Kids Sea Camp Marks 25 Years of Family Dives and PADI Certifications

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A Unique Family Dive Experience

Like many people who have been certified in diving, my passion for the underwater sport took a back seat once I had my kids. I went from making dive spots a key requirement for any travel destination to diving only once in a decade. After all, it wouldn’t be easy to find someone to watch my son and daughter for longer stretches of time while my husband and I were off exploring the ocean. And with limited vacation days, holidays were now reserved for family time.

It wasn’t until I learned about Kids Sea Camp—a family dive travel operator that offers programs for kids as young as four—and Junior Open Water PADI certification for children starting at age 10—that I realized I did not have to choose between diving and being a parent. Moreover, Kids Sea Camp would expose my children to the beauty and adventure of the underwater world.

Diving has always made me feel incredibly connected to nature because it allowed me to get up close to fascinating marine life, from reef sharks to sea turtles to eagle rays. It taught me about the interconnectedness of the health of coral reefs and the health of our planet. About 25% of marine life depends on the reefs for food and shelter. Coral reefs act as natural barriers to protect shorelines to reduce the impact of hurricanes and other severe weather patterns by absorbing wave energy. Coral reefs also are a key part of the ocean’s carbon cycle and are therefore tied to climate change. I saw firsthand how the ocean was a better teacher than any textbook, because exploring the underwater world creates greater care. I wanted my children to experience that.

So I reached out to the Kids Sea Camp (KSC) owners, Margo and Tom Peyton. I learned they had done more than 8,000 PADI youth dive certifications without a single accident. Those sounded like incredible odds to me. I learned that Margo started Kids Sea Camp 25 years ago as a mother to a son and daughter herself. She didn’t want to give up diving when she had kids, so she created the company she wished existed. Today she’s built a global network of family-friendly dive resorts with 20-plus trips a year that reflect her high safety standards. I liked that the business was women-owned and family run (their son Robbie now works with them, and their daughter Jen was a dive instructor with KSC as well until she recently had a baby of her own). Margo is also a three-time Diving Hall of Fame award winner. It seemed like we couldn’t be in better hands. I was sold.

Kids Sea Camp was celebrating their 25th anniversary at Buddy Dive Resort (the property itself was also celebrating its 45th anniversary) in Bonaire in August 2025. I promised both of my kids we’d take a trip together to celebrate their 10th year around the sun, so my 10-year old daughter and I embarked on the ultimate adventure. (If you want the kids’ perspective, my daughter wrote about her own experience for KSC’s blog).

What I didn’t fully realize when I first signed up for this vacation was that Kids Sea Camp is so much more than a dive trip. It was an experience that touched my heart. Here are some of the biggest factors that set KSC apart from any other family trip I’ve experienced thus far.

The Company Is Built On Relationships

One of the best parts of Kids Sea Camp are the friendships made. Margo and Tom set the tone by building the company around relationships. For example, they’ve been coming to Buddy Dive Resort for 20 years because of their longstanding friendship with the Dutch owners Paul and Michelle, who have young children of their own that now dive with KSC. The KSC staff are almost entirely friends and family, like their friend Woody, the hilarious M.C. of our group gatherings who doubles as a dive instructor, and their other friend Bigs, one of our photographers in Bonaire who also hosts KSC at her own dive resort in the Philippines.

That kind of energy has a trickle-down effect for all the guests, where relationships are naturally created. In fact, most of the guests had been to KSC before, and one family I met had gone on 16 previous KSC vacations.

My daughter Athena’s Junior Open Water PADI group consisted of 12 kids ranging in age from 10 to 15. They had traveled from Toronto, Long Island, the Netherlands, and more. There were four 10-year old girls in this group. They became fast friends, making plans to meet up at breakfast and at the pool after their PADI training was over.

Athena became especially close to her 10-year old dive buddy, Hadley, who hailed from Maryland. Hadley had done her first Kids Sea Camp the summer before, where she was part of the Seal program for eight and nine year olds. Athena couldn’t wait to get to breakfast each morning so she could joke around with Hadley again, and by day two she started making plans to meet her again at another KSC.

