Christ Statue

The famous "Christ of the Abyss" Statue was donated to the Underwater Society of America by an Italian diving group back in 1961 and placed in John Pennekamp State Park in 1965. The hands of the statue are at a depth of 11 feet and the base is at only 22 feet. It can be enjoyed by snorkelers and divers alike and lies in an area of spectacular coral formation known as the Key Largo Dry Rocks.

John D. Pennekamp was the editor at the Miami Herald and teamed up with Dr. Gilvert L. Voss, of the Marine Institute of Miami to lead a fight to protect the reefs from further damage back in the late 1950s. He had been active in establishing Everglades National Park and had been the first chairman of the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials, and had been a consultant with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.. These efforts led the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials to designate the state-controlled reefs off Key Largo a permanent preserve. In the spring of 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhowerproclaimed the adjacent, federally-controlled area of the reefs as the Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve. Florida Governor Leroy Collins later changed the name of the park to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, in recognition of John Pennekamp's efforts to save marine life. A land base and access to U.S. 1 (the Overseas Highway) were acquired by purchase and donation. The park opened in 1963.