In 2000, Loya received the Darwin Medal of the International Society for Reef Studies, the highest honor bestowed on those in coral scholarship. In July of 2009 he made his first visit to Taiwan. Diving amongst the unusually diverse reefs of Kending made quite an impression on him, and he departed exhorting Taiwan's government to spare no effort to protect its natural heritage.
2000 年獲得珊瑚礁界最高榮譽「達爾文獎章」的羅亞，在 2009 年 7 月第一次訪台，他在墾丁潛水後對台灣珊瑚的多樣性讚嘆不已，呼籲台灣政府一定要重視這些珍寶。