As long-standing partners immersing travellers under the colourful depths of the Caribbean Sea with a sustainable-first approach, Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts, together with PADI, have celebrated their newly obtained Green Fins digital membership.
This coveted milestone marks the first resort company to adopt this conservation management approach across the entirety of its growing portfolio across eight Caribbean islands and counting.
Implemented internationally by The Reef-World Foundation in partnership with the UN Environment Programme, the Green Fins programme is designed to protect coral reefs through environmentally friendly guidelines that promote sustainable scuba diving and snorkelling.
“Here in the Caribbean, the ocean is a part of our everyday lives, and the health of our underwater ecosystems plays a role in the livelihoods of our friends, families, and neighbours,” said Michael Clarke, Corporate Director of Watersports for Sandals Resorts International.
“As new members of Green Fins across our entire resort portfolio, Sandals and Beaches are upholding their vows to protect and restore our natural resources so guests visiting from every corner of the Earth can experience the crown of the Caribbean while generations to come continue to prosper from its resources.”
Through the creation and logging of action plans curated according to the Green Fins code of conduct, all levels of staff at Sandals' and Beaches' on-resort, PADI-certified dive shops will engage in solutions aimed at reducing environmental impact.
Participation in Green Fins will expand on the resorts’ existing conservation practices, which include rotating dive site visits to manage human interaction with wildlife, invasive species management, encouraging the use of reef-safe sunscreen, and providing snorkellers and scuba divers with briefings on eco-friendly behaviors before they jump into the diverse waters of the Caribbean.
Combined, these efforts drive down operational footprints on the natural world, both above and below the surface.
“As PADI Mission Hubs, Sandals and Beaches are incredibly important strategic partners for PADI. Their scale and shared commitment to a healthier future helps advance our mission to create more ocean ambassadors who can go out and not only explore but also protect the ocean,” said Katie Thompson, PADI Global Director, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability.
“We proudly continue forward on this important journey with Sandals and Beaches and celebrate them as the first PADI resort company that can boast 100% Green Fins status.”
“We are thrilled to see Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts leading the way in sustainable tourism for resort companies, leaning on Green Fins as a benchmark for environmental standards with the organization’s unique resources and monitoring mechanism to measure performance,” JJ Harvey, Operations Director of The Reef-World Foundation.
“This is an important step in their environmental commitment, and with Green Fins, they now count on the world’s only recognized eco-focused standard for scuba diving and snorkelling, as the tool to do so.”
