Miami Dade Reef Guard Association

In 2009 the Florida Legislature passed the Coral Reef Protection Act allowing fines for damage to the reef caused by vessel groundings and anchors.
In 2009 the reef adjacent to Miami Dade County had no mooring buoys for boaters.
Reef Guard, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was started in 2009 to respond to this situation
With public donations and some funding from DEP a total of 42 buoys were installed by 2012
Following successful lobbying Miami Dade County Environment Resources Management is now fully funding the buoy program since 2018.

The second objective to support artificial reef deployment serves to reduce pressure from divers on the natural reef by providing artificial reef dives sites. The first deployment also carried out in 2009 was the sinking of the 209 ft. long cargo vessel 'The Ophelia Brian' about 3.5 nautical miles east of Key Biscayne.

During 2022 we completed a project to renew the rebar diver navigation aids at two of our connectivity projects, namely the Anchorage Site (aka The Army Tanks) and the Key Biscayne site (aka The Belcher Wreck Trek).  A total of 120 pieces of rebar were placed, 60 at each site.

2025 3D mapping project.

This year for Give Miami Day, ReefGuard is teaming up with two local divers, Alejandro and Pablo to raise funds for their 3D mapping project. 

The objectives are, to produce 3D underwater maps and guides for 5 key artificial reef sites in Miami-Dade County (M-DC), improve documentation of our artificial reefs, and at the same time, train local diver volunteers in data collection so more site can be mapped at lower cost in the future.

There are more than 50 artificial reefs in M-DC.  Many of them are among the best dives in the world.  Artificial reefs are man-made underwater structures which provide new marine habitat, and, at the same time, reduce diving and fishing pressure on the natural reef.  These sites offer great scuba diving experiences and hot spots for fishers, with huge amounts of marine life that congregates around them.

In south Florida, these kind of guides/maps are available already for most counties, but not for M-DC.  And it's very curious that many of the best dive sites are right here in Miami.

Example of waterproof map produced by Reef Smart.

Both scuba diving and fishing are key tourist attractions of this area. Our project will only help the local tourist industry, offering better insights on how beautiful our underwater ecosystems are.

Our project consists of carefully selecting 5 sites in M-DC, plan how and when data will be collected, and then generate 3D models as a result of these efforts.  We will be partnering with Reef Smart Guides who have done this before not only in Florida but all over the world.

The costs of the project are the diving boat fees, breathing gases and the services from Reef Smart to generate the models.

Both Alejandro and Pablo (project leaders), are avid local scuba divers, underwater photographers and videographers, certified scuba instructors and definitely passionate about the environment.  They both spend a lot of time surveying local dive sites regularly. We want not only locals but any diver in the world to enjoy the wonders Miami has to offer when it comes to scuba diving.

Watch the video from Pablo, Alejandro, and Ian Popple of Reef-Smart.