Margo –

I have always meant to write you a note to thank you for Kids Sea Camp.

We have now enjoyed Grand Cayman, Fiji, Honduras and Bonaire with our kids through you.  You have enabled us to dive with our children in wonderful locations that we would never have been able to do without Kids Sea Camp!  With  5 children in all the the age brackets our children have been able to enjoy SASY through Teen Diving and have been able to get certified through you. 

It is truly a wonderful thing to see how comfortable our children are with diving.  Coming from someone who didn’t start diving until I was older, it amazes me to see the ease at which the kids tackle diving.  They don’t blink an eye when they need to clear their mask, just whip it off under water (something I still hate to do!) and  the comfort they have with pulling their regulators out of their mouth if needed.    They do have the knowledge of all of the risks of diving and know that it is not to be taken for granted, but truly have fun also!

From a parents standpoint, it is also wonderful to know that I can get up, eat breakfast with kids and go off to dive with other adults and know that my kids are safe and happy.  I don’t worry about whether someone is being watched over…it is simply always taken care of.  The kids don’t feel like they are being “babysat” all day – they have a wonderful time and are simply exhausted by bedtime.  It is the best of both worlds to have a family vacation with your children  and have a diving vacation for grownups – not something that normally can happen.

It is also wonderful to get to meet and spend time with you and your family and with families that we have seen at multiple camps!

Thank  you again for everything that you have done for our family.  It is truly priceless!!

Take Care –

Wendy

Mike  & Natalie
Parents of Ian and Morgan
Kids Sea Camp allowed us as parents to enjoy great morning dives each day knowing that the kids were well attended to.

Upon returning to the hotel each day after diving around lunchtime, the kids were so consumed with the content of their programs, they barely recognized our return!

The afternoon allowed us adults to get out and enjoy some more activities before returning to get the kids at the end of their afternoon sessions. As if the scheduled kids’ activities weren’t enough, it wasn’t uncommon for the instructors and counselors to continue to interact with the kids well beyond the end of scheduled times, and quite often into the evening, as well!

Perhaps most rewarding was that by the end of the week we got to experience the wonders of the oceans with our newly certified Seal Team members together as family.

To quote the kids, “That was the most awesome vacation we’ve ever had!”

Indeed it was!

Tim & Jill
Parents of James, age 7

We have taken our son James with us on every dive trip we’ve taken — sometimes with and sometimes without babysitters — and it’s usually worked out for us. But when we learned about Kids Sea Camp, we knew it was exactly what we were looking for all along. So much so, in fact, that we began to wonder, “Could it really be as good as they say?”

Well, it was better than advertised! The kids were kept so busy with all the wonderful activities that the days just flew by! Animal encounters, ocean art, stories, snorkeling, SASY, etc., etc., etc.! Best of all, there were enough responsible and professional instructors to ensure that all the children got all the individual care they needed. Both kids and parents made friends instantly. The families had many opportunities to gather for beach cookouts, and the kids even had their own movie and pizza night. And yes, there is plenty to do for nondivers!

Do yourself and your kids a real favor and attend a Kids Sea Camp destination this year!

Trish
Mom of Corley, Then age 8 and now age 16
Curaçao KSC 2003 &  Curacao2004,  Curacao 2005,  Roatan 2006, Roatan2007, fiji2008, Palau & Costa Rica in 2009 and joining 2010 Belize
Thoughts as a mom on Kids Sea Camp

I had been debating whether to put down my deposit for our Kids Sea Camp in Curaçao. We couldn’t decide whether we wanted to try a new location or take a year off. But after speaking with Emily at Caribbean Adventures (formerly of Kid Sea Camp) and finding out what a special alumni week they had planned for us “oldtimers,” how could I not make our reservations!
 
We had such a wonderful time last year, we learned that one week was not enough, so this time we signed up for a two-week stay.

I highly recommend that any family go to camp and take time to enjoy the Ocean as a family. My dolphin  swim will always be a treasured memory. Our second week of camp was a great diving experience. Corley began her junior open-water certification. Getting to dive with her on the final day on the Tugboat dive was such a thrill — seeing how she had learned to operate her equipment and be a responsible diver made me realize what a wonderful teaching dive crew they have at Kids Sea Camp weeks.

All these experiences and so many more — from taking a daytrip or diving , meeting new friends and renewing friendships made the year and, of course, golfing  made it easy to come back.
 
On another note, it’s amazing what a small world we live in. Part of our vacation plan was to bring my older daughter, Sara, along with us. She was certified six months before she was sent overseas to do a tour in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, and she had never gotten to dive in the ocean.

