Resort Reef Loss is Global

A major 2015 survey of the coral reefs in the Caribbean revealed the extent to which one of the world's biggest and most important reserves of coral has been degraded by climate change, pollution, overfishing and degradation.

As much as 80% of Caribbean coral has been lost in recent years. The Catlin scientific survey undertook the most comprehensive survey yet of the state of the region's reefs, starting in Belize and moving on to Mexico, Anguilla, Barbuda, St Lucia, Turks & Caicos, Florida and Bermuda.

This disturbing survey result was not just limited to the Caribbean. The world's reefs are in decline and no more so than nearshore reefs sitting in front of some of the world's highest rated resort hotel chains.

For the past 40 years unchecked resort development and developer disregard for the oceans have left a trail of nearshore reef loss and habitat destruction leading to an all too familiar five-star resort hotel with a two-star waterfront.

Artificial reef values to regional economies have been long studied in Florida which has one of the largest tourism based artificial reef programs on the planet. In short, they are good business.

Step 1: Artificial Reef Case Study - Dubai

In 2014 Reef Worlds, a US based artificial reef development company, was contracted to design and build an underwater tourism site that also acted as an artificial reef called The Pearl of Dubai.

The project was a fundamental departure from ordinary artificial reefs. It featured a unique and revolutionary synergy between tourism and habitat generation, funded exclusively by a resort developer in the UAE seeking to enhance waterfront viability while thrilling resort guests.

Reef Worlds, whose team includes film and television designers, dive-site developers, and marine biologists, design next generation sustainable reefs for tourism and the environment. These "Dynamic Reefs" are created to save and rehabilitate nearshore resort ocean habitat around the globe, while at the same time creating new revenue channels for their resort hotel clients.

For hotels nearshore coral and reef loss translates into customer dissatisfaction. Scuba diving and snorkeling are a $3-billion-a-year business, most resort developments don’t offer much in the way of special underwater experiences. Reef Worlds estimates there are 500,000 square miles of resort oceanfront with limited appeal to adventurous tourists due to rampant habitat loss.

The Pearl of Dubai site is a five acre underwater Lost City complete with a full range of habitat designed for regional wildlife. The site features Hamour Habitat throughout, allowing a regional grouper species set aside areas to forage and shelter without fishing pressure found elsewhere in the Gulf.

The Pearl of Dubai launch in 2018 will reset global expectations for resort vacation stays and house reefs.

Step 2: Artificial Reefs for Resorts - Step One

Not all resort developments will have the necessary benthic layout for an artificial reef development. The Reef Worlds team estimates only about 80% of all proposed sites will be appropriate artificial reef candidates.

The first step is to conduct an underwater survey with a professional coral biologist and design team.

Artificial reefs cannot be placed on existing live reef or seagrass beds. Think of your resort reef as an addition to an existing neighborhood in decline. Look for dead zones or regions that suffer from reef loss due to a wide variety of factors from runoff to negative human interaction.

Ideally, you want to ensure that your resort reef helps to provide better shelter and provisioning opportunities for a wide variety of wildlife. Your starting point will be to determine the purpose of your project - there are many reasons to start an artificial reef such as creating a new dive spot, repairing existing damaged reefs, rescuing imperilled corals from other sites, or protecting endangered and indigenous species.

This purpose will shape the decisions and actions you must take during the rest of the project. No artificial reef project can be successfully designed without knowing your specific reef objectives, to guide the design and construction of the reef, to reef placement, sizes and numbers of reef units to use, and special features your reef made need.

Step 3: Artificial Reefs for Resorts - Step Two

Once you have ascertained a proper placement for your new artificial reef and secured the necessary permits (usually easy to acquire), the next step is design. This is the fun part because artificial reefs have come a long way from the days of triangles, ship drops, and balls underwater.

Today's artificial reefs can be constructed to look like almost any design you choose. Marine life is indiscriminate in its choice for habitat leaving design looks up to the resort hotel and its underwater team.

Artificial reef design offers exciting revenue building possibilities for resort hotels, from snorkel and educational trails underwater, to exciting new scuba training sites close to shore.

Artificial reef design should encompass some basics:

1. Good day/night habitat for both predator and herbivorous fish species.

2. Current and wave placement.

3. Benthic community structure building.

It will also be useful at this point to consider such issues as ownership, reef usage, liability and regulation of the reef for the resort client.

Step 4: Artificial Reefs for Resorts - Step Three

Materials used to develop artificial reefs must be selected that meet your primary goal of creating habitat for marine fish and invertebrates. General guidelines are that artificial reefs should create no hazard to navigation and the marine environment, and materials used shouldn't have the potential to trap divers or marine vertebrates.

Materials that pollute through leaching, physical or chemical weathering, or biological activity should never be used. By far the most favoured reef material is low PH concrete, as it proves good for coral settlement and growth. However, the concrete should be mixed with fly ash to reduce alkalinity, as surfaces of high-alkaline concrete will not grow coral for more than 6 months after sinking.

Moulded and manufactured reefs are also easy to design pour and place. Transplanting corals from one reef to another has some obvious benefits as it can lead to an immediate increase in coral cover and diversity, as well as improve the aesthetics of areas frequented by tourists. It can also increase coral larvae settlement, improve the survival rate of rare or threatened coral species, and act as a means of reintroducing corals to areas which have limited larval supply or low natural growth rates.

Step 5: Artificial Reefs for Resorts - Step Four

Resort based artificial reefs help struggling natural reef systems by concentrating tourism on our structures leaving natural reef systems off shore to continue to grow and prosper. Reef Worlds green ocean structures meet at the intersection of art and science to greatly enhance marine areas both visually and economically, providing immediate value to divers, swimmers and snorkelers.

An art inspired artificial reef on your properties waterfront will help sell condos, boost timeshare and fractional ownership, add room nights and dramatically expand your ability to offer iconic entertainment choices to your valued clients while at the same time providing a new haven for regional marine life.

The final step to a resort based reef installation is to consider your two clients in depth. One has fins, the other credit cards both will benefit from habitat restoration for generations to come.

Larger resort based improvements like water parks are cost prohibitive in many cases while artificial reefs tailored to your properties design ques cost a fraction to design, build and place and they never need maintenance.