Our Coral Initiative

After attending a diseased coral training (SCTLD) in 2019, Sarah Elise, owner of Crystal Clear, further pursued identification and treatment to protect the reefs in Vieques. She and Emily (a former CCV guide) are the only individuals in all of Vieques permitted to do such work. From 2019 to 2022, Crystal Clear treated corals in Vieques, supported by DRNA, the community, and funds from Crystal Clear tours. In 2023, facing a Caribbean-wide bleaching event, Crystal Clear resumed coral reef surveys, including joining a pilot program with the Department of Natural Resources for a citizen science coral reef report. We educate about this and many other conservation topics during our private tours.

Community involvement

With education and conservation being our top priorities, we volunteer with a local program called MANTA, run by The Vieques Conservation & Historical Trust. We also hold an annual fundraiser for the program and have raised over $14000 in the past three years, including donations from Crystal Clear.

Additionally, every private tour with Crystal Clear includes a donation made to another local nonprofit called TICATOVE - one that works with sea turtles in Vieques!

There are many nonprofits in Vieques that benefit the island, so we also donate yearly to the Vieques Humane Society and a nonprofit called Vieques Love, one that works towards better resiliency of the island.