In 2018, Florida opened America’s first permanent underwater sculpture garden 58 feet below the Gulf; it has grown into a living reef where more than 100 species have been documented

Imagine you are diving under the Gulf of Mexico and come upon what looks like a museum, only instead of galleries and polished floors, there is an unreal world of sculptures, tropical fish and drifting sea life. Florida's Underwater Museum of Art has turned the ocean floor into a gallery at 58 feet below the surface, where art is slowly becoming part of nature. Located about 0.93 miles off the shore of Grayton Beach State Park in Walton County, the Underwater Museum of Art (UMA) is the first permanent underwater sculpture garden in the United States. But it is more than an unusual destination for divers. Its sculptures have been designed specifically to be artificial reefs, creating habitat on an area dominated by barren sand. Scroll down to read the details.

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