Diving at Coral Restoration Foundation - FL Keys
Hi Divers,
I am planning a group dive this summer to the Coral Restoration Foundation in the Keys and am trying to gauge interest. The CRF offer a two day dive program with morning instruction and two afternoon dives. There also offer PADI specialty course on Coral Restoration
I am looking at a choice of either of these two tentative weekends
28/29 June Sat/Sun
12/13 July Sat/Sun
The approx cost depends on numbers, but CRF require between 8-20 divers . If we don't get these numbers we can also team up with other divers doing the same thing at the same time
$50 pp/day to CRF
$70 + tax pp/day boat/2 tanks and weights to local dive shop Gratuity extra
Rental gear $30 + tax p/day - local dive shop
Logistics are upto to you on getting there. Their address is Coral Restoration Foundation 5 Seagate Blvd Key Largo, FL 33037 -
Can you please let me know if you are interested and which dates could work for you. I would like to make a booking at the end of the month latest in order to secure dates. A 50% deposit would be required to hold the booking at that time
I have copied this exert from their website for info
One Day Program
The One-Day Program is divided into a morning session and an afternoon session. A CRF staff member gives a lecture in the morning, outlining CRF’s mission, history, and objectives. Also included in the talk is an introduction to coral anatomy and conditions necessary for a healthy reef, as well as stressors causing current coral decline. The lecture concludes with a brief overview of the need for restoration efforts and the CRF procedure. The afternoon session consists of two dives: one on the nursery and one at an outplanting site. On the first dive, using the techniques illustrated in the morning lecture, divers will explore the nursery and prepare corals to be transported to a restoration site. The second dive takes place at the restoration site, where the divers plant the corals they previously prepared.
Two Day Program CRF’s
Two-Day Program begins the same way as the one-day program with a lecture in the morning and dives in the afternoon. On the following day there is a restoration diving lecture and two subsequent restoration dives. Topics covered in the additional lecture include a comparison of CRF’s restoration techniques to those of other coral reef restoration programs. The lecture also goes into detail about the evolution of CRF’s current restoration techniques and the procedures used to measure and monitor the relative success of the outplanted corals.
PADI Distinctive Specialty In addition to the dive program,
CRF offers two distinct PADI Distinctive Specialty Courses, available upon request. The Introduction to Coral Reef Restoration Diver specialty consists of two dives and compliments the one-day program. The Coral Reef Restoration Diver II specialty has a required four dives and can be done in combination with the two-day program. Group Size Due to the nature of the programs, CRF requests that dive groups contain no less than eight participants and no more than twenty. -
