Kid’s Sea Camp: Great Family Fun

For those who know me personally, you know that my life centers around my family and my job. The two overlap in many ways. My wife Kathy is co-publisher, best friend and my right hand. She takes care of the details and without her I would be nothing. My son Matt is one of our test divers and my daughter Amanda is our newest diver and the business mascot. It is truly a family affair in many ways. Recently we were invited to attend Kid’s Sea Camp, held at Anthony’s Key Resort on the island of Roatan, Honduras. It was a great opportunity and an amazing experience. The camp is exceptionally well run; it was easily the best family adventure that we have ever had.

Kids Sea Camp is a vacation destination for families who love the ocean and all aspects of it. There are an amazingly full week schedule of events and educational programs that make for great times and learning experiences for families. The camps focus is on kids age 4-15. Seven nights’ accommodations, diving, meals, excursions, activities for both adults and kids including, diving, snorkeling and many PADI Specialty courses all make for a time that families can reconnect both with each other and the planets’ ocean waters.

Kids Sea Camp, created in 2001, has been a vehicle for hundreds of kids each year to become PADI certified divers. Their Ocean Discovery Certified Kids Diver programs include many new courses this year which we were able to explore. Programs such as, Advanced Open Water, Junior Open Water, Digital Photo, Deep Diver, Boat Diver, Adventure diver, Fish Id, Sea Scooter, Rescue and many more courses are age and depth appropriate PADI courses that are held at PADI 5 star facilities. Not only are the programs certified but they are safe so parents can take heart in that the kids will be
just fine.

Kids Sea Camp is coming up on its 10th anniversary this year. Founder Margo Peyton says that Kid’s Sea Camp was born of inspiration to connect both emotionally and physically with young people. “We offer eight different locations and have more than 1600 participants in 2009. Last year we had more than 800 certifications,” explained Peyton. Peyton’s amazing success was hard earned. She says that at first the idea was scoffed at by a lot of people. “Resorts generally are not kid friendly and are real skeptics when it comes to having kids get certified as divers. There are also the issues of liability,” said Peyton. Peyton kept on however and what grew from that moment of inspiration despite obstacles such as not offending other non-family guests is a family oriented adventure that offers so much more than just a vacation. In fact, Kids Sea Camp is so committed to the kids and families who come to enjoy the adventure that they book the entire resort in order to prevent conflicts with other groups and ensure that families have a good time.

Peyton adds that initially dive resorts had to be educated about the opportunities available with the program. A property had to be just right in order to appeal to both kids and adults. Peyton says that a resort must have a real commitment to the Kids Sea Camp program and love kids. Peyton has discovered some incredible partners including Anthony’s Key Resort, which is the one we attended at Roatan. Anthony’s Key Resort has been a Roatan diving destination resort for over 40 years. Divers from all over the world have taken the plunge in the Honduras’ Bay Islands via Anthony’s Key Resort. Anthony’s has always offered diving among the

spectacular reefs, interaction with dolphins and even hiking the lush tropical gardens of the area, however being able to take part in the Kids Sea Camp at Anthony’s has added yet another aspect to an otherwise already great dive destination. Home to the world’s second longest barrier reef system divers can experience some of the best diving in the Caribbean and now families of divers can experience it as well through the Kids Sea Camp program.

With a diverse mix of activities for every member of the family and every age level already it is no wonder why Anthony’s Key Resort was a good fit. General Manager, Samier Galindo, who is also the son of the founder, says the resort is very family focused and even has a kid’s dolphin camp each week as part of their normal summer packages already. Peyton has a long standing relationship with the Galindo family and in 1997 she chose Anthony’s for its diverse activities and incredible facilities. “They have the Roatan Institute of Marine Sciences (RIMS), the Roatan Museum, Maya Key and much more that allows for incredible diversity and appeal,” said Peyton. “It was a natural fit.”

The fit is good for Anthony’s as well, according to Galindo; the Kids Sea Camp brings the concept of kid friendly to a whole new level for the resort. “We must bring in extra staff for KSC,” Galindo adds. “We work hard to support the instructional programs and extra programs that Margo brings.”
Peyton has also teamed with entertaining marine artist Ron “Rogest” Steven since 2003 to bring even more to the Kids Sea Camp program. Rogest is enjoyed by kids of all ages as he acts as Master of Ceremonies at most of the Kids Sea Camp events and is the official clown and artist in residents. He offers art classes and experiences with the kids that help them express what they are experiencing at the camp. His irrepressible and fun loving nature cannot be contained and is fun to watch in action. “Ronnie is an incredible entertainer,” says Galindo, “He really knows his business. The adults as well as the kids all enjoy him.”

Perhaps the most important part of the Kids Sea Camp experience in the sharing that goes on within the families who attend. There is a mix of activities such as snorkeling, kayaking, beach combing, dolphin camp, horseback riding, night dives, zip lining at Gumbalinba Park, picnicking on the beach, fish ID classes, family dolphin encounters and a beach Piñata Party. All of these activities are enjoyed by the families as a whole. Everyone has their favorite activity. Peyton has her favorite activities too. Her most favorite is diving with the teens. “The energy from the kids is incredible,” Peyton says. “It is like diving in the middle of a bait ball.”

My own experience with Kids Sea Camp was truly exceptional.

I would say that it was the perfect dive vacation for the family. While I admit I do get to “live the dream” and go to resorts as part of my job, my one regret is that I rarely get to share the experience with my family. This experience was different because I was able to experience Anthony’s Key Resort and Kids Sea Camp with my family. Although it was a kid focused family trip it also offered the perfect balance of both adult time and family time.

Our daughter Amanda would wake up at 7 a.m. and run off to a Kids Sea Camp event. She would be instructed, entertained and occupied all day often ignoring us at lunch in the restaurant. (Parents, you understand, are very un-cool to hang out with on vacation) But while Amanda was preoccupied with her dive experiences Kathy and I would be able to dive, read a book, tour the island or just lounge in a hammock until 4:30 p.m. when we would meet at the pool for “happy hour”.Afterwards we would pick up Amanda and catch up on the day’s activities. I have to say that I have never seen my daughter have so much fun. At the end of the night, Amanda would lie on the bed and share her day in detail. It was incredible listening to her excitement as she described diving as “awesome!” What more could a dad whose day life is surrounded by diving want?

Amanda said that she loved the trip. “The trip was amazing. All the sea life and vivid colors under the water were incredible,” says Amanda. “I had a blast scuba diving, making new friends with kids from all over the world and hanging out with them. The dolphins were very fun. I got kissed by a dolphin. We did a hand shake and I even got to ride one by hanging on to its dorsal fin – that was really cool!” Amanda added that even the educational part of the trip was fun. “Learning to dive was really fun; except for the classroom work,” Amada said. “The food was awesome! It tasted wonderful and there was desert with every meal!” Of all the experiences Amanda had however the chance to hit the water was by far her favorite. “One of my favorite parts was that I got to swim all day. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a fish.”

So if you love diving and want to get your family involved or if you just need some family re-connect time, you must look up a Kid’s Sea Camp event – it is truly incredible and this time around you got not only my word for it but also my daughter’s word. So parents, take it from me and kids, take it from Amanda…it was a blast. ■