CELEBRATING 10TH ANNIVERSARY
AND WORLD OCEANS DAY
June 5th-7th, 2025
CORALPALOOZA™
A GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR OUR CORAL REEFS!
To celebrate World Oceans Day every year, Coral Restoration Foundation mobilizes hundreds of ocean lovers in Florida and around the world to take action to restore our planet’s disappearing coral reefs.
Year after year, Coralpalooza makes waves with large scale action taking place over three days in Florida, and with reef-saving activities happening around the world as part of the Coralpalooza Community.
Please see the FAQs below for more details.
Don’t miss your chance!
Boats fill up fast — get on the FIRST ALERT LIST for Coralpalooza™ Dive Day 2025 in Florida!
When you sign up to the Coralpalooza 2025 First Alert List, you’ll get a 48-hour head start when registration opens. That means you’ve got two days to secure your place on a boat at the heart of Coralpalooza before we announce it to the world.
Highlights from the 2024 CORALPALOOZA™ COMMUNITY:
CRF: South Florida, US
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Engaged over 650 people, contributing more than 1,260 hours to coral restoration activities and outreach.
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Maintained over 210 Coral Trees™ in the CRF nurseries in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuaries
CRF St. Croix: USVI
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Hosted 18 participants for morning and afternoon dives.
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Cleaned around 20 nursery structures and propagated 302 new boulder plugs.
Coral Nurture Program: Australia
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Undertook Coralplaoooza activities between June 3rd and June 8th, 2024.
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Utilized 10 boats and involved 70 participants who contributed 80 hours to reef restoration
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Out-planted 2,864 corals across 10 reef sites.
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Cleaned and harvested from 32 nurseries.
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Conducted 18 ecological surveys, including benthic and fish surveys.
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Completed photogrammetry of over 41 plots.
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Set up a PhD experiment.
Rescue a Reef: Miami, Florida, USA
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Out-planted over 80 staghorn corals at Paradise Reef, Miami, FL, on June 5th.
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Cleaned all staghorn trees in Paradise Nursery and conducted educational sessions.
Nature Seychelles: Seychelles
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Joined Coralpalooza 2024 during Ocean Week, June 5th-6th.
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Selected heat-tolerant coral species using Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS).
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Assessed thermal tolerance of four reef-building corals.
Seascape Caribbean: Jamaica
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Worked on June 7th to maintain and repair coral nurseries.
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Checked 1,100 coral nubbins and propagated 30 new corals.
Blue Corner Marine Research: Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia
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Celebrated Coralpalooza™ 2024 and World Oceans Day on June 8th.
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Involved 20 team members for 10 hours:
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Out-planted hundreds of corals.
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Installed new structures and nursery ropes.
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Conducted comprehensive Reef Check survey.
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Hosted training workshop for local marine tourism community.
CoralCatch: Indonesia
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Out-planted 76 corals and maintained over 30 structures.
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Hosted educational workshop for 25 elementary students.
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Empowered local women by teaching them to swim.
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Cleaned up 14.5 kg of beach trash.
Misool Foundation: Raja Ampat, Indonesia
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Participated on June 2nd, 3rd, and 5th.
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Added 50 new coral fragments and maintained 42 artificial structures.
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Monitored 873 coral fragments.
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Educated senior high school students on coral reef nursery decline.
Reefscapers: Maldives
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Out-planted 100 corals on frames and conducted in-water structure maintenance.
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Monitored coral bleaching and managed predators.
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Utilized two boats and worked for 15 impactful hours.
Marhe, Marine Research and Higher Education Center: Maldives
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Hosted events in collaboration with Diamonds Thudufushi Beach and Water Villas, Diamonds Athuruga Beach and Water Villas, and Sandies Bathala Maldives.
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From June 1st to 8th, engaged 216 participants in monitoring coral bleaching, workshops, marine biology presentations, clean-up activities, documentaries, VR sessions, and snorkeling surveys.
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Organized 25 different activities to raise awareness and gather crucial reef protection data.
FAQs
Is Coralpalooza 2025 happening after the 2023 bleaching and heat disturbance event?
YES, it is still happening! In fact, we feel that Coralpalooza is more important than ever since it represents the resilience of restoration efforts in the face of adversity and disturbance events. As always, we will be basing our in-water restoration activities on the forecasted conditions so that the health of the coral stays our priority!
How is this Coralpalooza 2025 different from previous years?
We heard you loud and clear – that you wanted MORE ways to make a difference! This year we are repeating our three-day format (Thursday, June 5th through Saturday, June 7th) for dive day opportunities. Each dive registration is for a half day, two tank trip, which means more trips per day and more opportunities for people to participate. We are adding a Friday night social celebration and working with local dive operators to offer unique add-on dive programs to increase your chance to make a positive impact! At registration, you will see multi-day and multi-location options on registration forms and the chance to opt-in for additional activities organized by local dive shops. Each Coralpalooza day is a separate registration and cost. For additional activity details offered by dive operators, please refer to the participating dive shop.
