 The series predominantly takes place in the benthic underwater city of Bikini Bottom which , according to some third @-@ party sources , is located in the Pacific Ocean beneath the real @-@ life coral reef known as Bikini Atoll . In 2015 , Tom Kenny confirmed that the fictitious city was named after Bikini Atoll , but denied an Internet fan theory that connected the series ' characters to actual nuclear testing that occurred in the atoll . 
