The treasure hotspot near modern-day Key West, Florida: These are the Santa Margarita million-dollar discoveries
Key West, Florida, is more than just a tropical paradise, it’s also a hotspot for finding treasure.
Key West, the famous U.S. island city that forms part of the Florida Keys archipelago, is more than just a tropical paradise—it’s also one of the most legendary hotspots in the world for treasure hunting.
With its rich maritime history, sunken Spanish galleons, and tales of buried pirate loot, Key West has long drawn treasure seekers from around the globe to try their luck with metal detectors up and down the sandy coastlines.
Located at the southernmost point of the continental U.S., Key West lies near the treacherous Florida Straits—a narrow, reef-laden channel that was notorious for shipwrecks during the 17th and 18th centuries. This area was a key route for Spanish treasure fleets returning from the New World to Europe, often carrying gold, silver, jewels, and valuable artefacts. Many of these ships never made it home, instead falling victim to hurricanes, navigational errors, or pirates. Their wreckage—and treasure—remains scattered across the sea floor around the Keys.
The most famous modern-day treasure discovery happened thanks to Mel Fisher, a persistent treasure hunter who spent 16 years searching for the wreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a Spanish galleon that sank in 1622.
In 1985, he finally struck gold—literally. The Atocha yielded a staggering haul of emeralds, silver bars, gold coins, and other priceless items, estimated to be worth over $400 million. The find cemented Key West’s reputation as a real-world treasure hotspot.
Blue Water Ventures diver Michael DeMar, when searching beneath about a foot of sand in 18 feet of water approximately 30 miles west of Key West, found a valuable gold chalice while searching for the remains of the Spanish galleon Santa Margarita, which sank in 1622 near the Florida Keys.
The two-handled chalice features etched scrollwork and sits on a gold base; it is nearly five inches tall and large enough to hold a softball. “It will probably be valued at upward of a million dollars,” said Fisher grandson Sean Fisher. “We poured a glass of champagne in it and we all took a sip.” The search is just one example of a continuation of efforts from Mel Fisher, and is now carried on by his family and Blue Water Ventures.
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