By Jeff Sankoff
I first fell in love with the undersea world when I was seven. OK, I am fudging that a little bit because I can’t remember precisely how little I was, only that I was very young and that it was in that kindergarten or elementary school age window that I saw on television my first-ever Jacques Cousteau Undersea Special. I was immediately hooked on the idea of becoming a diver. From that moment on, I knew that somehow, someway, I would get certified to dive and that it would become a big part of my life.
Fast forward to 1994, when I finished medical school and when, for the first time in my life, I had a real income. I finally took the first step toward that long-held dream and became certified as an open-water diver. A few years later, I got my girlfriend Saundra hooked on the sport. We became lifelong buddies when I proposed underwater while on a dive trip in Guanaja, Honduras (we even had goldfish bowls for centerpieces instead of flowers at our wedding!).
Saundra and I dove worldwide whenever we could, and like many other couples, the undersea world became one of the most important things we did together.
In 2005, our diving careers had to pause with the arrival of our first-born child, Sam. Then, in 2009, twins Adam and Lauren showed up, and we became a family of five. We still managed to dive every once in a while, but nowhere near as often as we had or as we wished, and we had to leave the kids at home.
When Sam was 8, we learned of an introduction to the SCUBA program for children offered by our local dive shop, and I don’t think you could have contained my excitement when I learned that kids could get certified at age 10! We immediately signed her up, and she took to it with more exuberance than I could have hoped. We later learned from Margo Peyton that Kids Sea Camp and many dive shops also offer the SASY snorkel program for kids ages 4-7 and the PADI Seal Team for kids ages 8 & 9. However, Kids Sea Camp is one of the few in the world to take those kids to the ocean. Most dive shops offer those programs daily and in a pool. Margo has made an entire week of fun out of them for youngsters so moms and dads can go diving while younger kids are having a blast in the undersea world.
Needless to say, As soon as Sam was 10, we got her certified, but like so many others, we quickly found that diving with kids is not as easy as getting them certified. Few operators were willing to accept the liability of diving with children, and those who did often did not appear to have the experience or the necessary skills to make parents feel completely comfortable.
And so it was in 2018 that, like so many others who came before us, Saundra and I found ourselves one evening entering that fateful combination of words into the Google search bar: ‘diving with children’. Of course, we landed immediately on the one and only Margo Peyton, and our lives were forever changed for the better.
Kids Sea Camp immediately appealed to us, but with our kids attending a private school whose holiday calendar seemed to be offset by every other school system in the country, none of the dates aligned well with our availability. Margo was undeterred. She set us up for a week at Buddy Dive in Bonaire, a location Saundra and I knew well. And so, in April of 2018, we found ourselves on our first-ever Family Dive Adventure. Sam dove with us and our private guide, arranged by Margo, while the twins took their first Seal course and took to the sport as enthusiastically as their big sister had.
The next year, we were able to find a KSC week that worked for our school schedule, so we jumped at the chance to go to a Cayman Islands Kids Sea Camp. There, we met three people who have become some of our closest friends: Tom, Margo, and Olivia. (See gallery)
Over the years, we have been on seven more KSC trips to the Galapagos, Cayman Islands, Bonaire, St. Lucia, Roatan, The Philippines, and the Turks & Caicos. All have been extraordinary. Over that time, our children have become exceptional divers. When we took them to the Galapagos, the staff on the dive boat commented to me privately how impressed they were with Adam and Lauren, two fourteen-year-olds of small stature who could dive as well as any adult in challenging conditions. I replied that it is entirely attributable to the incredible program that Margo and Tom have developed. Without the two of them guiding and hosting us, I would never have felt comfortable letting my children dive on a liveaboard or anywhere else!
Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing with beautiful sunsets, and the year 2020 brought not only the COVID-19 pandemic but also a diagnosis of Hodgkins Lymphoma for Lauren at the worst possible time. The love and friendship of Margo, Tom, and Olivia during those difficult months meant the world to us and is a shining example of how they view their relationships with their customers as more than just a business interaction but as a real investment in people and long-lasting connections.
What makes it so personal? Tom’s KSC karaoke, singing with Sam, and encouraging her and I to share our voices with the world. Then, the entire KSC team helped me create a surprise Lip Dub in St. Lucia for my wife on our anniversary. What a fantastic memory they created for us. We have made many new friends and enjoy reconnecting with them and meeting others on each trip. Kids Sea Camp and the undersea world have become a part of a family that was never expected.
We continue to travel with Kids Sea Camp as a family, Sandra, and me. We also enjoyed doing an Empty Nester trip with Margo and Tom to Indonesia, a photo-intensive journey we both enjoyed. I’ve been exploring underwater photography, and that trip to Lembeh gave me a glimpse of our future. It will be a little while before we are empty nesters, but when we are, Margo and Tom have given us a glimpse into what it could look like. We have already booked a 2029 “Why Not” trip aboard the Arenui with them. (See Calendar)
Kids Sea Camp is very much like an extended family. “Give them a week they will remember forever,” give yourself an experience you will cherish and open your family to limitless possibilities in the undersea world.
