Tarpon Springs, Florida - Spongeorama

Tarpon Springs, Florida - Spongeorama

See the movie, wander the museum, learn about our blobby squishy friend, the natural sponge. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Tarpon Springs, Florida - Spongeorama: Diver's Nightmare

What happens when a deep sea diver ascends too quickly, then spends twenty years in a musty display at the free Sponge Museum? A photo collage. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Tarpon Springs, Florida - Spongeorama

Owner Margie Fikaris let us see the Sponge Museum, after initially telling us it was closed to the public (RA: for some cleaning). It didn't hurt that we'd expressed an interest in buying a few of her store's natural sponges (and watching the video). The museum is in bad shape, quite dingy and in need of repair. Afterward she proudly showed off her display of postcards that had been done of the area over the years. [Peter Bates, 11/06/2009]

Tarpon Springs, Florida - Spongeorama

We specifically stopped here on our Fla. trip thanks to the great tips from RoadsideAmerica.com. After being disappointed that Weeki Wachee and the Burt Reynolds and Friends Museum were both closed when we tried to visit, Sponge-O-Rama was almost another disappointment. The shop and movie were going strong, however, the museum was dark and blocked off. I spoke to the Greek lady who was working and she explained they will be restoring and incorporating the museum into some sort of two-story restaurant project soon... but I couldn't leave without seeing what the hoopla was all about, so I asked her if it would be possible to take a look a the old museum, and she obligingly tripped the breakers and turned on all the lights and let us back there... what a fascinating sight. I took a handful of photos and purchased a sponge pack of various sponges, mango-coconut soap with a sponge attached, and a t-shirt that reads "I saw the movie, and now i'm an expert" with a nice graphic of a vintage diving helmet... [Chad Schaefer, 12/02/2008]

Tarpon Springs, Florida - Sponge-O-Rama

Still cheesy, still fun! Greek lady tries to put olive oil-based hand lotion on you the moment you walk in. The dioramas were in sorry shape - models with hands falling off, light bulbs out, tipped-over figures - very entertaining. The Movie was being shown every half hour or so - we had never seen it and enjoyed it thoroughly. Although they never come out and say it, the town's chief enemy seems to be: the synthetic sponge. Long may you run, Sponge-O-Rama! [Ben Mancine, 03/09/2007]