Florida Opened An Underwater Snorkel Trail Packed With Statues, Sea Creatures, And Coral-Saving Art

In Florida, there's a spot where you can leave your hotel, walk down to the shore, and find yourself swimming between colorful angelfish and mermaid statues. Florida has some of the best beaches for snorkeling, and they're surprisingly accessible. While one of Florida's best snorkeling spots, Biscayne Bay National Park, is a cool spot full of shipwrecks just outside of Miami, about 55 miles north from there, you'll get to the shore of Hollywood, Florida. Here, an underwater sculpture garden called Guardians of the Reef invites snorkelers to swim among statues and marine life while doubling as a coral reef nursery.

The nonprofit Ocean Rescue Alliance International began placing the sculptures off the Hollywood coast in May 2025 to address dying reefs. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), over 90% of Florida's southern barrier reef has died since the 1980s. The Guardians of the Reef sites — there are four in total along Hollywood Beach — are designed to restore some of what's been lost. Each of the sculptural structures are also resilient coral habitats. Beachgoers can come to snorkel among the artificial reef created along Hollywood Beach, but they can also participate in adding corals and building the reef, which helps conserve the ecosystems that support coastal life.

As reefs disappear, so do the vital services they provide, which include everything from protecting shorelines to filtering oceans. Above all, they play a crucial role in the circle of life, accommodating at least 25% of the world's marine life, according to NOAA, which then serves as food for other marine life and people. That's why projects like Guardians of the Reef are so important — it is replenishing the barrier reef in a way that also delightfully serves the public. Shelby Thomas, founder and CEO of Ocean Rescue Alliance, described it as "a way to draw people into the ocean, to connect with it, to explore this beautiful underwater world that covers our planet" (via WPLG Local 10).

The way the reef restoration works is by first growing the corals off-site, in a lab at Allapattah. The corals are then transported to Hollywood Beach, with each coral affixed to a "plug." The coral can then be easily placed into an underwater sculpture's lok — essentially an attachment system that anchors the coral in place. The great thing about the system is that, since it doesn't require any technical skills and the corals are soft corals (which aren't heavily regulated), anyone from the public can participate. Thomas says that you "simply screw in the coral, just like a bulb — so easy, so easy. Even a kid could do it."

The creative design of the artificial reef is intentional. The art makes it more exciting for visitors and helps the project reach a wider audience. Among the 50 total coral-covered sculptures, you'll see things like a mermaid, Poseidon, turtles, and octopi, all teeming with fish that have been drawn to the sites for food and shelter. The reef sites are about 250 to 350 feet from the shore, in water 8 to 15 feet deep, marked with orange buoys, so they're easy to find and accessible. Keep in mind a few things to know about how to safely snorkel around coral reefs; mainly, don't touch any of the reef structures, look out for boat traffic, and put up a diver down flag on the buoy where you're snorkeling.

Each of the four Guardians of the Reef sites has around 12 structures, so snorkelers have plenty of space to explore without overcrowding. You can access the sites from their respective bordering public park — two are located at North Beach Park, one is at Harry Berry Park, and one is at Keating Park. All three are within about a 10-minute drive of one another. The northernmost site, at North Beach Park, is a 20-minute drive from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.