Coastal modelling and nature-based reefs

Protecting your coastline.

...and restoring marine life along the way.

We develop advanced coastal models that show how waves, currents and sand move on your stretch of coast, today and with climate change. They show what will work, from a living reef to sand, rock or no action at all. Where a CCell reef is the answer, we design and build it.

Find your coastline See our modelling

I need help with A hotel or resort beach A public coastline Modelling for a project A port or marina An estate or community

CCell reef at Telchac, Mexico (CCell photo)

Who we help

Find your coastline

Different coasts, different pressures. Choose the one closest to yours and we will show you how we would start there.

Hotels and resorts

Is your beach shrinking?

Keep the beach your guests pay for. Start with a free check of how it is changing.

Go to hotels and resorts

Coastal authorities

Choose the right defence on evidence

Compare your options on evidence: whole-life cost, visual impact and habitat.

Go to coastal authorities

Engineering partners

Specialist modelling for complex sites

Coastal CFD and wave modelling for your project or bid. No reef required.

Go to engineering partners

Ports and marinas

Cut dredging and storm damage

Less sand in the channel, calmer water at the entrance and more days open.

Go to ports and marinas

Estates and communities

Protect your shoreline and its value

For private estates, developments and neighbours sharing a coast.

Go to estates and communities

Insurer, NGO or researcher? We work with partners on risk, conservation and science.Partner with us

The coast is changing

Storms are stronger and beaches are moving

Rising seas and heavier storms are pulling sand off beaches and pushing waves closer to buildings, roads and harbours. Walls and rock can hold a line, but they often lose the beach in front of them.

The good news: there are solutions. What works depends on your waves, currents and sand, which is why we start by modelling them. Sometimes the answer is a reef, and sometimes it is sand, rock or a change of plan.

Beachfront at Telchac Puerto, Mexico (CCell photo)

Modelling comes first

We model thousands of years of sea before we recommend anything

The wrong solution in the wrong place can make erosion worse. So every CCell project starts with modelling at a level of detail usually reserved for offshore engineering: decades of real ocean data, thousands of years of simulated storms, and checks against the real sea.

What that means for you: fewer surprises, the right solution for your coast, and evidence you can show owners, councils or funders.

For engineers and modellers

The detail behind the reef

We don't rely on off-the-shelf software. CCell has built its own suite of CFD, SPH, coastal and stochastic sea-state models for waves, wave-structure interaction and shoreline change, checked against industry-standard SWAN, TELEMAC and XBeach. We also do this modelling for other firms' projects.

Explore our modelling Work with us as a modelling partner

1,000sof years of waves and storms simulated for each site

Since 2013research and development backed by Innovate UK, and by EPSRC since 2015

HPChigh-performance simulation supported through the EU's Horizon 2020 programme

Lab-testedearly wave testing with UCL's Department of Engineering

Current streamlines around an island

Regional wave-height model, Quintana Roo, Mexico

The result: a living reef (CCell photo)

How it works

From first model to the right solution

One team from the first model to the last monitoring report, so nothing is lost between the evidence and the water.

Model

A first look at your site, then detailed modelling of waves, currents and sand movement on your coast.

Design

The options are compared in the model. Where a reef is the answer, it is shaped for your conditions, using local and bio-based materials where possible. We handle the permits.

Build

For a reef, modular units made locally where we can, and installed with local teams in days, not months.

Grow and monitor

CCell Sense tracks reef power and water conditions. Shoreline and underwater surveys show how the beach and marine life respond.

More on how it works Our modelling in full

Results

What has happened where we have worked

Coastal authoritiesEstates

Telchac Puerto, Mexico

Sand returned within weeks

With the municipality and Yucatan state government, a 50 m reef now protects 250 m of eroding coastline. Installed in three days.

Read the story

Hotels and resorts

Royal Resorts, Cancun

A living reef for guests

A reef at the end of the resort's 80 m pier turned from bare steel into a living structure in six months.

Read the story

Engineering partnersInsurers

Grand Bahama

What Hurricane Matthew showed

After the 2016 hurricane, our survey found property damage concentrated where there was no offshore reef.

Protection that gives back to the sea

Where our modelling points to a reef, we build one that gives back, because reefs are struggling worldwide and about a quarter of all marine life depends on them at some point in its life. Every CCell reef becomes a new home for marine life.

A living reefBare frame to living reef in six months at Royal Resorts.

Smoother approvalsNature-based schemes that add habitat can make permits easier to win.

People who careStaff, guests and communities are proud to be part of it.

Evidence for reportsSurvey photos and data from our own monitoring system.

Sources: US EPA, Royal Resorts. Our sustainability

Your options

Which solution fits your coast?

Every coast is different. The right answer can be a reef, a wall, rock or sand, and modelling tells you which. This is how the main options usually compare.

	Designed reef	Sea wall	Rock armour	Sand top-ups
Keeps the beach	Helps sand settle	Often lost in front of the wall	Partly	Needs replenishment over time
Looks	Low profile; visibility varies	Concrete on the shore	Rock on the shore	Natural
Wildlife	Creates new habitat	Limited; design-dependent	Some	Disturbs seabed
Cost over time	Build, power and maintenance	High build, repairs	High build, repairs	Repeated every few years

Start small

Every project starts with evidence, not a sales pitch

Pick the first step that fits you. You only go further if the evidence says it is worth it.

Hotels and resorts	Free Beach Stability Check	How your beach has changed, how exposed it is and a 1-5 concern rating	Start free check
Coastal authorities	Options briefing	Which options, including a reef, belong in your coastal plan or appraisal?	Find out more
Engineering partners	Free model-fit call	30 minutes on your site, question and deadline	Book a call
Ports and marinas	Sediment and storm review	Uses your dredging records and wave data	Find out more
Estates and communities	Shoreline check	Plus help bringing neighbours together	Find out more