Roatan Marine Park
The Roatan Marine Park, created to help protect the creatures and reefs of Roatan, primarily in the area between West Bay and Sandy Bay on the North Shore of the island, recently met with representatives from dive shops located on the South shore of Roatan. South Side shops had seen the great work done by the Park, and wanted to help out and maybe increase awareness about protecting the south shore of the island as well. Dockside Dive Center was one of the south-shore shops to participate in that meeting. The outcome was extremely positive, with the Marine Park agreeing to extend membership to shops on the South Shore - hence, the Roatan Marine Park - South Side Chapter was born!

Fund-Raising
The South Side Chapter of the Roatan Marine Park is now in it's 3rd year of operation. It's hard to believe that in just a few years we have gone from an idea to a real entity and legal NGO here in Honduras. Our guests continue to be very supportive of our efforts and we are most grateful.

Funds for the Marine Park are raised through private donations, the support of local dive shops, and through the sale of BC tags or wristbands to visiting divers who enjoy our beautiful reefs and wish to help protect them. The tags and wristbands cost $10 each and are valid for an entire year. Roatan Marine Park t-shirts are also available for $15 - all proceeds go to the park.

We would like to say a very special thank you to Michael's Divin' and the Blue Dolphin Dive Club for sponsoring the CoCo View Dive Masters this year with their contribution to the Marine Park. All of our DM's are proudly wearing their 2009 BC tags!

For information on how you can help to support the Roatan Marine Park with a donation or through the purchase of a tag or wristband, contact Dockside Dive Center.

Projects in the Works
Continued efforts to expand our infrastructure here on the South Side. Additional mooring buoys and channel markers are planned but are dependant on funding. We did receive a grant from PADI's Project Aware that enabled the marine park to install 10 yacht moorings in the protected harbor near French Cay. This has been well received by the yacht owners that enjoy visiting this lovely area.

Future Goals
Our future goals include the planning of educational workshops in communities for alternative lively hood. Also, planned are recycling stations for plastics.