This Island Resort Wants to Take You Coral Planting On Your Next Vacation

Think about what you did on your last island getaway, and chances are “helped save the ocean” isn’t on the list. But here’s some good news: It can be, if you choose to vacation at one of two resorts that are offering guests the unique opportunity of learning how to restore coral reef systems around the world.

The activity is part of Outrigger Hotels and Resorts’ OZONE program, a global conservation initiative the company launched in 2015 to promote awareness and activism surrounding the health of coral reefs. In addition to educating guests at each of its properties in Hawaii, Fiji, Thailand, and more locations around the globe, OZONE has made a pledge to plant, monitor, and protect more than 100 football fields’ worth of coral.

You can get in on the action at Outrigger’s locations in both Fiji and the Maldives. At the Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort, guests can attend a workshop to see firsthand how new reefs are planted, and then snorkel over a growing coral bed alongside a marine biologist.

In Fiji, guests learn from and participate in the work of the local Mamaunuca Environmental Society, which propagates living coral to replant in reef systems around the island.

Related: Meet Our 2017 Ocean Heroes:

Considering that 2018 has been designated the International Year of the Coral Reef (an NOAA-backed designation made by the International Coral Reef Initiative), the timing couldn’t be better to educate yourself on the value of and threats posed to reefs globally (including climate change, pollution, and overfishing).

While they make up just 0.1 percent of the Earth’s surface, coral reefs are home to more than a quarter of all marine life. So, clearly, any little impact you can make to keep them around for future generations makes a difference.

And spending an afternoon in paradise while doing so? Talk about the best vacation ever. Plus, have you seen these views??