The Man in the Sea Museum will host its 9th annual Oyster Bash fundraiser on Saturday, January 25, 2020 at the Dive Lab, at 1415 Moylan Road, from 1pm-5pm to raise funds for museum operations and the continued restoration of deep-sea artifacts. This is the primary fundraiser for Panama City Beach’s only museum – The Man in the Sea Museum – the revenue generated at this annual event is critical to its success. Oyster Bash 2019 was cancelled due to Hurricane Michael. Your support is truly needed to make 2020 the best year ever!
Participate in live diving helmet demonstrations provided by Dive Lab, enjoy the long spinning tales of dives gone by. While you help support this iconic community institution, enjoy all you can eat ice cold oysters, a low country boil full of Gulf fresh shrimp, craft beer and cold beverages as well as hotdogs and hamburgers for the kids (and kids at heart). Enjoy live music by Nate Pennington, Warren Cash & Steve Hammond and Anthony Peebles. Thanks to our amazing sponsors, Shuckums, Red Alert Diving (RAD), Panama City Diving, Diver’s Den, Full Sail Realty, Coastal Plastic Surgery, DR Horton and Process Valve & Instruments and more, who have been instrumental in supporting this extraordinary event.
In 1964, four Navy divers set out to prove the viability of saturation diving and test the ability of humans to live in isolation for extended periods of time by spending 11 days in 193 feet of water. The knowledge gained from the SEALAB expeditions helped advance the science of deep sea diving and rescue, and contributed to the understanding of the psychological and physiological strains humans can endure.
Thanks to previous fundraising, the museum has successfully restored SEALAB. Visitors can tour it, along with the rest of the museum that highlights the history of diving and the SEALAB program that perfected Saturation Diving. We’re located at 17314 Panama City Beach Parkway (Back Beach Road). Enjoy the museum’s exhibits, explore the MK IV Beaver Submarine, and try on a deep sea diving helmet rated to 600 feet!
This museum preserves a special piece of Panama City’s heritage and remembers those who pioneered such amazing and dangerous research. Your support makes it possible to keep it going
Oyster Bash Admission: $35/Adult (17 and up); $15/Kids (6-16); Children 5 and under are FREE!
About The Man in the Sea Museum
The Institute of Diving is a non-profit, educational organization formed in 1977. The initial idea for establishing the institute and its museum (Man in the Sea Museum) was conceived in 1976 by a group of divers from the U.S. Navy’s SEALAB Program and representatives from commercial, academic, scientific, medical, and sport diving fields. While the torch has been passed many times, the ongoing development of a museum that duly honors and preserves our rich and dynamic history in diving remains the purpose behind the Institute and the goal of those who currently serve on its behalf. To learn more, www.maninthesea.org.