Eleven countries. The living Caribbean reef edge from Mexico to Colombia — plus the ABC Islands. Serious science by day. Extraordinary living by night. Zero carbon. No excuses.
Rim Run Caribe™ is the Caribbean arm of the Rim Run™ expedition — an annual coastal circuit from Mexico's Yucatán south through seven Central American countries, continuing into Colombia, and then out to the Dutch ABC Islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao before the return. Eleven countries. One unbroken loop. Every reef system counted.
This is not a recreational sailing trip with scientific branding bolted on. It is a structured, GPS-referenced field observation program executed from a small catamaran by someone trained in submarine nuclear operations — where there is no margin for sloppiness and no one else to call. Every government fisheries authority is treated as a partner. Every coastal community is entered as a guest who intends to give back more than they take.
The data — water conditions, reef structure, coral health, biological observations, human impact — goes into GROAN™ (Global Reef & Ocean Analytics Network) and is made available to partner scientific institutions. Not because this expedition serves academia, but because the data is real, and real data belongs in the hands of people who can use it.
From Mexico's Yucatán south through Central America, into Colombia's Caribbean coast, and out to the ABC Islands — 2,000+ nautical miles, multiple reef systems, and some of the most scientifically significant and least-surveyed waters in the western hemisphere. The same loop every year, refined each season. No leg hurried. No government relationship taken for granted. No coastal community passed without a genuine attempt to understand what they know and what the expedition can contribute.
| Country | Key Stops | Days | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | Puerto Aventuras · Cozumel · Xcalak · Banco Chinchorro | ~30 | Northern hub — REEF coordination & staging |
| 🇧🇿 Belize | Ambergris · Turneffe · Lighthouse Reef · Blue Hole · Glover's · South Water · Placencia | ~117 | World's 2nd largest barrier reef — home waters & citizen science base |
| 🇬🇹 Guatemala | Livingston · Río Dulce · Lake Izabal | ~35 | Most stunning inland waterway in the Americas — Q'eqchi' Maya oral traditions |
| 🇭🇳 Honduras | Cayos Cochinos · Utila · Roatán · Guanaja | ~80 | Bay Islands — whale sharks, 100+ ft visibility & Garífuna maritime knowledge |
| 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | Big Corn Island · Little Corn Island · Pearl Cays | ~29 | Priority Year 1 — essentially unsurveyed, Miskito reef knowledge still intact |
| 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | Tortuguero · Cahuita NP · Puerto Viejo · Manzanillo | ~35 | Jungle meets reef — Afro-Caribbean oral tradition & dormant Reef Check sites |
| 🇵🇦 Panama | Bocas del Toro · Portobelo · San Blas / Guna Yala | ~44 | Southern hub — Reef Check EcoDiver training, Guna autonomy & finest snorkeling on circuit |
| 🇨🇴 Colombia | Cartagena · Islas del Rosario · Santa Marta · Tayrona | ~30 | CORDAP partnership theater — Caribbean coral data & KAUST collaboration |
| 🇦🇼 Aruba | Oranjestad · coastal reefs | ~10 | Dutch territory — stable, safe, distinct coral ecosystem west of the ABC chain |
| 🇧🇶 Bonaire | Kralendijk · Klein Bonaire · shore dive sites | ~14 | Premier shore diving destination on earth — hookah system deployed, lionfish hunting |
| 🇨🇼 Curaçao | Willemstad · Klein Curaçao · coastal reefs | ~10 | UNESCO-recognized harbor — southern Caribbean data anchor |
🇲🇽 Mexico — Yucatán • Cozumel • Banco Chinchorro
🇧🇿 Belize — Barrier Reef • Blue Hole • Glover's Reef
🇬🇹 Guatemala — Río Dulce • Lake Izabal • Livingston
🇭🇳 Honduras — Bay Islands • Roatán • Cayos Cochinos
🇳🇮 Nicaragua — Corn Islands • Pearl Cays
🇨🇷 Costa Rica — Tortuguero • Cahuita • Puerto Viejo
🇵🇦 Panama — Bocas del Toro • San Blas / Guna Yala
🇨🇴 Colombia — Cartagena • Islas del Rosario • Tayrona
🇦🇼 Aruba — Oranjestad • Reef Diving • Wrecks
🇧🇶 Bonaire — Klein Bonaire • Shore Diving • Lionfish Operations
🇨🇼 Curaçao — Willemstad • Klein Curaçao • Reef Wall
A Hobie Getaway catamaran — 17 feet of shoal-draft, wind-powered reef machine. Twenty-four inches of draft means Shamrocket goes places no keelboat can follow: inside the barrier reef, up against the caye, into the mangrove channel, onto the beach itself. Right up to where the people are. Where the stories live. Where the real knowledge is kept.
Wind and solar only. Zero diesel. Zero carbon. The vessel is not a compromise — the vessel is the philosophy made physical. Small boats. Real seamanship. Cultural access that larger vessels can only admire from a distance.
Dive operations run on the Air Line by J Sink E160v2 hookah system — AC-powered off the EcoFlow aboard Shamrocket. One diver to 60 feet. No gas compressor. No generator. No fuel logistics. Clean, quiet, and deployable at every stop on the circuit.
Shamrocket — Hobie Getaway · 24" draft
Every observation made aboard Shamrocket during the Rim Run Caribe™ circuit feeds directly into GROAN™ — the Global Reef & Ocean Analytics Network. Water chemistry, coral health staging, species presence/absence, human impact indicators — all logged, all GPS-referenced, all added to a permanent baseline record that grows more valuable with every circuit completed.
MOOP™ (Mobile Ocean Observation Platform) protocols govern every data collection event — standardized, repeatable, and designed to interface with partner institutional databases including CORDAP at KAUST and the Caribbean Coastal Reef Alliance (CCRA) citizen science network.
The Caribe circuit is also the primary operational theater for CD the Lion Hunter — trident deployed on every dive where local law permits, all lionfish removal events documented in the GROAN™ reef health dataset as permanent removal records.
Blue Rim 5™ • Catamaran Dan • Nevado Raiders™