Join the Reef Renewal Movement: Help Restore Bonaire's Coral Reefs
As global sea temperatures rise and human activity impacts marine ecosystems, coral reefs are facing severe threats. Coral bleaching, pollution, and harmful practices like using non-reef-friendly sunscreen all contribute to the decline of our vital ecosystems. On Bonaire, protecting our coral reefs has never been more important!
The Importance of Corals
Corals not only serve as a home for marine life but also play a crucial role in protecting our shores from erosion and supporting Bonaire’s tourism-based economy. By joining the Reef Renewal movement, you can directly help preserve the reefs for future generations. The Reef Renewal course gives you the unique opportunity to make a tangible impact, while learning critical skills in marine conservation.
What is Reef Renewal?
Reef Renewal on Bonaire is a hands-on coral restoration program aimed at restoring and growing the island’s coral reefs. Through the use of underwater nurseries and sustainable outplanting techniques, volunteers and divers work to propagate and nurture threatened coral species like elkhorn and staghorn. The goal is to restore the health of Bonaire’s reefs, ensuring they thrive for future generations. By joining the Reef Renewal course at Scuba Elite, you become an active participant in this essential conservation effort!
Staghorn corals
New staghorn coral babies at the Reef Renewal nursery. You can find them at dive site Something Special on Bonaire
The Reef Renewal Course
This Reef Renewal course consists of three action-packed dives, each designed to equip you with the tools and knowledge needed to help restore Bonaire’s coral reefs.
You’ll learn:
How to care for coral nurseries
How to tie newly pruned corals to these nurseries
And finally, how to build your very own coral garden using fully grown coral pieces.
The feeling of working underwater to help our oceans recover is truly unforgettable—it’s a moment of awe, where you become part of something bigger, working hand-in-hand with nature to revive the reefs.
Dive 1: Coral Nursery Maintenance
The first step in helping restore coral reefs is maintaining coral nurseries. During this dive, you'll work with coral trees—structures where baby corals grow and thrive before being transplanted back to the reef. Algae and fire coral are major threats to the health of these nurseries, as they can overgrow the developing corals.
To prevent this, you’ll learn how to carefully handle the coral tree, using scrapers and other tools to remove unwanted growth. Keeping the trees clean allows baby corals to thrive in a safe and healthy environment. Regular maintenance ensures that the coral fragments grow strong, giving them the best chance of survival once they’re out-planted back into Bonaire's reefs.
The sensation of gently scraping away algae, knowing that you’re safeguarding the future of Bonaire’s reefs, gives a sense of purpose and achievement like no other!
Dive 1: Coral Nursery Maintenance
Reef Renewal Diver, Sharon, is taking care of the elkhorn nursery on Bonaire.
Dive 2: Pruning and Growing New Corals
Next, you’ll get hands-on with coral pruning and tying new corals to the tree. Corals like elkhorn and staghorn can regenerate quickly when given the right conditions. By pruning larger coral fragments into smaller pieces and reattaching them to the tree, you help the coral re-grow. Within as little as nine months, these newly propagated corals will be ready for outplanting!
Growing corals in nurseries allows them to develop in a controlled, protected environment, away from many of the threats they would face on the open reef. This step is critical to restoring Bonaire’s reefs. As you delicately tie each new coral fragment, you can feel the hope and potential in your hands—the future of the reef is growing, and you’re playing an active role in its survival!
Dive 3: Outplanting Your Coral Garden
The final dive in the Reef Renewal course is one of the most exciting—outplanting your coral fragments onto the reef. Our coral nursery is located at the dive site Something Special, and we will return here to outplant the corals. In this shallow area, you’ll create your own coral garden. There’s no need for glue or cement—just your careful hands and the ability to stack corals like a game of underwater Jenga.
Once it’s stable, the fish will immediately test out their new home! That feeling is indescribable—knowing that you’ve just created a new habitat, a living room for marine life, is one of the most fulfilling moments a diver can experience.
Dive 3: Outplanting
Reef Renewal Diver, Anke, is outplanting staghorn corals at dive site Something Special on Bonaire.
Why Scuba Elite Supports Reef Renewal
At Scuba Elite, we believe in the power of education and action to make a positive impact on the environment. Through courses like Reef Renewal, we hope to raise awareness about the importance of marine conservation while equipping divers with the tools and knowledge to make a difference.
The ocean is our shared responsibility, and by participating in reef renewal efforts, we can ensure that Bonaire’s reefs remain vibrant and healthy for future generations. Together (but only together), we can protect this underwater paradise and contribute to the long-term preservation of our planet's oceans.
Let’s make sure our reefs thrive, not just for us, but for the many generations to come!
Would you like to join us?
Whether you are a visitor or a resident of Bonaire, you can make a difference. If you're visiting, taking part in the Reef Renewal course gives us the extra manpower needed to cultivate and outplant more corals, directly contributing to the restoration of our reefs. For those fortunate enough to call this island home, you can go even further—join our tri-monthly clean-up dives for the nurseries and witness your very own coral garden grow and thrive over time. No matter how long you stay, your efforts leave a lasting impact on Bonaire’s marine ecosystem.
You can do this!
Sign up and use the form below.
Coral Nursery Maintenance
Reef Renewal diver, Bianca, is taking care of cleaning the nursery with elkhorn corals at dive site Something Special on Bonaire.
