One year ago, on June 7–8, 2025, we opened the doors to the REEF Ocean Exploration Center in Key Largo. Timed to World Oceans Day, the grand opening marked the start of a new chapter for REEF. The Ocean Exploration Center is a free, public space designed to spark curiosity about the ocean, advance citizen science, and equip visitors of all ages to become stewards of our blue planet. Twelve months in, we’re looking back on what the Center has made possible and thanking the community that made it real.

A year by the numbers

Since opening, the Ocean Exploration Center has welcomed over 18,000 visitors from across the Florida Keys and around the world. Since opening our Ocean Exploration Programs which spans Discovery Programs, Expeditions, Virtual Programs, and Monroe County School Programs have engaged 2,657 participants in hands-on marine education.

What the Center makes possible

The Ocean Exploration Center was always meant to be more than a museum. Over the past year it has grown into a true community hub for the Upper Keys, hosting fellow nonprofits, Chamber of Commerce events, local businesses, and community gatherings alongside our own programming. The diverse mix of visitors walking through the doors means we’re reaching many groups who otherwise wouldn’t cross paths with REEF’s mission.

A standout moment from the year was our partnership with Key Largo School: more than 650 students attended a free ocean exploration program at the Center, fully funded through REEF’s Oceans for All Fund. Seeing the Center packed with curious young learners, many experiencing hands-on marine science for the first time, was exactly the vision we built this place around.

In addition, every Tuesday, the Center comes alive for Ocean After Hours, a weekly evening series that has become a fixture of life at the Center. Programming rotates between guest speakers from across the marine science and conservation world, hands-on lionfish jewelry workshops, and one-off special events. It’s a low-key, social way to engage with the ocean, and it has built a regular community of locals, visitors, and members who plan their week around it.

Another highlight was the Florida Keys Lionfish Derby, which set a new record this year with 2,480 invasive lionfish removed from local reefs. We celebrated the achievement with a festival at the Ocean Exploration Center bringing together divers, families, scientists, and the wider community to mark a real win for reef health.

True to REEF’s Oceans for All values, the Center remains free and open to the public so cost is never a barrier to exploring marine science.

Another chapter in a 30-year story

“The opening of the Ocean Exploration Center wasn’t a single-year event, it’s another exciting chapter in REEF’s story. For over 30 years, we’ve been integrating citizen science and public education into everything we do, and the OEC is the physical embodiment of that mission. What makes it so special is that it’s an incredible access point into the REEF community, whether they’re already a Fishinar regular or just walking in off the highway curious about the ocean.”

— Christy Pattengill-Semmens, Co-Executive Director, REEF

Thank you

None of this happens without the donors, volunteers, members, partners, and staff who believed in the vision. The $6 million capital campaign brought this building to life; your continued support keeps it thriving. A special thank you to the Monroe County Tourism Development Council for their partnership and support, and to the remarkable group of dedicated donors whose generosity continues to power everything that happens inside these walls.

What’s next

Year two is just getting started. There are exciting developments in the works that we’ll be announcing soon, and our Ocean Exploration Program continues to expand, reaching more students, more visitors, and more of the community every month. Whether you’ve been a hundred times or haven’t made it through the door yet, we’d love to see you on campus.

Plan your visit: The Ocean Exploration Center is located at Mile Marker 98.3 on the Overseas Highway (98380 Overseas Hwy), Key Largo, FL 33037. Visit www.REEF.org/oec for hours, directions, and admission, or support the Center to help us power year two and beyond.