My research site this summer was a coral reef at Weligama, Sri Lanka:

Weligama lies between Galle and Matara, on the southern coast of Sri Lanka.
 

Well, OK. This is on the way to Weligama Bay... but for the most part, the coastline looks like this.  This is the area
near Kalutara, where coastal erosion has caused the Coast Conservation Department to put large granite boulders
along the shore.

There is an island, locally known as Count de Moivre's Island, which can be waded out to at low tide, in the middle of
the bay.  It is currently owned by a local family, and visitors can see the garden (modeled on the owner's idea of the
Garden of Eden) with their permission.

It isn't all so wonderful, however.  There are people living near the beach, and so there is a lot of pollution coming
into the bay.  A number of tourist hotels have started up in the vicinity, and are contributing to the degradation of the
reef, which is what I was researching in the first place....

A speciman of bleaching coral... found washed ashore at Weligama. Bleaching
was first noticed in this area this past summer (~June 1998), and isn't as wide as
at some other sites in Sri Lanka.

Coral has been used quite extensively by the local people... mainly for
construction (as limestone), but sometimes for decorative purposes.
This fish tank is from the Closenberg Hotel, a 150-year-old guest house
where Ernst Haeckel stayed a few nights.
Incidentallly, the image from the frontpage of this homepage is a sketch
that Haeckel made of Weligama in 1882!

Needless to say, I had a great time there!