Coral Reef Adventure follows the real-life expedition of ocean explorers and underwater filmmakers Howard and Michele Hall. The Halls guide us to the islands and sun-drenched waters of the South Pacific to document, in the biggest and best film format that exists, the health and beauty of corals.

On the giant screen, you’ll feel like you’re diving and exploring right alongside them. From the dazzling underwater seascapes of Australia's Great Barrier Reef to the mysterious deep ocean corals of Fiji, and from the azure skies above Tahiti to shark-filled canyons off isolated Rangiroa, the Halls visit many reefs that are flourishing and capture on film many interesting reef inhabitants. You’ll laugh at the little shrimp that wants to climb in your mouth to get its own bite to eat! You’ll see how reef animals rely on each other in surprising ways. You’ll dive down to the mysterious deep reefs of The Twilight Zone, a place no one else has ever been. You’ll swim with hundreds of grey reef sharks, then zoom through coral canyons, riding a fast current beneath the waves. But sadly, you’ll also swim through vast stretches of bleached coral boneyards, and learn with the Halls how our actions may cause these devastating results. Along their journey the Halls meet scientists and conservationists working to understand and save the reefs. In Fiji, Rusi Vulakoro guides Howard and Michele to the beautifully pristine and mysteriously damaged reefs of his country. They also dive with world-renowned ocean advocate Jean-Michel Cousteau who feels at home in the world beneath the waves.

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in marine waters with little to no nutrients in the water. High nutrient levels such as those found in runoff from agricultural areas can harm the reef by encouraging the growth of algae. In most reefs, the predominant organisms are stony corals, colonial cnidarians that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The accumulation of skeletal material, broken and piled up by wave action and bioeroders, produces a massive calcareous formation that supports the living corals and a great variety of other animal and plant life. Although corals are found both in temperate and tropical waters, shallow-water reefs are formed only in a zone extending at most from 30°N to 30°S of the equator. Tropical corals do not grow at depths of over 50 m (165 ft). Temperature has less of an effect on the distribution of tropical coral, but it is generally accepted that they do not exist in waters below 18 °C. However, deep water corals can exist at greater depths and colder temperatures. Although deep water corals also form reefs, very little is known about them.

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