Ocean Toa Cook Islands

In a momentous milestone, we transplanted our first lot of corals here in Manihiki 🙌🪸👏

Through a thorough process of scoping, analysis, site selection, surveys, transects, conditioning and planning, we have reached the transplanting phase. It feels incredible to reach this point.

Our nursed coral look comfy and settled in their forever home, restoring our kaoa. The next phase will be to monitor their role in building our reef, recruiting new marine life and contributing to the elevation of our overall lagoon health.

Thank you to our team in Manihiki for doing an incredible job in hand-rearing these corals to the beautiful state they are in.
Thank you to our team of experts & restorers who joined them to help accelerate our initiative to another level of impact for our island homes.

Kia Orana Team,

For the month of March team Ocean Toa are powering up our conservation efforts throughout the country!

During the low season we are taking up the opportunity to sow into the health of our lagoons building on our coral restoration & reef protection initiatives for the long-term wellbeing of our people, marine life, and visitors.

With incredible partners .earth and our communities,
We are combining resources, skills, expertise and aspirations to uplift healthier, regenerative, economical and sustainable measures for new and improved blue ocean outcomes!

Our team are currently in the beautiful Northern Group Atoll, Manihiki. This is the birthplace of Ocean Toa, where we were privileged to be raised on our family pearl farm. Join us here as we share snippets of our work up there and more

Follow our stories and social media pages for all the action and updates!

Kia Hua, Kia Tata 🐢🪸💪
Team Ocean Toa

We are so PROUD TO FINALLY ANNOUNCE OUR PARTNERSHIP with Great Barrier Reef foundation
Alongside a league of incredible organisations

Ocean Toa Cook Islands isn’t just about adventure, it’s purpose in action. Through ecotourism, we create unforgettable ocean experiences, fund youth education, and lead the Ocean Tupuna Movement to reimagine conservation as a force for social and environmental change. From coral sanctuaries to community resilience, we're protecting island futuKōrero o te 'ŌrauaTe Ipukarea Society - TIS Ocean Ancestorsof our key partners for their unwavering support and belief in us to pick up this mantle for our people
Kōrero o te 'Ōrau Te Ipukarea Society - TIS Ocean Ancestors

We are here at United Nations Ocean Conference, and its great to see ocean dialogue and commitments made for greater protection of our Ocean

I have been fortunate to align and be in conversation with likeminded ocean advocates, activists, change-makers. It’s not enough that we “intend” on doing good and making changes, the urgency is real and genuine drive for change must happen now!

Prior to UNOC 33 countries had taken a stance for a moratorium against deep sea mining, BUT that has now increased to 37! More countries understand the urgency and the need to prevent an industry from taking root in our sacred places.

We are proud to lend our voice in these spaces and advocate for our ocean home and the Mana it possess! Our eco consciousness goes beyond just eco-friendly tours, ecotourism. we fight! We cannot call ourselves Ocean Warriors (Toa) and simply sit on the sidelines! We proactively invest in its protection. Thank you to all who take part in our tours that enable our action in these very spaces!

We are going to UNITED NATIONS OCEAN CONFERENCE, NICE FRANCE 2025

We feel extremely proud and a huge sense of responsibility to head to the United Nations to represent the Cook Islands on the most pivotal global stage.

We have worked quietly but intentionally with incredible partners to enact on our mission for Ocean Regeneration to drive social change for the care of our ocean and the resilience of our communities

We will share our Ocean Tupuna Movement on the world stage!
To all who tour with us to make our movement possible, we thank you.

Here is the event:
Join us for a virtual side event during the third Ocean Conference, hosted by Moshun.Earth, as we spotlight the powerful work of Louisa Castledine (she/her), Indigenous leader, activist, and founder of Ocean Tupuna, Cook Islands.

Louisa will immerse the audience into the case of Manihiki atoll: once home to a thriving pearl industry, Manihiki is now at a crossroads facing economic collapse, depopulation, and the growing threat of deep-sea mining.

Instead of extraction, she is leading a bold and regenerative alternative:
➡️ Rehabilitation of pearl farms into coral sanctuaries, rooted in scientific and ancestral knowledge
➡️ Community-driven ecotourism and education
➡️ A replicable, ocean-based economy built on care and resilience

🔹 Hosted by Karine Toumazeau, CEO of Moshun, this unfiltered conversation will also explore how the private sector can shift from an extractive mindset to becoming active contributors to ocean recovery, and why supporting Indigenous-led regeneration is not just ethical but essential.

