusted with coral, a dedication plaque, and a mooring buoy system." The wreck was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on May 31, 2001.

About The 1733 Spanish Fleet (flotilla)

The 1733 Fleet was an entire Spanish convoy (except for one ship) lost in a hurricane off Florida. The lesser severity of the 1733 hurricane (which struck the fleet on July 15) and the shallowness of the wrecksites in the Keys, however, made for many survivors and even left four ships in good enough condition to be re-floated and sent back to Havana. A very successful salvage effort by the Spanish soon commenced, bringing up even more than the 12 million pesos of precious cargo on the Fleet's manifest (thanks to the usual contraband). The wrecks themselves are spread across 80 miles, from north of Key Largo down to south of Duck Key, and include the following galleons (but note there is not universal agreement as to which wrecksite pertains to each galleon, and also note that each name is a contemporaneous abbreviation or nickname): ''El Pópulo'', ''El Infante'', ''San José'', ''El Rubí'' (the capitana, or lead vessel of the fleet), ''Chávez'', ''Herrera'', ''Tres Puentes'', ''San Pedro'', ''El Terri'' (also spelled ''Lerri'' or ''Herri''), ''San Francisco'', ''El Gallo Indiano'' (the almiranta, or rear guard of the fleet), ''Las Angustias'', ''El Sueco de Arizón'', ''San Fernando'', and ''San Ignacio''. This last ship, ''San Ignacio'', is believed to be the source of many silver coins (and even some gold coins) found in a reef area off Deer Key known as "Coffins Patch," the southwesternmost of all the 1733-Fleet wrecksites. In addition, many other related sites are known, mostly the wrecks of tag-along ships that accompanied the fleet proper. The first and arguably most famous of the wrecks of the 1733 Fleet to be located in modern times was the Capitana ''El Rubí'', which was discovered in 1948 and salvaged principally in the 1950s by Art McKee, whose Sunken Treasure Museum on

Plantation Key Plantation Key is an island in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located in the upper Florida Keys on U.S. 1 (or the Overseas Highway), between Key Largo and Windley Key. All of the key is within the Village of Islamorada as of Nove ...

housed his finds for all to see. Throughout the next several decades, however, the wrecksites in the Keys became a virtual free-for-all, with many disputes and confrontations, until the government created the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in 1990. The removal of artifacts from any of the sites is prohibited today. In contrast to the 1715 Fleet, and because of the extensive Spanish salvage in the 1730s, the finds by modern divers have been modest, especially in gold coins, of which there are far more fakes on the market than genuine specimens. Nevertheless, the 1733 Fleet has been a significant source for some of the rare Mexican milled "pillar dollars" of 1732-1733 as well as the transitional "

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"-type coins of 1733.The Practical Book of Cobs 4th Ed. Sedwick

Recreational Activities

Activities include boating, canoeing,

snorkeling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped breathing tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters ...

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

Hours

Florida state parks are open between 8 a.m. and sundown every day of the year (including holidays).

Notes

References and external links

History of the 1733 Treasure Fleet. The Practical Book of Cobs 4th Ed. Sedwick

San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve State Park
a
Florida State Parks

at Absolutely Florida

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

at National Register of Historic Places
Monroe County listings
at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
San Pedro
at Florida's Underwater Archaeological Preserves

at Florida's Shipwrecks - 300 Years of Maritime History

at Indiana University
''“The Spanish Treasure Fleets of 1715 and 1733: Disasters Strike at Sea”'', a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan

{{authority control Florida Keys Archaeological sites in Monroe County, Florida State parks of Florida Parks in Monroe County, Florida National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Florida Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida New Spain Underwater archaeological sites Protected areas established in 1989 Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves Archaeological parks Maritime incidents in 1733 Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places 1989 establishments in Florida