Holiday Membership Party

Reef Discovery Center, 3412 N Ocean Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

Scuba Santa Is Diving Into Town! Grab your festive fins and your ugliest holiday rash guard, because Out Scuba’s December membership meeting is our annual holiday party, and this year Scuba Santa is trading his sleigh for a reef. Join us at the Reef Discovery Center on Ocean Blvd/A1A in Fort Lauderdale. Snacks and soft drinks are on us, so come hungry, bring your holiday cheer, and get ready to celebrate the season with your favorite dive buddies.

Our hosts for the evening are Ocean Rescue Alliance International (ORAI). Founded in 2019 by Shelby Thomas, ORAI is a nonprofit focused on scaling marine restoration through innovation, infrastructure, and community engagement. Local divers may already know their work: Guardians of the Reef, an underwater sculpture trail and reef restoration project off the coast of Hollywood Beach. Since its founding, ORAI has deployed 10 reef sites and more than 500 structures in the ocean, including 65 artistic sculptures. The Reef Discovery Center serves as ORAI’s public-facing education and engagement hub, connecting residents, students, and visitors directly to active restoration projects and applied marine science.

The best part of this holiday “elf-ploration”? You’ll get a behind-the-scenes tour of WeRestore, ORAI’s coral outplanting lab, where threatened stony corals are propagated for reef-building projects across South Florida. You’ll see firsthand how tiny coral fragments are grown up and prepared for life on the reef, and you’ll get to take in the center’s stunning reef aquariums, no regulator required. It’s the perfect way to wrap up our dive year: good friends, good snacks, and a little coral conservation magic. Mark your calendars, tell your buddy, and we’ll see you there. Scuba Santa’s orders!