Reef Gliders Conservation
The Roatan Marine Park is a community-based, non-profit organization that is focused on conserving Honduras’ marine and coastal ecosystems. RMP works along with the Bay Islands National Marine Park (BINMP), the largest marine protected area in Honduras with approximately 650,000 hectares. The BINMP, is part of the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR), the second-largest barrier reef in the world and shared by four countries: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. Its biodiversity contributes economically to the livelihood and social wellbeing of all of those that live and visit this region. RMP achieve their mission through a variety of different efforts:
- Patrol
- Research
- Community Development
- Educational Outreach
- Marine Infrastructure
We encourage all of our guests to purchase a USD $10 RMP Bracelet at the end of their stay. You can wear this bracelet proudly to show you have contributed to the RMP, and the effort to protect our reef system.
The RMP regularly organizes events such as Beach Clean-ups and informative conservation meetings that are open to the public. We encourage all of our dives to assist these events and inform them of times and locations. At Reef Gliders we also organize frequent 'Dive against Debris' dives with our Staff and guests.
Reef Gliders works alongside and supports the Roatan Marine Park in several different ways. Not only are we a proud Silver Sponsor, but we also encourage our divers to attend events organized by RMP, to be responsible tourists, and to participate in courses designed by RMP.
The Roatan Marine Park Coral Restoration Certification Course
This popular course is the number one choice for all of our guests. You can take action and help our reef by gaining more practical skills, knowledge and awareness of coral restoration. We work with staghorn coral (acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn coral (acropora palmata). Our very own Staff Instructor, Vero, is an RMP trained Instructor for this course and will guide you through the methodology and practice of nursery care and coral out-planting.
During the Ambassador Course you will learn specialized skills for our Nursery's maintenance and care. Starting with an informative presentation, you will learn all about The RMP Coral Restoration Project, global and local threats as well as efforts to counteract the decline of our reef's health. You will also be briefed on the specific protocols for fragmenting corals, harvesting them and out-planting the fragments onto the reef again. The next day you will carry out a dive where these skills are implemented in our Nursery. The second dive is all about getting hands on experience out-plant monitoring and add your grain of sand to the restoration of our reef. We provide you with the necessary tools and teach you how to report the corresponding information. If you ever come back to the island you can return to our out-planting dive site and check on the very same coral fragments you out-planted or monitored!
.We encourage all of our divers to take this course, and if you return you can join us or the RMP in volunteer nursery maintenance dives! You can also combine this specialty with the PADI PPB specialty to perfect your buoyancy while helping out in the nursery. Contact us here to book your Coral Restoration Course.
The Lionfish Workshop
Lionfish are an invasive species in the Mesoamerican Reef and are one of the most 
imminent threats to our underwater ecosystem. With no natural predators, a very rapid reproduction cycle and voracious appetites, they have spread out through our reef and caused havoc by eating and displacing juvenile species of other marine life atunsustainable rates. Therefore, we spear them in efforts to reduce their population numbers. The Lionfish Workshop at the RMP (neighbouring Reef Gliders) is a great help our reef, and we can help schedule and organize it for you. You will learn how to search for, aim for and spear lionfish, and how to keep them in a specialized lionfish containers throughout the dive. You will also receive a spear with the course.
After completing the course, come fun diving with us to spear some lionfish! We will always brief divers aboard about spearing underwater etiquette and its potential hazards. . At Reef Gliders we have specialized lionfish containers and a lionfish filleting station at your disposal. If you catch lionfish, we will guide you through the de-spining and filleting process, and if you wish to you can arrange for our restaurant, The Blue Marlin, to have it cooked in any style you prefer (lionfish fingers, lionfish ceviche, grilled lionfish, etc). The perfect way to end a day of contributing to the Reef's overall health!