Hadley’s parents, Jess and Bryan, who had been to Bonaire a few times before having a child, invited me to go night diving with them or join them at dinner. They were kind enough to give Athena and I an island tour in their rented Jeep. We spent a lovely afternoon with the girls watching the athletic prowess of windsurfers at Jibe City. (Bonaire is a top windsurfing destination, thanks to the trade winds). It was our final stop after they took us to the flamingo sanctuary (it’s only one of four areas in the world where flamingos breed), the historic lighthouse built in 1837, and the salt mine’s pyramids of crystals towering alongside the pink brine lakes. We got to see a whole other side of the island thanks to our new friends.

The friendships stretched across generations. While the kids were in the ocean doing their PADI instruction, the adults would go out on their own dive boats. My dive buddy was a trail blazer nicknamed C.P. She was a 71-year pioneer who had been the first woman publisher of Skin Diver magazine in the ‘80s. She was also a mentor for Margo who helped connect her with key people in the dive industry to get KSC off the ground.

Since my dive skills were rusty, C.P. took me under her wing, checking that my air didn’t get too low and bringing me extra dive skins because I tended to get cold after an hour underwater. She also shared some hilarious stories about dating in her ‘70s, life lessons on raising a daughter, and how she broke into a traditionally male-dominated industry. I looked forward to my daily dives to listen to C.P.’s stories as much as I did to explore the ocean.

The Itinerary Is Designed For Connection

Though Kids Sea Camp’s mission is to inspire families to dive, and creating connection is also baked into the heart of every itinerary. Because of this, KSC creates a community of care in only a week that so many of us may be lacking in a world where loneliness is on the rise.

Sure, like many tour operators, KSC takes the stress out of planning, such as by transporting you to and from the airport, including all of your meals, and scheduling your dive excursions based on the conditions. Parents and grandparents can truly relax and enjoy diving with the adults, because they know their children are in safe hands and having the time of their lives.

But the ‘Kids Sea Camp magic,’ as I heard many of the repeat customers call it, doesn’t come from a lack of stress. Rather, it comes from the intentionally-designed rhythm of the week that gives everyone the opportunity to stretch themselves in a supportive group setting (all in the spirit of having fun).

The group of strangers immediately began to open up from the very first night when everyone gathered at Blennies restaurant for dinner. Our M.C. Woody (a police officer from Connecticut who was also a dive instructor and getting a Ph.D in theology) had us all introduce ourselves by telling two truths and a lie.

While we bonded with our dive buddies during the day, each afternoon there were curated adventures for the kids that were optional for the adults (in case parents preferred some downtime). There was the adventure to the donkey sanctuary (and if you do not consider hundreds of braying donkeys chasing you for a single slice of bread an adventure, your life is much more exciting than mine). There was the blow kart landsailing excursion (like go karts but with sails), which dare devil Athena treated like the Indy 500.

Then there were the big group events that set the stage for playfully getting out of our comfort zones, which I believe is part of the secret sauce that forges bonds with others. From the sunset sail where it was a tradition for the kids to jump off the bow of the boat and swim back to shore; to the karaoke night where we saw that Tom is a legit rock star and Woody a talented opera singer; to the poetry contest (another KSC tradition) where travelers performed their funny or heartfelt verses in front of the crowd, it began to feel like we were in a bubble protected from the outside world.

The energy of the group was filled with creativity and play, connection and support for one another. I kept hearing it was that special ‘magic’ of previous KSC trips that keeps drawing so many back again and again.

Kids Sea Camp Is A Natural Digital Detox

At home a week seems to fly by, but at KSC in Bonaire time itself seemed to slow down and expand. It’s not that we weren’t busy, because from the moment we woke we were diving, then going on an afternoon adventure and finishing our day with a group event like a barbecue or trivia night. Rather, our mental to-do lists seemed to melt away as we focused on being in the present moment.

I looked around at meal time, and neither the adults nor the kids were on their phones. Athena typically tried to sneak in a game of Roblox or Minecraft in the morning, but her iPad languished as she was focused instead on meeting up with her friends in real life and getting to the ocean. For the first few days, I had the nagging feeling I should be checking my emails. As the week went on, my anxiety over missing something in the news or my inbox evaporated, and I relaxed into the rhythm that was Kids Sea Camp. Case in point: I started to forget my cell phone when I left our room for the day, and I didn’t miss it all. It wasn’t just me either–my new friend Jess also started leaving her phone behind.

