Located at a depth of 20 feet below the surface, the rippled sand of the ocean floor off the coast of the Florida Keys might be an unlikely spot to host a music festival, but that hasn’t stopped music enthusiasts from diving underwater to rock out.
For the past 35 years, this stretch of paradise about six miles south of Big Pine Key, one of the islands that make up the ar
chipelago, has hosted the Underwater Music Festival, an event that pairs music with conservation.
Equipped with guitars, horns, drums and other musical instruments, divers descend into the depths and play along to a playlist of water-inspired songs that are piped underwater via speakers.
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Over the years, the event has gone from being a small grassroots effort put together by a few locals, including former disc jockey Bill Becker and dentist Fred Troxel, with the idea that once people see what’s going on
beneath the surface, the more likely they would be to protect it, to a two-day festival that draws dozens of scuba divers, snorkelers and boaters to the Keys from around the world.
“Thirty-five years ago a few Keys locals sat down and wanted to figure out a way to bring awareness to our coral reefs that would preserve them and rebuild them and restore them in any way,” says Dave Turner, executive director of the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce.
“They came up with this idea to play music underwater and invited divers and snorkelers to listen while also enjoying the local sea life.” Although holding a music festival underwater may seem a bit out there, Turner
is quick to point out that it actually makes some sense.
“The music is obviously not as clear as when you’re sitting in a room with a stereo, but you can still hear it and understand the lyrics and music,” he says. “If you were to go underwater, you would recognize the song and it would sound the same, it just has a little different tone to it. Plus, sound travels faster and farther underwater.”
