9/28/2023 0 Comments Susami bay postbox![]() #3 - Pulau Layang-Layang, MalaysiaĪt the incredible depth of 131 feet, the underwater mailbox in Pulau Layang-Lang is easily the deepest in the world, far surpassing the previous world record of 33 feet. The items are then delivered to recipients within a week of being posted.Įvery year, the mailbox receives between 1,000–1,500 pieces of mail, and 32,000 pieces of mail have been posted in the underwater mailbox since its creation.īecause seawater is so corrosive, two cast-iron mailboxes must be alternated every six months. An employee of the shop collects the cards once every few days and takes them to the local post office. The postbox is for use by divers who buy water-resistant postcards at Yamatani’s store and write messages on them with an oil-based paint marker. The then-postmaster, Toshihiko Matsumoto, put forth the idea of the underwater mailbox. Before the mailbox, Susami had no special items of interest to attract pilgrims. Susami is a small fishing town of approximately 5,000 people, and the mailbox was originally created in 1999 as a way of promoting the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage. Sitting in 33 feet of water, this underwater mailbox held the record as the deepest underwater mailbox for some time. With Vanuatu websites boasting of their pristine coral reefs, it would appear that the main purpose of the mailbox is simply to get people in the water. Instead of a leisurely walk out to the mailbox, you take a leisurely swim, passing sea turtles and gorgeous pieces of coral. While maybe not as easy to access as a good ol’ fashioned wall mount mailbox, it’s hard to imagine anything more pleasant than a swim through balmy coral waters. Hideaway Island staff will then retrieve the postcards and ensure they are delivered promptly. If snorkelers cannot duck-dive down that far, Hideaway Island staff will be on the spot to help out. Situated within the Hideaway Island marine sanctuary, the Post Office sits in around three metres of water and both divers and snorkelers are able to post special “waterproof postcards”. They describe their process on their website: Located in 3 meters of water, this was the first established official underwater mailbox. Apparently when you live in an exotic location, your mailboxes must also be situated in exotic locations. Yes, this is the same Vanuatu that boasts the mailbox perched atop a live volcano. Let’s go on a brief, whirlwind tour of the underwater mailboxes of the world. These most certainly aren’t your standard residential mailboxes or mounted mailboxes. A postal box on the island chain of Vanuatu is perched near the rim of a live volcano.īut underwater mailboxes have one very unique thing going for them: THEY’RE UNDERWATER! You literally have to don scuba gear to get to these postboxes, and outgoing mail can only be collected while wearing scuba gear. ![]() Since 1944, the post office located on a British base in Antarctica processes about 70,000 pieces of mail every year. The idea of mailboxes in weird places isn’t new. The United States Post Office shipped 770 billion postcards in 2014.īut even beyond that, postcards (and other pieces of mail) are finding new life in the most unlikely of places: underwater mailboxes. Believe it or not, postcards aren’t dead. Scott Adams, who created the comic Dilbert, said, “I get mail therefore I am.” We assume that Scott wasn’t including postcards in this statement. When was the last time you received a bona fide handwritten postcard? (It counts even if it comes from one of those people who use pre-printed address labels.) That sales and usage have been slipping in the United States - or across the globe, for that matter - seems self-evident. ![]() Mark Jenkins at The Washington Post wrote: When was the last time you received a postcard? With the explosion in mobile phones, email, text message, Facebook, and a thousand other forms of communication, does anyone even send postcards anymore? You Won’t Believe These Crazy Underwater Mailboxes Located underwater, on mountains, and even on ships, you have to see them to believe them. If you love mailboxes, you’ll be amazed at these ones.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |