Vintage Dive Day Set for April 11 at Key Largo’s MarineLab Undersea Park

Divers in U.S. Navy Mark V hard-hat suits will descend into the lagoon at 51 Shoreland Drive on April 11, as the History of Diving Museum and the National Association of Underwater Instructors bring Vintage Dive Day to Keys MarineLab Undersea Park in Key Largo.

The festival-style event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with vintage dives scheduled every hour. A focused noon demonstration will feature the classic Mark V helmet and suit, the brass-and-canvas rig that outfitted U.S. Navy divers through much of the twentieth century. Scuba-certified participants can enter the water for $50 per person; non-divers are encouraged to contribute a $10 donation toward museum programming.

Brass Hat Divers and other historic-diving groups will handle the heavy-suit demonstrations and present open-bottom "Divinhood" equipment produced by Miller-Dunn, a Miami manufacturer that built the helmets from 1915 through the 1940s. The Divinhood uses an open-bottom air pocket rather than a sealed helmet and was widely deployed in the shallow commercial work, including ship husbandry and sponge harvesting, that defined Florida Keys maritime labor for decades.

Museum representatives from the History of Diving Museum will staff on-site exhibits and preview upcoming collections and events. The museum's "Dive Into Art: Stories from the Sea" program will be featured as part of the day's outreach alongside the diving demonstrations.

MarineLab's enclosed lagoon provides the kind of controlled, shallow-water setting that makes it possible to put antique commercial diving equipment into actual use, rather than keeping it behind glass. The facility has served student divers and marine science programs throughout the Keys for years, and Saturday's event extends that educational mission to equipment that predates modern scuba by several decades.

Participants must be scuba-certified and are encouraged to reserve spots in advance through the History of Diving Museum's reservation portal. Vintage Dive Day is Saturday, April 11, at Keys MarineLab Undersea Park, 51 Shoreland Drive, Key Largo.