Red Reef Park: How Bureaucrats Buried America’s Best Snorkeling Reef in Sand — And How You Can Help Stop Them From Doing It Again
Red Reef Park could have been America’s #1 snorkeling destination.
Just a few decades ago, Boca Raton was home to a breathtaking natural reef — massive boulders, dramatic ledges, caves, and brilliant coral formations teeming with marine life. Locals remember snorkeling alongside schools of parrotfish and angelfish, spotting rays gliding across the sand, and drifting through a living, colorful paradise just steps from the beach. There were no other beaches in America you could just walk up to and see such an ecology, a treasure for our City and the generations who grew up with it.
Take a look at the size and shape of some of them. These were megaliths that put the Bimini Road to shame, real mysteries as to what made them all in that line, in those rectangular block shapes out there.
But today, that reef is gone.
It didn’t “die naturally.” It wasn’t “lost to climate change.”
It was buried alive — smothered under millions of tons of sand pumped onto the shore during decades of so-called “beach restoration” projects. If the artificial reef structures are exposed for any length of time they do get used by fish, things do grow on them, but it’s prone to being covered over again and again with the successive hurricane and renourishment cycles.
And the worst part?
The same people who allowed this destruction are still in charge — and they’re still pushing for more sand. They know it destroys according to DEPs standards.
Why This Matters Right Now
Every time Boca Raton approves another “beach nourishment” project, more fragile ecosystems are destroyed, taxpayer money is drained, and residents are left with temporary cosmetic fixes while natural treasures vanish forever. Sure property owners on the beach benefit a lot, but the cost to something more rare and precious is ignored.
The people who benefit from these projects — city officials, dredging contractors, and real estate developers — keep pushing the “more sand” agenda because it makes them money, boosts property values, and wins them political points.
But the cost is permanent:
The reef at Red Reef Park is gone forever. Artificial “snorkel trails” costing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars have already failed — the sand keeps burying them. More natural reef areas across Boca are at risk if we don’t act.
This isn’t just about the past. It’s about the next decision they make.
Who’s Responsible — and How to Contact Them
These are the people and institutions that have the power to stop future destruction. They need to hear from you. YOU CAN CALL AND EMAIL THESE PEOPLE TODAY – if you care.
1. City of Boca Raton Leadership (Policy Direction & Budgets)
Mayor Scott Singer
📧 Email: ssinger@myboca.us
Phone: (561) 393-7708
City Council Members
- Fran Nachlas — fnachlas@myboca.us
- Marc Wigder — mwigder@myboca.us
- Andy Thomson — athomson@myboca.us
- Yvette Drucker — ydrucker@myboca.us
Attend City Council Meetings:
Held 2nd & 4th Tuesdays, 6:00 p.m. at Boca Raton City Hall.
City Council Calendar
2. Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District (50% of Funding)
The Beach & Park District pays half of all Boca beach nourishment projects. Stopping their funding is the most effective way to halt future reef burial.
Erin Wright (Chair) — erinwright@mybocaparks.org
Robert Rollins (Vice-Chair) — robertrollins@mybocaparks.org
Craig Ehrnst (Treasurer) — craigehrnst@mybocaparks.org
Susan Vogelgesang (Commissioner) — susanvogelgesang@mybocaparks.org
Steven Engel (Commissioner) — stevenengel@mybocaparks.org
Attend District Meetings:
Check the Meeting Calendar and submit comments asking the District to stop co-funding sand projects.
3. Boca Raton Coastal Program Staff (Project Management & Permitting)
Jennifer Bistyga — Coastal Program Manager
Email: coastalmgmt@myboca.us
Office: (561) 393-7700
Jennifer manages Boca’s shoreline projects and liaises directly with state and federal regulators. Let her office know you oppose further beach nourishment near reef and hardbottom areas.
4. State and Federal Regulators (Permits & Oversight)
Florida DEP — Beaches, Inlets & Ports Program
Email: BIPP@FloridaDEP.gov
Program Administrator: Gregory Garis — (850) 245-8280
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Jacksonville District
Email: PublicMail.Jacksonville@usace.army.mil
Phone: (904) 232-2568
These agencies issue permits allowing dredging and sand placement. Demand stricter reef protections and permit denials for any project impacting hardbottom areas.
How BocaBot Can Help You Act
BocaBot is here to make taking action easy. He’s that little bot dude down there in the corner. Click on him to ask him stuff about Boca. He can help you. Use him for research.
BocaBot can help you draft a custom email for each official based on who you are and what you want to say. It won’t send it for you. You have to do that.
- Just tell BocaBot who you want to contact and why.
- Tell it to draft an email message for you.
- Just copy and paste whatever you and BocaBot come up with and make it more effective.
BocaBot Helps with Meeting Talking Points: It can generate statements to read at City Council or Beach & Park District meetings. If someone says something goofy at one of these meetings you can ask BocaBot on the fly for references. It might be able to find them but don’t take BocaBot’s conclusions as gospel – he’s still just a bot.
BocaBot Can Help With Strategic Advice: Ask BocaBot for other ways you can fight the “more sand” agenda — from petitions to coordinated public comment campaigns. Sometimes it’s just helpful to have a buddy like BocaBot who you can talk to and think things out. It might make you realize something before you would have otherwise.
If you don’t like what it says then tell it and ask it to do it again. Talk to it all day if you want. For now I don’t mind the cost. Conversations you have with BocaBot may be used to improve its capabilities.
What to Say When You Call or Email
Here’s a simple starting point you can customize:
“I’m a Boca Raton resident, and I strongly oppose any additional beach nourishment projects near Red Reef Park or other reef habitats. These projects destroy marine ecosystems, waste taxpayer money, and bury living reefs under sand.
I’m asking you to:
• Halt funding for future nourishment near reef areas.
• Require independent scientific reviews before any permit approval.
• Invest in reef protection, not more destruction.
Please represent your constituents by protecting what’s left of our natural treasures.”
Why Your Voice Matters
The natural reef at Red Reef Park is gone forever — but we can still save what’s left. Every call, every email, every public comment increases the pressure on local decision-makers to change course.
If we stay silent, the same cycle will continue:
- More permits.
- More sand.
- More taxpayer money wasted.
- More irreplaceable ecosystems buried forever.
- AND FOR SURE THEY’LL KEEP CHOP CHOP CHOPIN OUR TREES DOWN.
Red Reef Park could have been a world-class snorkeling destination and a tourism driver for generations. Instead, it became a case study in bureaucratic failure and shortsighted policy.
- It’s not too late to bring that reef back if we STOP THE SAND.
- It’s not too late to stop the destructive sand from erasing the next one, like what’s happening now south of the Inlet.
Take Action Today
Email and call the officials listed above — demand they stop funding and permitting destructive sand projects.
- Use BocaBot to create personalized emails and talking points.
- Speak at public meetings — City Council and Beach & Park District agendas are open to residents.
- Share this article with neighbors, divers, and anyone who cares about Florida’s reefs.
Boca Raton’s natural treasures belong to everyone. Let’s make sure they’re not destroyed for political optics and profit margins.
