Coral Cay's marine conservation achievements started in 1985 with a small group of diving enthusiasts. Peter Raines MBE, CCC’s Founder and current CEO was the science officer for a small scale project out to Belize, Central America for three-months in order to survey the reefs.

The purpose was dual pronged, the first priority being to survey and protect the majestic reef systems and the second was to prove that nonscientists, once well trained could collect data for sustainable reef management.