While we were waiting for her to arrive, my husband, Jon, overheard a diver talking about his dive buddy who was a paratrooper. Sara is a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, and of course it made me curious. I introduced myself to him and asked where he was stationed; to make a long story short, his name was Rick MacIntosh and he and Sara had been in Ramadi, Iraq, together. This made for quite a reunion later that week when she arrived and an interesting “You’ll never guess who I ran into while on vacation” story. The beautiful waters of Curaçao made for a very memorable first ocean dive experience for her, and she now understands why we are so hooked on Kids Sea Camp Family Dive Adventures!

Kathleen
Mom of Kelvin , age 8

Last winter, as I was beginning to plan my annual summer dive trip, I encountered some roadblocks. As the single divorced mother of an eight-year-old boy, I had to make sure he would be cared for while I was away. His father recently moved out of state and was inaccessible. My parents, 74 and 84, offered to watch my son, but admitted it was becoming more difficult to entertain an active boy for an entire week, especially with no other kids in the neighborhood to play with. When I logged onto the Kids Sea Camp Web site, I immediately contacted Margo she was fantastic to talk to and very informative. I soon received the information packet and knew that I had found the solution to my problem.

When I go on a dive trip, I dive as much as I can. For me, it’s a once-a-year endeavor that I literally submerge myself in. How could I be a mother and dive at the same time? I decided that attending Kids Sea Camp would provide the answer. By week’s end, I had logged thirteen dives, made friends with several other divers and had quality vacation time with my son. While I was diving, my son had great instruction with well-planned daily activities. He was well cared for and made friends while at Kids Sea Camp. The additional bonus of Kids Sea Camp was having a night of during the week with kids pizza movie night so parents can do a night dive!

Gloria
Mom of Michael and Megan

We got to Curaçao Kids Sea Camp a day early to spend a little time getting used to the place. My kids, although avid swimmers, had never really felt comfortable in the ocean. Kids Sea Camp changed everything. The first day in Curaçao, my kids wouldn’t go past where they couldn’t touch the bottom of the water. By day two, they were swimming the channel with local kids, back and forth. I was thrilled.
 
I had spent my whole childhood enjoying the ocean, and I’d always watched Jacques Cousteau and even got to go to some of his lectures through Cal Tech in California, but after seeing Jaws, I was terrified of getting eaten. Years later, after a really wonderful impromptu snorkeling shark experience with about 50 wonderful leopard sharks, I finally became a scuba diver, a rescue diver and then a divemaster. I finally realized many of my dreams of interaction, observation and the amazing feeling of being in what I think is heaven that scuba diving has to offer. I thought my kids would never see it that way. They were always nervous because of the shark movies they’d seen, whether we were snorkeling or kayaking. Those days are over now.
 
My son, who really had an aversion to studying, read his scuba certification book nightly with an enthusiasm I had never seen. He worked hard, and his instructor, Steve, worked with those kids in amazing ways. Every day, I saw a personal and intellectual growth in both kids that I could never have imagined. The best part is, they were just having fun and had no idea what huge obstacles they were overcoming.
 
I have to say, the most exciting day for my husband and me was the day we dove with them for the first time. I dove with Megan in PADI Seal Team, as she wasn’t old enough for the full PADI open-water certification . She actually showed me around the “In Ocean lagoon” and knew what animals hung out where, what their personalities and tendencies were and how to interact with them. She took me to all the different areas so I could experience all her new friends: the friendly stingrays, the enormous goliath grouper and the blowfish that just loved to hover right in front of your mask all the time. We laughed and giggled underwater at all their personalities as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She monitored my air and me as if she had to make sure I would be OK in her newly found playground. It was great!
 
My husband went with Michael on his PADI open-water dive. My son had done it. He was certified. He could go out off of the rocks with his equipment and make good decisions about the current and depth; he was really good at buoyancy and was a natural at looking out for others. There he was in the open ocean, loving and appreciating its vast, amazing beauty with respect and awe, just as I had always dreamed he would get to do.

Michael’s always been like me, feeling close to animals and nature. I used to try to describe to the kids the amazing and beautiful experiences I’ve had as a diver, how it feels to lay on the sandy ocean floor and look up through the kelp with the sun shining through, how it feels to play copycat with the sea lions, what to do and what not to do so you can enjoy being a guest in their world. Now when we talk about it, Michael gets that same look, that one only divers know and share.
 
This experience wasn’t available when I was a child. We could only watch the occasional Jacques Cousteau special and dream of what it might be like. But now, my children and I have a world of exploration, beauty and heaven to explore together. It would be impossible to describe the feeling, as a parent, that I have every time I think about the joy on their faces at their own accomplishment, and whenever I remember the relationships, both human and animal, that they developed through Kids Sea Camp. We’re going again, for two weeks, to do different programs. My kids, who love piles of presents under the tree, were ecstatic when I asked them if it was OK if we did a really small Christmas so that we could go to Kids Sea Camp instead.
 
