A new underwater sculpture park in Miami Beach is working to help coral thrive
South Beach isn't just about neon signs and sandy selfies anymore. Soon, it'll also be home to a seven-mile underwater art installation designed to save coral and dazzle snorkelers at the same time.
Welcome to The Reefline: part sculpture park, part snorkel trail and part science experiment in marine resilience. Launching its first phase later this year, the ambitious public art project aims to create a hybrid reef just offshore of Miami Beach using sculptures that double as homes for fish and nurseries for coral.
'Mother Nature is the ultimate artist,' Ximena Caminos, founder and artistic director of The Reefline, told NBC. 'What we're doing is giving nature and amplifying that marine habitat, because it's needed.'
Phase one of the installation, Concrete Coral, features a traffic jam of 22 full-size concrete cars, designed by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich. The twist? Instead of polluting the ocean, these cars are engineered to house marine life, offering shelter for fish and a foundation for coral to flourish.
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It's a clever way to flip the script—using icons of environmental destruction to spark restoration. And yes, it makes for one surreal snorkeling experience.
But The Reefline isn't just about eye candy for underwater tourists. It's built with serious science behind it. Coral expert Colin Foord, co-founder of marine biology and art studio Coral Morphologic, is helping to populate the sculptures with climate-resilient coral clones grown in Miami labs.
'We are accelerating the development of a fully healthy coral reef by decades,' Foord explained. 'When you put the mask on and you get into the water, it's like time slows down.'
Future phases include The Miami Reef Star by Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre, inspired by the movement of starfish and the celestial ocean connection. Like Phase 1, it'll be engineered with the latest in 'blue tech,' marine architecture designed to actually work for the sea.
With coral under global threat, The Reefline offers a radical reimagining: a reef that's beautiful, functional and fiercely hopeful.
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Time Out
21-05-2025
- Time Out
A new underwater sculpture park in Miami Beach is working to help coral thrive
South Beach isn't just about neon signs and sandy selfies anymore. Soon, it'll also be home to a seven-mile underwater art installation designed to save coral and dazzle snorkelers at the same time. Welcome to The Reefline: part sculpture park, part snorkel trail and part science experiment in marine resilience. Launching its first phase later this year, the ambitious public art project aims to create a hybrid reef just offshore of Miami Beach using sculptures that double as homes for fish and nurseries for coral. 'Mother Nature is the ultimate artist,' Ximena Caminos, founder and artistic director of The Reefline, told NBC. 'What we're doing is giving nature and amplifying that marine habitat, because it's needed.' Phase one of the installation, Concrete Coral, features a traffic jam of 22 full-size concrete cars, designed by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich. The twist? Instead of polluting the ocean, these cars are engineered to house marine life, offering shelter for fish and a foundation for coral to flourish. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The ReefLine (@thereefline) It's a clever way to flip the script—using icons of environmental destruction to spark restoration. And yes, it makes for one surreal snorkeling experience. But The Reefline isn't just about eye candy for underwater tourists. It's built with serious science behind it. Coral expert Colin Foord, co-founder of marine biology and art studio Coral Morphologic, is helping to populate the sculptures with climate-resilient coral clones grown in Miami labs. 'We are accelerating the development of a fully healthy coral reef by decades,' Foord explained. 'When you put the mask on and you get into the water, it's like time slows down.' Future phases include The Miami Reef Star by Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre, inspired by the movement of starfish and the celestial ocean connection. Like Phase 1, it'll be engineered with the latest in 'blue tech,' marine architecture designed to actually work for the sea. With coral under global threat, The Reefline offers a radical reimagining: a reef that's beautiful, functional and fiercely hopeful.
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20-05-2025
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A new Miami Beach underwater art installation aims to help coral thrive
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — South Beach has long been known for its Art Deco pastels and neon nightlife. But it's also home to something else: a bustling coral reef just hundreds of feet offshore. Soon, that natural reef is expected to be along the path of a roughly seven-mile public art installation, called The Reefline, which will be part sculpture park and part snorkeling trail celebrating and supporting marine life. 'Mother Nature is the ultimate artist,' said Reefline founder and artistic director Ximena Caminos. 'What we're doing is giving nature and amplifying that marine habitat, because it's needed.' Corals are struggling worldwide; The Reefline hopes to help them flourish in South Florida, starting with its Phase 1 rollout this year when a series of concrete cars will be submerged, creating a traffic jam. 'How do we turn doomsday into optimism?' said Caminos. Those sculptures won't just drive conversation. The Reefline says they'll give fish shelter; fish will help corals thrive. According to organizers, the new marine communities will provide an added benefit: beachfront erosion prevention. Artificial reefs are not a new concept. But The Reefline's coral expert, Colin Foord, said the new project goes further by rescuing dislodged, climate-resilient corals whose clones will be locked onto the project's planned hybrid reef. 'We are accelerating the development of a fully healthy coral reef by decades by putting out small pieces of coral that we are growing here in the lab,' Foord said in a Miami lab housing submerged corals. 'When you put the mask on and you get into the water, it's like time slows down,' said Foord. 'I think that if more people have that type of opportunity, then that helps change public perception about the need to protect the environment.'
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