In my opinion, one of the top benefits of KSC is that Margo makes it so you never have to focus on taking pictures (and therefore can ditch your phone). There is a photographer present at all times: Under the water while diving to capture images of you, your kids, and the marine life; during the afternoon adventures so you never miss a lick from a donkey (unless you want to); and in the evening to get family shots on the sunset sail or a video of your kid singing karaoke.

Margo uploads the images each night so, if you desire, you can post your experiences in real time. This is a huge benefit for families to have photographers capturing the moments so you can focus on making memories rather than viewing your vacation through your phone’s camera. Typical tour operators might charge you a big premium to access the library of images, but it’s part of the package at KSC.

I believe this also contributed to the group appearing to collectively unplug. It made me realize that so much of the urgency I feel back at home is really an illusion, driven by endless social media alerts and the fact that I constantly carry a device in my pocket designed to keep pulling me back online. That’s how KSC unexpectedly served as a digital detox for us.

Learning Is A Hands-On Adventure

Kids Sea Camp is also the ultimate learning vacation. Athena did her PADI coursework online before we landed in Bonaire, but the rest of the process was all hands-on learning, adventure style. We got to experience the natural world in a way that we are so far removed from in modern life.

When we arrived it was the night of a gorgeous full moon. We started to pay more attention to the rhythm of nature, such as knowing to avoid night diving eight to 10 days after the full moon because that’s when the box jellyfish come to the surface to spawn. Or being on the lookout for nesting sea turtles on the beach in August, a peak nesting time.

Bonaire was the first Caribbean island to protect its sea with a marine park, so many of the animals are friendly and not afraid. Athena and I began to recognize the marine animals that lived near the reef at Buddy Dive Resort. There was a pair of five-foot long tarpon who lived under the dock where the dive boats come in, and whose silver scales reflected in the sunlight like sequins as we snorkeled past. There was the octopus that tended to hang out by the ladder leading into the ocean. I swear it was the same parrot fish that greeted me on my morning swims.

We realized how much our knowledge of the underwater world had grown in just a few days of diving in Bonaire during an evening of ocean trivia. Another night there was a presentation by the Reef Renewal Foundation, which helps restore damaged coral reefs.

One of the people presenting was a twenty-something former Kids Sea Camper named Nicholas, who was now working with the foundation in Bonaire to help educate people and build coral nurseries. Athena and I adopted our very own coral to help support the project. Then we got to see those nurseries firsthand when we did our first dive together, and Athena pointed excitedly to the tree-shaped underwater PVC pipes with growing coral fragments hanging off.

Giving back is baked into Kids Sea Camp’s DNA: In addition to donating to the Reef Renewal Foundation in Bonaire, Tom and Margo founded Ocean Wishes, which gives dive scholarships and grants for children around the world to become divers. It made me think about how important it is to give back when and where we can, because if more of us did this, the world could look like a very different place.

The Family Bonding Lasts Long After The Vacation Is Over

On our last morning before checkout, Athena and I stretched out in lounge chairs facing the ocean in front of Buddy Dive Resort. We scanned the water’s surface for signs of life, and understood what was underneath in a way we had not upon our arrival. We now knew what the coral reef below looked like as we had spent the past week exploring those waters. We sensed the dazzling tarpon were likely swimming by the dock, the octopus was likely floating near the ladder, the parrot fish were likely feeding on a piece of the reef.

We reflected on our trip; such as our favorite things we saw in the ocean (a lobster and a sea turtle), our favorite part of the trip (making new friends), and Athena’s most proud moment (getting PADI certified).

I’d watched Athena stretch herself in so many ways at Kids Sea Camp and have a heck of a lot of fun while doing it. I’d witnessed her find her courage to sing karaoke (Olivia Rodriguez’s “Vampire”), struggle with getting her dive gear on before learning to pull it off with ease, write and read her poems in front of an audience, make new friends and play around with her dive instructors. It made me happy to see her so happy.

That final moment at Kids Sea Camp felt big, a slice of time I knew I’d hold on to forever. Though Kids Sea Camp had come to an end, I knew my memories wouldn’t be the only thing that would last long after the trip is over. I now have a dive buddy for life, and the world gained another young ocean ambassador.