So how will this year’s event work?
Participants can choose to participate for multiple options Thursday, June 5th through Friday, June 7th. Registrants will be assigned to dive operators based on the location and day that they selected (Upper Keys or Lower Keys), but the location you go to may all be different! Two dives per registrant are coordinated (two tanks and weights included) and boats are scheduled for half days to allow for the operators to still get in a second dive trip. This means that, if you want to fit in a fun dive the same day, you can! Travel times on the vessel will vary from 30 to 60 minutes and you can plan for 4 hours on the boat.
What will I be doing?
Restoration activities and SCUBA diving are always weather dependent activities. The safety of our divers, both participants and our CRF team, is our ultimate priority. We plan to maximize the restoration impact through coral outplanting, coral reef maintenance or reef monitoring based on the forecasted conditions, but activities may be changed or even cancelled last minute. Should the weather not allow for restoration activities but is deemed safe enough for recreational diving per the dive operators, then activities will be revised. Should a small craft advisory or warning be issued, dive activities may be cancelled entirely in the interest of safety. Coralpalooza™ registration is non-refundable and non-transferable.
How long are the dives?
Times will be given per location and activity! All divers and their buddies must return to the vessel with no less than 500PSI in their tanks.
Can I spend one dive taking pictures?
We do encourage people to document their experience, and we are excited to all be working towards a positive mission together! Please feel free to take the occasional picture, but otherwise, focus on the task at hand to ensure that our work is benefitting the coral.
How many dives are included?
Two dives are coordinated for all registrants. The CRF™ representatives on board coordinating the restoration activities (the “Coral Crew”) may conduct a third dive to finish any remaining restoration work.
How many sites will we visit?
Depends on the day, the work goals, and the weather! Should the weather not allow for a particular activity, then the plan will be altered, and sites will be selected based on conditions.
Are they morning or afternoon dives?
Dives are offered Thursday morning and afternoon, Friday morning, and Saturday morning and afternoon.
Do you provide rental gear?
Coral Restoration Foundation™ works with local dive operators for the restoration activities and vessel usage. All registrants will be assigned a liaison dive operator once registration closes, and this dive operator can assist with any rental gear. Please contact your assigned dive operator well in advance to request rental gear or any other accommodations.
How about tanks/weights?
The dive operator that you are assigned to will provide the tanks and weights!
How about Nitrox?
The dive operator that you are assigned to may be able to support your Nitrox request!
Can I bring my own tanks?
Please direct this question to your assigned dive operator once registration closes and more details have been sent out!
How deep are the dives?
Dives may vary from 15-30 ft (5-10m) in depth for restoration activities. Should restoration activities be impacted due to weather and recreational diving occur, dive depths may vary pending the operator’s discretion.
How will I receive training?
Training will be coordinated remotely through mandatory Zoom sessions. Once registration closes, multiple Zoom classes will be offered in the weeks leading up to June 1st. All registered dive and snorkel participants MUST attend a Zoom training or participation will be limited to snorkeling.
I’ve already done a dive program; do I have to attend training?
Yes! Coralpalooza™ is such a unique event that being familiar with its programming is necessary!
I don’t have a buddy. What now?
Not a problem! There are many individuals who have registered. You will be buddied randomly with another individual unless previously indicated on your registration form. If you are a minor, then an adult must accompany you in the same activity. If the minor doesn’t have an adult parent or guardian, the dive operator can hire a dive master – please let us know if this is the case!
My minor child wants to participate. What now?
We welcome ages 12 and upwards to participate. Minors must be accompanied by an adult participating in the same activity – if a minor is snorkeling/diving then an adult parent/guardian must snorkel/dive with them as a buddy. If that is not possible, please contact the assigned dive operator to coordinate a private divemaster/buddy. Please also work with your minor to monitor email updates and requirements for participation, otherwise participation may be limited.
What should I bring?
- Food & snacks! We will be out on the water for 4 hoursand it’s easy to get hangry (sorry, “hungry”) on boats! If snacks are important to you, please plan to bring some food for yourself and group.
- Water! While there will be water on board the boats, please plan to bring a refillable water container(s), and maybe even some electrolytes to ensure proper hydration. SCUBA diving is a thirsty sport!
- Please protect your skin and eyes by covering up, using zinc- or titanium-based sunscreen (please NO sunscreen with oxybenzone chemicals; if unsure, then leave it at home!), bringing a hat and wearing sunglasses.
- Bring a simple pair of gardening gloves for nursery maintenance work!
- A towel(s)
- Whatever else you need for a morning on the water
