Our Mission
Restoring coral reefs in Cebu, one dive at a time.
Reef Without Borders funds science-based coral restoration in Cebu, Philippines. We work with local divers, fishing communities, and a local marine science institution to plant coral and track its recovery.
The decisions that built this organization.
Reef Without Borders was built from 25 years of diving, a camera, and a decision that documenting reef decline was not the same as doing something about it. Here is how the organization was built.
Born from the water
Our founder, Clarisa Strohmeyer, took her first dive in Philippine waters 25 years ago. What she found below the surface changed how she understood the world. She has been diving these reefs ever since, watching them closely.
Watching the change
Over 25 years, something shifted. A reef that had been thick with table coral was thinner. A site that had hummed with fish was quieter. A colony that had survived decades of storms looked pale in water that was measurably warmer. Clarisa documented all of it, but documentation without action felt like not enough.
Building a team
Restoring reefs required more than one diver with a camera. It required a field team, a science partner, and a community willing to fund the work. In 2026, Reef Without Borders was incorporated to do exactly that.
Science first, always
Before our first dive at any site, we establish a formal partnership with a local marine science institution. In the Philippines, that partner is a local marine science institution. Every restoration intervention is grounded in current reef science.
Where we are going
Our first restoration mission is scheduled for Q4 2026 at Kontiki, Mactan, Cebu. As we build a documented field record, we plan to expand to additional reef sites within the Coral Triangle.
Radical transparency.
One of the biggest barriers to sustained conservation funding is accountability. Donors give. Time passes. They never know what happened next. Reef Without Borders was built to close that gap permanently.
Our underwater camera goes on every dive. Every coral fragment planted will be catalogued, photographed, and tracked. Every mission will produce a published record: footage, a donor report, and an entry in the Reef Archive.
The values that guide every dive.
Transparency
Every dollar is traceable to a specific dive, a specific reef, and a specific coral fragment documented on camera. We publish everything.
Science-led
Every mission begins with a baseline reef health assessment and a formal local science partner. We do not plant coral without data telling us it will help.
Community-rooted
Reef restoration only works when the communities who live beside the reefs are part of the work. We do not operate without local partnership.
Meet Clarisa Strohmeyer
Clarisa Strohmeyer is a Filipina-American diver with 25 years of experience in Philippine waters. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Reef Without Borders, based in Houston, Texas.
She built this organization because she had everything needed to do something real: decades underwater, a camera, and a community that cared.
Read her full story →Support the first dive mission.
Your gift funds coral restoration at Kontiki, Mactan, Cebu. First mission Q4 2026.
U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit • EIN 42-2691547 • Tax-deductible
