Bahamas Underwater Post Office
Situated within the hideaway island marine sanctuary the post office sits in around three metres of water and both divers and snorkellers are able to post special waterproof postcards.
Bahamas underwater post office. The islands of the bahamas are well known for crystal clear waters which allows the sunlight to penetrate deep down and the first under water motion picture was shot back in 1914 in the bahamas. This very same stamp was then used to frank many of the covers posted at the sea floor post office. It was obvious that this cover had an interesting story to tell.
One of the world s only underwater post offices can be found off of mele vanuatu which hosts the hideaway island resort a vacation spot specializing in scuba and snorkeling. The design was based on a photograph by williamson. Soon after the idea was expanded into the photosphere which he named jules verne.
Adjacent to a spiralling 100 foot tower the post box was recently commemorated with a set of its very own stamps. The mailbox and converted. This was basically a scientific expedition but it also marked to creation of the sea floor post office.
In 1912 as williamson was working as a reporter he used the device to make underwater photographs in norfolk harbour in england. Williamson used it to create motion pictures starting first in the bahamas as well as the first under the sea post office in 1939. Collectible letters were sold and then postmarked from sea floor bahamas in 1939 and 1940.
Did you know that the bahamas had the worlds first undersea post office the 1940 cover had a may 6th sea floor bahamas postmark. Located about 160 feet off the coast of vanuatu an island nation situated about 1 000 miles east of northern australia sits the vanuatu post s underwater post office. In 1939 the bahamas williamson undersea expedition to film underwater was started.
The bahamas post office is delighted to mark the 75th anniversary of the world s first undersea post office and to pay tribute to the pioneering work of john ernest j e williamson 1881 1966 whose underwater photography drew mass attention to the beautiful and precious natural resources around the bahamas. It is the world s only underwater post office. Williamson converted an underwater sphere the photosphere which had been used to film underwater scenes for twenty thousand leagues under the sea 1915 into the world s first underwater post office.
Sea floor bahamas j e. The bahamas was the first country to have an underwater post office in 1939. A couple of years later it was closed due to world war ii 1942.
Vanuatu post has created an official post office with a difference.
