Our History and Mission
James (Jim) Caldwell joined the U.S. Navy in 1943, and his love of diving, nurtured as a member of the Underwater Demolition Team (precursor to the Navy SEALs), sprang from there to spawn a career that included doing rescue, recovery, underwater wreckage salvage, cable laying, mapping, dredging and more. Along the way he has collected an astonishing array of diving equipment, salvaged pieces, fascinating photographs - and an antique rum barrel!
Mr. Caldwell and his son, Stephan Caldwell, opened Above and Below: Caldwell’s Diving Museum, to showcase the history of diving and to show off some of the memorabilia he has gathered over a lifetime spent diving in waters from Bikini Atoll, to Toms River, to South America. Museum pieces include “Diver Dan,” an attraction created by Caldwell for his first diving store, which showcased one of his original “hardhat” outfits.
Other pieces include:
- over 20 diving helmets from different timeframes and countries
- giant urns found during a dredging job
- remnants of cabling, appropriately colored in red, white and blue, that he used to secure communications from Bayonne to the Statue of Liberty
- a replica of the 1904 Schooner Yacht Atlantic, which he helped raise after it sank not once, but twice
- an authentic rum barrel used on British Navy ships.
- And don’t miss the amazing picture of the atom bomb at Bikini Atoll. Listening to Mr. Caldwell give his first hand recounting of that time will give you a perspective that few will ever have.
We are open 12pm to 4pm every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
at 82 Water Street, Toms River NJ. 908-910-3314