The world’s ultimate dive bar is in Florida. That’s to be expected. Less expected — it’s about 60 feet below the surface of the ocean, a wetsuit is a part of the dress code, and the bartender is a mermaid.

Welcome to the Midnight Sun aboard the Okinawa, a U.S. Army tug boat purpose-sunk in 2017. Nearby, aboard the a 324-foot tanker vessel Lady Luck, an octopus deals craps, a shark cards, and a 500-pound treasure chest rests on the deck. Divers can see 16 staterooms, the captain’s deck, engine room, galley and holding bays and swim through the wheelhouse. These whimsical installations are among 18 wrecks that make up Pompano Beach’s Shipwreck Park.
Local and international divers enjoying the spectacle can thank those like Jeff Torode, owner of South Florida Diving Headquarters and board member for the Shipwreck Park Foundation, for these quirky delights.

“Members of the dive community come together and work extremely hard,” to make the park a reality, he says. “There are many wrecks there and you can dive shallow, or you can go to about 300 feet.”

Launched in 2015, Shipwreck Park is a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating a submerged wreck playground of the same name that does double duty as a tourism draw and artificial reef system. Thanks to partnerships between the City of Pompano Beach, local businesses and divers, the park unites wrecks old and new, reefs natural and artificial, for a five square mile dive amusement park.

Wrecks scuttled over the last several years rest among ruins from as early as the 1900. Natural wrecks include a 170-foot-long German freighter Union Express, sunk in 1992, which carried food and supplies in the Caribbean during its career, and The Copenhagen, sunk in 1900 and partially dismantled after efforts to salvage the vessel failed.

Others, like the Lady Luck and Okinawa, are fresh jungle gyms intentionally crafted by dedicated divers.

First an appropriate ship must be located. Members of the foundation search websites and contact cities and companies with older ships that have been taken out of service, rendering them available for artificial reefs. The Lady Luck, for example, was a decommissioned City of New York sludge tanker known as Newtown Creek in a previous life.

Once a ship is procured, the outside of the ship needs to be properly scrubbed before scuttling to ensure toxic chemicals cannot leach out over time, harming ocean life. The interiors must be cleared so diving is safe, especially for amateurs. Professionals trained to safely handle such toxic materials handle this phase, according to Rob Wyre, chairman of Shipwreck Park.

Preparing a vessel to become an artificial reef is costly. Especially with older military ships, it can be expensive and difficult to remove all the asbestos, chemicals and oil that accumulated over time.

It took about $200,000 to prepare the Okinawa, a U.S. Army tug boat, and about $1 million to prepare the 324-foot Lady Luck. The Shipwreck Park Foundation received $312,500 from the City of Pompano Beach and the Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park toward the purchase, towing, cleanup, installation of artworks and the sinking of Lady Luck. On-site events, like an underwater poker tournament, Pompano Beach Lionfish Derby and Taste of Shipwreck Park generate additional funds. The ship was towed from New York to the Miami River where it was cleaned in compliance with federal and state regulations.

At times, the creations of local artists Dennis McDonald, are attached before the sinking. Subsequent pieces are added annually — the new creations are deployed South Florida Diving Headquarters and volunteers after a year of public display in an oceanside park thanks to funding from the Pompano Public Arts Foundation

Finally, it’s time to send the whole endeavor to the bottom of the ocean. Water was continually pumped into Lady Luck, who lived up to her name with a smooth trip to the seabed in 2016. The Okinawa’s travels were bumpier. It slipped shortly after it was sunk, and a later hurricane moved it even deeper later. Volunteer divers then populate the wrecks with art installations, like the Okinawa’s card shark.

All the work pays off with that first splash into the quirky aquatic wonderland.

“Scuba divers and snorkelers love it,” says Brian Donovan, assistant city manager for Pompano Beach “These wrecks that have recent been sunk create great artificial reefs and people love to dive them,” he said.
“It is amazing how fast the ships have populated with fish,” says Torode. “We have seen a tremendous amount of sea life growth since we sank two ships a few years ago.”

Shipwreck Park aims to continue growing, and is in the process of procuring more vessels to add to the madcap collection. For Torode, the eclecticism is one of the best parts of the endeavor: “We have older wrecks in the in the park There is an old guard boat and ships that sank in storms. We placed artwork on the more recent ships we sank. We have added additional artwork to the ships. It is fun.”