San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve

San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve on Key Colony Beach is actually located off of US 1 in Islamorada, Florida. The preserve is an underwater location for diving and snorkeling. It is most notable for the shipwreck called the San Pedro. The San Pedro was a 287 ton Dutch ship, which sank in 1733 due to a hurricane. It was part of a Spanish Flotilla. In 1960, the ship was discovered in Hawk Channel close to Indian Key. There was a huge salvage project to bring up some of the ship's parts. The divers also worked to uncover the 90 foot by 30 foot wide wreck.

The underwater dive site offers an anchor, information plaque, and seven replica cannons. Visitors are able to dive in 18 feet of water to see the site. Snorkelers can also get in the water to see the wreck since visibility is more than 30 feet on most days. As an underwater wreck of over 250 years, the wreck is also home to marine life. Barnacles, coral, fish, moray eels and other marine life can be spotted on a normal dive. There are plenty of mooring buoys so that one does not have to anchor and damage the preserve.