Press Room
Kids Sea Camp is always making the news.
Our “Press Room” is full of news from around the world about Kids Sea Camp, our founder, Margo Peyton, Family Dive Adventures, and our non-profit Ocean Wishes. We attract a lot of media attention from our updated press room.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Beneath the Sea Honors Margo Peyton with the 2025 Prestigious Pioneer of The Year Award
The Park Hotel at Meadowlands, Rutherford, NJ, March 29th
Beneath the Sea’s Pioneer Award recognizes individuals in underwater research, travel, arts, and community who have dedicated their lives to diving, achieving recognition, and bringing interest and honor to the underwater world. This award connects experienced divers with the next generation, fostering a shared passion for the underwater realm.
This year, Beneath the Sea proudly presents the Pioneer Award to Margo Peyton, founder of Kids Sea Camp Inc. Celebrating her 25th anniversary with Kids Sea Camp, she has contributed to 8,000+ PADI youth diver certifications. Margo has introduced thousands of families to each other and the wonders of the underwater world through uniquely customized, family-focused dive training vacations.
Margo’s passion for diving was ignited by her father, Eddie Salvador, a 1950s-era diver who instilled in her a love for the ocean. Growing up in Provincetown on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Margo was surrounded by a diverse marine environment and Portuguese fishing community that fueled her curiosity. She fondly recalls conversations with her father about his early diving experiences, marveling at his homemade equipment and rudimentary techniques. “How do you know when to go up?” she’d ask, fascinated by his descriptions of laborious breathing signaling the need to ascend using a J-valve and a 300 psi reserve. She wondered about safety stops, but he had no recollection of those things; he responded by stating that when it got hard to breathe, he headed to the surface. These early exchanges sparked a lifelong fascination with diving and safety, shaping Margo’s dedication to ensuring safe and enriching experiences for young divers. Margo was never allowed to dive with her father; he didn’t feel safe.
Her father, a captain, Giant Bluefin Tuna fisherman, and local business owner, nurtured this passion by purchasing her first set of dive gear in 1988, setting her on a path to becoming a diving pioneer and creating the very thing she always wanted, safe places for families to dive together.
After relocating to the Cayman Islands in 1991, Margo honed her diving skills with Bob Soto’s Diving while working as a corporate travel agent and tour guide. She credits Nancy Easterbrook, founder of Dive Tech, Carolyn Pascal, Skin Diver Magazine’s former publisher, and fellow WDHOF sisters as her key female mentors.
Her father and grandmother primarily raised Margo. Though in and out of hospitals for much of Margo’s life, her mother remained a significant inspiration. Unable to travel extensively herself due to a long-term illness, Margo’s mother lived vicariously through her daughter’s adventures, fueling Margo’s desire to explore and share the wonders of the underwater world. This deep connection with her mother inspired Margo to pursue a degree in Travel and Tourism, becoming the first in her family to attend college.
Once a mother, Margo founded Kids Sea Camp, fulfilling a lifelong dream of creating a safe place for families to explore the ocean.
Margo’s dedication to youth dive training has earned her numerous accolades, including:
- 2025 Beneath The Sea Pioneer of the Year Award
- 2024 International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame Inductee
- 2020 PADI Lifetime Achievement Award (only the second recipient, after Sylvia Earle)
- 2018 DEMA Hall of Fame Reaching Out Award
- 2018 Beneath The Sea Diver of The Year Award (for dedication to dive safety with children)
- 2009 Women Divers Hall of Fame Award
Margo has been a PADI Ambassador since 2017 and one of few female members of the SCUBAPRO Deep Elite Ambassadors, she is a recognized expert and source for data on youth diving, training and travel. Margo has contributed to and been featured in multiple publications such as Diver Magazine, Working Mother, Departures, Dive Training, The Undersea Journal, Sport Diver, Skin Diver, Scuba Diving, Alert Diver, and many others.
She, with her husband, Tom Peyton, co-founded Ocean Wishes, a non-profit supporting ocean conservation, training grants, and scholarships. Margo is a passionate underwater photographer, capturing thousands of images of children diving and families exploring the depths together. Now a grandmother, Margo envisions a future with three generations of divers in her family, leaving a legacy of positive change for our ocean’s future and fostering and growing connections through a shared love of diving.
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BREAKING NEWS FOR 2024: Margo Peyton will be inducted into the International Scuba Diver’s Hall of Fame on September 24th!
But don’t take our word for it! Check out the press room to see what people say about Kids Sea Camp and Family Dive Adventures. Below are links that give you lots of reasons to book with us.
SCUBA DIVER MAGAZINE 2024
Margo is an Inductee of the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame
DIVE NEWS WIRE (MULTIPLE STORIES)
Stories about Margo Peyton and Kids Sea Camp on Dive News Wire
DIVE NEWS WIRE 2023
Single dad a believer in Kids Sea Camp
SCUBAGURU 2023
SCUBAVERSE 2022
Jeff talks with Legendary Margo Peyton
COLUMBIA METROPOLITAN 2021
WDHOF
The Women Divers Hall of Fame to Welcome Dive New Members in 2021
Dedicated to recognizing and honoring the contributions of women divers, the Women Divers Hall of FameTM (WDHOF) is an international non-profit professional honor society whose member contributions span a wide variety of fields, including The Arts, Science, Medicine, Sports, Exploration, Underwater Archaeology, Media, Service, Dive Training and Education, Safety, Business, Marine Environment and Conservation, Free Diving, Commercial Diving, and Military Diving. The Hall is proud to announce the selection of nine new Members who will constitute the Class of 2021 (See Link)
DIVER MAGAZINE
20 years of taking kids diving around the world by Diver Magazine
TRAVEL AGE WEST MAGAZINE
Dive with your kids around the world
DEEPER BLUE
celebrates with Kids Sea Camp 20 years of taking families with kids diving worldwide.
Margo Peyton
Beneath The Sea Diver of the Year 2019.
SCUBA DIVING MAGAZINE
Kids Sea Camp Voted best in Scuba Diving Magazine’s top 100! Thank you for voting us for the BEST 2019: Scuba Diving Magazine News: Top 100 Readers Choice Awards Travel #kidsseacamp. www.familydivers.com
DEMA REACHING OUT AWARD 2018
DEMA Reaching Out Award/ 2018 Hall of Fame awarded to Margo Peyton & Ernie Brooks.
See the fantastic speech by Margo Peyton
DIVER MAG
FAMILYTRAVELER.COM
5 Vacations that let you dive with a shark
DEEPER BLUE
2018 Women in Diving
PADI.COM
What it Looks Like When Three Generations Dive Together
PADI
Interview with Margo Peyton
SCUBA DIVING (US)
Top 10 list for world’s favorite family experiences 2018
PADI
Family Vacation Travel Tips for Scuba Divers
SCUBA 2018
Kids Sea Camp Confessional: 10-Year-Old Shark Diver
SCUBA DIVING (US)
Seiko awarded Margo Peyton Sea Hero
DAN (Divers Alert Network) 2014
DAN member profile: Margo Peyton
PADI
Margo Peyton was awarded PADI Ambassador
YOUTH ODYSSEY 2015
TRAVEL CHANNEL 2015
Travel’s Best Family Adventures
TRAVEL WITH KIDS 2013