By Rick Stratton
Publisher, Dive News Network
Kids Sea Camp Family Dive Adventures is, hands down, the most amazing trip I have ever done with my kid. My 12-year old daughter Amanda and I had a week we will remember forever. I now have secured myself a spot on the cool dad list. As parents most of us feel we have to give up our dream trips once we have kids. Margo Peyton completely changed that when she had a different idea 11 years ago. She decided to make scuba diving and travel, a family affair. Margo combined the perfect ingredients for what we scuba parents, and grandparents, have been waiting for, a family dive vacation.
In July Amanda and I packed our suitcases, stowed our gear and headed off to Buddy Dive Resort Bonaire with Kids Sea Camp. The week exceeded our expectations. Amanda made new friends from all around the world and I got to relax and enjoy diving with Amanda.
The adventure included a full week’s schedule of events and educational programs for families with kids age 4-17. I even dubbed it an edu-tainment trip.,education and entertainment all at the same time. One really fantastic component to the KSC week is each certified kid received a SeaLife DC1200 Digital Underwater camera. Margo says with her own kids the hardest part of diving with them is getting them to slow down and enjoy the dive. By giving the kids cameras it would help them focus on marine life and give them family memories to last. The kids get to take part in PADI courses and specialty courses offered during the week, such as; Rescue, DPV, Digital photo, Boat diver, Nitrox, and as Amanda completed her Jr. Adventure diver certification.
KSC adventures don’t just cater to kids, parents have fun too. The Camp promotes an awareness of marine related issues, with a strong focus on conservation while providing a safe family friendly place to dive. I really enjoyed the ease of the jump off the dock diving with my daughter any afternoon at Buddy Dive. Calm clear water, teaming with big schools of fish, eels, box crabs and huge Tarpon. The week included, 3 meals daily, photo clinics and slide shows, night dives for kids and adults and marine art painting. It all ends with graduation and a poetry contest with great prizes like digital cameras, strobes and wide angle lenses.
During my week at Buddy Dive, there were a total of 56 kids from ages 4-17. They are split into age appropriate groups; the largest group was the teen group which is exactly where my daughter fit in. The group is then divided into specialty courses.
Margo told me that it is incredibly rewarding for her to watch the kids grow and become better divers each year. “I feel like these kids are a part of my family,” said Margo. “We have watched some of them since they were 4, 5 and 6 years old, now they are still diving with me at 15, 16, and 17.”
The last time Amanda was at KSC was 2 years ago. I was pleasantly surprised, as was she, that she recognized many of the kids from her last trip. This made her trip that much more fun. Amanda had a great time making new friends and meeting other kids that dive. Before it was over they all exchanged Facebook information. She has developed a network of KSC friends to keep in touch with.
The feel of Kids Sea Camp is amazing. There is always something fun going on, live music, tubing, slack line and sailing. Amanda got to do a drift dive, a boat dive and photo dives. I had a great time diving watching her have fun. She is now almost as committed to the sport of diving as I am. It has always been my dream that she enjoy scuba diving because my life is so much about diving.
As a journalist, I am amazed at the process. I took a video of every segment of Sea Camp, as I went through and watched my footage; I began to realize the kids were great divers. They get the technology, using dive computers and cameras, one little guy even schooled me about using a digital camera. He talked about video editing and software and which were the best cameras; this kid was only 13 years old and he made me feel like an amateur.
I can honestly say again, that this was, as the Kids Sea Camp tag line reads, “A memory to last a life time”. I am glad that Amanda and I went. I do think that my daughter 5-more-minuted me quite a bit conning me into allowing her more and more time to be with her dive buddies/friends each day, but it was time well spent.
For more info on KSC visit www.familydivers.com. ■
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