The Reef Beneath Your Feet: Project Reef is One of Maui’s Most Important Brands
The reef beneath
your feet.
Why Project Reef is one of Maui's most important brands — and why reef-safe sunscreen is a responsibility, not a lifestyle choice.
Photo via @projectreefsuncare on Instagram
We were out at Olowalu — one of the most pristine reef systems left on Maui — with our Camp Makai crew, everyone slathered in Project Reef sunscreen, floating over coral formations that have been growing for hundreds of years. And then: two rays gliding underneath us, unhurried, completely unbothered. And a hammerhead. An actual hammerhead shark, moving through like it owned the place — which, to be clear, it does.
That's the moment that makes everything click. That's why this matters. That reef, those rays, that shark — they're all connected to what you put on your skin before you get in the water. Not metaphorically. Literally.
We connected with Alli Ramirez, Project Reef's Marketing and Sustainability Manager, earlier this year — she generously outfitted all of Camp Makai with sunscreen for the summer — and spent an hour talking through the rebrand, the mission, and the science behind why reef-safe sunscreen isn't a lifestyle choice. It's a responsibility.
The choices we make — as residents, as visitors, as people who love this place — are either part of protecting it or part of eroding it. There is no neutral option.
— Maui Makai
The Science
What's actually in your sunscreen — and why it matters.
Here's what most people don't know: the two most common active ingredients in conventional sunscreen — oxybenzone and octinoxate — are devastating to coral reefs. Studies have shown that oxybenzone, even in tiny concentrations of just 62 parts per trillion (the equivalent of one drop of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool), can bleach coral, damage its DNA, and disrupt the endocrine systems of marine life. It causes coral to encase itself in its own skeleton — essentially burying itself alive.
Octinoxate does similar damage. Both dissolve into the water column the moment you enter the ocean. A single beach day at a popular snorkel spot like Olowalu or Honolua Bay can introduce enough chemical sunscreen into the water to trigger measurable coral stress.
This is not a fringe concern. In 2018, Hawaiʻi became the first state in the US to ban the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, with the law taking full effect in 2021. Maui County followed with its own legislation. The science was clear enough that an entire state rewrote its laws around it. And yet — chemical sunscreen is still everywhere. Still packed in suitcases. Still quietly accumulating in the water around our reefs every single day.
The Standard
What actually makes a sunscreen reef-safe.
Not all "reef-safe" labels mean the same thing. The term is largely unregulated, which means a brand can put it on a bottle without meeting any particular standard. What actually matters is what's in the formula.
Project Reef uses only non-nano zinc oxide as their active ingredient — a physical mineral filter that sits on top of the skin and deflects UV rays without penetrating or dissolving into the water. Non-nano means the particles are large enough that they can't be absorbed by coral tissue. It's the standard that actually protects.
Everything Project Reef makes is 100% mineral, Hawaii Reef Act 104 compliant, vegan, cruelty-free, and packaged in tubes made from ocean-bound and post-consumer recycled plastic. Their SPF 30 is sheer and hydrating with organic shea butter and aloe — no white cast, no chalky finish. The SPF 50 is water resistant for 80 minutes. The new SPF 30 Mist is the first genuinely non-aerosol spray mineral sunscreen that actually works — no clumping, no uneven coverage, no excuse not to reapply. These are not compromise products. They are excellent sunscreens that happen to not harm the ocean. That's the whole point.
The Rebrand
Same mission. Elevated everything.
The new Project Reef is a visual and strategic evolution that reflects where the brand has grown. Cleaner packaging, a more elevated design, an expanded product line — and a set of certifications that put them in genuinely rare company.
Being Climate Neutral Certified means they measure, reduce, and offset 100% of their carbon emissions every year. Being Ocean Positive through SeaTrees means for every product sold, they actively help plant and protect mangrove forests, kelp forests, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs. Not neutral. Not reduced. Actively positive. For every bottle of sunscreen you buy, coastal ecosystems are being restored somewhere in the world.
The Impact
The numbers
that matter.
On Maui specifically — 117 volunteers participated in their Maui Watershed Project, restoring 64 acres of erosion and planting 378 native plants to prevent polluted runoff from reaching the ocean. They partner with Surfrider Maui, the Coral Reef Alliance, SeaTrees, Tidey, and Captains for Clean Water. With every purchase, 1 lb of ocean-bound plastic (equivalent to 22 plastic bottles) is removed from local rivers in Guatemala, stopping plastic before it ever reaches the sea.
This is not a brand that talks about the environment. It's a brand that works in it.
For You — Resident or Visitor
What this means
for everyone in the water.
If you live on Maui, you already know the reef is under pressure. Bleaching events, warming water, runoff from development, invasive algae. The list of threats is long. Every small choice compounds. The sunscreen you use is one of the smallest and easiest choices you can make — and it has a direct, documented impact on the health of the water you swim in.
If you're visiting — welcome. The reef you came to see is under real pressure. The hammerhead we saw at Olowalu, the rays, the yellow tang, the honu resting on lava — they exist because that reef is still functioning. But functioning is not the same as invincible. Maui County law requires reef-safe sunscreen. More importantly, the reef requires it.
Project Reef is available at multiple Maui locations, online, and is genuinely one of the best mineral sunscreens on the market. There's no version of "I couldn't find it" that holds up in 2026.
Get protected. Protect the reef.
🌊 Shop the full collection at projectreef.com
📍 Available at multiple Maui locations including Hawaiian Moons
📱 Follow @projectreefsuncare for reef education, new drops, and ocean content
Shop Project Reef →The Bottom Line
We saw a hammerhead at Olowalu. Two rays. We were floating over a reef that has been building itself for centuries. And everyone in the water was wearing Project Reef. Those two things are not unrelated.
Use reef-safe sunscreen. Every time. Not just when you remember, not just when it's convenient — every single time you get in the water on Maui. The reef that gave you your most beautiful snorkel memory, the one you'll tell people about for years — it's still there. Let's keep it that way. 🌊🤙
"The choices we make as residents,
as visitors, as people who love this place —
are either part of protecting it
or part of eroding it."