❗️IMPORTANT: Clicking “Attend” on LinkedIn does not register you for the event.
To get the Zoom link & reminders, please register here:
👉 https://lu.ma/kj0gu4m7

💬 Regeneration is choice, let’s listen to the voices leading the way.

UN Ocean Decade

EXPLORE WITH PURPOSE!

Beyond the incredible marine life encounters that we love facilitating building ocean connection and confidence with all those who choose to tour with us, we are accelerating our mission within our Ocean Tupuna pillar to further activate Ocean Regeneration

We will share more on the exciting things in our pipeline!
- New website coming that captures the full sphere of our social enterprise
- New Tours that support our mission
- Global platform representation
- Major partnership agreements
- Instrumental Academic Institution Capacity building

We thank all our visitors who choose our tours as your choice in us contributes towards serving our people and our marine life. We feel privileged to not only ensure unforgettable experiences but proactively sow into community & conservation!

Watch this space announcements coming soon!

Another fantastic day with our tamariki from Titikaveka College. Its a privilege to play a part in their learning and recognizing our environment contributes to their curriculum in a way that they can step outside the classroom for firsthand, real life encounters of our marine life and the wonders of the underwater world!

We look forward to more adventures and learnings with our students around the island!

Meitaki Korereka 🙌🙌

🐢 MOU SIGNED TURTLE TOUR OPERATOR🐢

Heres why its important US:
The MOU, developed with engaged industry operators, Tourism, Aronga Mana (Village leaders/Elders focuses on key areas:

🛟Safety: Implements minimum safety standards, including the Cook Islands Bronze medallion.
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒Community: No weekend operations.
🌊Marine Life: Prohibits touching turtles, mandates safe distances from marine life, and restricts operations on weekends for environmental conservation.

While the MOU is not legally enforceable, it reflects a commitment to values over revenue. It limits tour capacity, increases staff certification costs, and restricts operations to five days a week in respect to local village elders requests. These measures support goodwill in the industry, collaboration between signed operators and safeguards the Cook Islands as a reputable destination

Operators with Cook Islands Bronze medallion-qualified lifeguards have specific training for local waters, including rescues specific to Avaavaroa passage and adherence to international standards (SLS International/ Australia). Which requires annual proficiency resits. Your safety is our priority.

Questions you should be equipped with to qualify your intended operator!

1: Are you signed to the MOU?
2: How many qualified lifeguards do you have? Are they Cook Islands certified?
3: How many guests per tour?
4: What is your lifeguard to guest ratio?
5: What safety measures do you have in place?

⚠️Be a Responsible Visitor:
Do not enter our waters without a qualified lifeguard. Book a tour to ensure your safety and that of our community. Ignoring this undermines our safety efforts, livelihoods, and reputation.

Our adventures done right and with those who have your best interests at heart are life changing experiences! Thank you in advance for your support of our businesses and our island home!

Meitaki
Louisa Castledine
Co-Founder Ocean Toa
CI Bronze Medallion Trainer
Cook Islands

We are proud to announce that Founding partner and Co-Owner Louisa Castledine has been offered and accepted a fellowship with Atlantic Fellows of Social Equity

This fellowship invests into our mission as a purpose-led business and we look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks

Louisa shares:
“This transformative fellowship program is focused on enhancing Indigenous-led social equity initiatives across Australia, Aotearoa, and the Pacific Island nations.

Next year, I will deep dive into a Master’s in Social Change Leadership at the University of Melbourne, which will involve the successful development of our social change project.

I look forward to sharing more details about our social change project and business transformation in the coming weeks

I take pride in being the first Cook Islands Fellow and aspire to motivate more individuals from the Cook Islands to engage in further academic pursuits through this fellowship.”

“Today’s Ocean Toa taking action as tomorrow’s Ocean Tupuna for our future Ocean Tamariki.”

Her profile
https://www.socialequity.atlanticfellows.org/fellows-search/louisa-castledine

https://www.socialequity.atlanticfellows.org/news-events/c25-announcement

Introducing the 2025 Cohort — Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity The Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity (AFSE) has announced its 2025 cohort of Fellows, 17 Indigenous and Pacific changemakers from 5 countries across the Pacific.