Nothing in the world has given them what Margo’s Kids Sea Camp gave them, and we are so fortunate that we have the opportunity in today’s world to give our kids this gift that will start them on a path that will last a lifetime. I am so grateful to Margo for having this dream for her and her kids and making this program a reality for those of us who see the great value in it but never really thought it was a possibility. Not only is it a fun thing to do, but it makes a huge change in the children and the parents who have done this.  Our lives will never be the same, and we have been truly blessed by the experience.  Margo is a mom and a diver, so she has high expectations as a parent and that makes me as a mother feel safe and comfortable at her Kids Sea Camps.  This was an amazing family experience that we will treasure for ever and hopefully will continue to create new ones each year.

THE FIRST TIME I WENT SCUBA DIVING
By: Jack 

     I’m going SCUBA diving for the first time in all my life and I’m only ten!  I’m so excited.  My mom tells me all about it after she comes back from one of her diving trips.  It’s going to be my mom, my brother and me going on the trip.  We are leaving tomorrow!
     We are at the airport now and we are just sitting here bored as can be.  It was kind of starting to take the fun out of the whole trip.  I’m just sitting here playing on my laptop again and very bored.  My mom told me to start packing up because we were about to leave.  So with that, I’m packed up and excited to leave one of the most boring places in the world.
     We are FINALLY landing on the dry soil of the Grand Cayman Islands.  I was shocked at how little their airport was but man, it was a lot more fun than the one we took on the way here.
     We are now at our hotel, Cobalt Coast.  The ground looked dry and the bricks felt rough.  I met all the people in my group…there were only four people in my group!
     Today was the first training day for our class.  At first we trained in the pool.  I soon found out that that was the easy part.  The next day we started to review, but this time it was in the ocean!  I should actually be kind of glad that I was in the ocean, even though it smelled like nasty salt water.  Either way, the sights were glorious.
     Today was the day that I had to take the final deciding test.  I’m taking the test and I can’t hear a sound.  I’m so nervous.  The test was fifty questions and I passed. 
     We then used this tiny computer that told you how long you could stay underwater for certain depths.  I’m taking the diving test and I couldn’t be more nervous.  The next day I got the results back…I PASSED!!! I can’t believe it, I was now a CERTIFIED SCUBA diver!  Me, Jack, a certified scuba diver…I’m sooo proud of myself!
     Since the tests were over and all four people in my class passed, we decided to just go free dive as much as we could.  Whenever I came back from a dive I could still taste the salt water from the ocean on my lips.  The water seemed so much more blue and the fish more colorful.  It was probably since I didn’t have to focus on my dive masters and I could roam around with the group.  Whenever I saw my favorite fish, the Hogfish, I always got overjoyed.  This is probably the proudest moment of my life.

Greetings! Hope you and your family are surviving the winter. We are approaching the record for winter snowfall here in West Virginia. 77 inches is our record, we are just a few short of that now.
 
On behalf of Trey, Anna, Christy, Jenny, and myself, I just want to thank you for the wonderful time we had at KSC in Roatan this past summer. As the months, and the snow, have accumulated since then, we have really enjoyed our memories and photos of KSC.
 
It was such a great experience for Trey, as it was his first trip to the ocean. KSC set the bar pretty high for Trey’s future vacations. Everything was so well organized and there were so many activities for both kids and adults. It was everything we hoped for and more.
 
Words can’t begin to describe how much we all enjoyed Rogest. Ron took the experience to a whole new level. It was such a pleasure to spend time with him.  He is a real asset to KSC and I’m sure an even greater friend to you and your family.
 
We are looking forward to many more KSCs in the future. It doesn’t look like we will be able to do one this summer, but we are shooting for one in 2011, possibly Bonaire.
 
Again, many thanks.  Have a great week!
 
Kevin

Good Morning Margo!

I love reading about you- you have done a fantastic job, with your life! Very inspiring as I sit here drinking my coffee. Congratulations on the WOFH Induction last year, I had no idea That is truly deserved with all that you have done. You have a zest for life which is evident in your photos and what you write! I think I have found my new ‘role model’! And I was lucky enough to dive my very first dive with you (and Brad) on the Oro Verde back in the day.

I hope one day I will be able to join a Sea Camp or some type of dive event that you are having. I am now  booking  travel on the side! Yay..That is where my passion is for sure. Would love to help promote anything you are needing more people for. Was soo hoping to make it to Fiji  but..maybe one day.

Love the ranch photos, horses, dogs. I am so happy for you.
Hope you have a great day and thank you for all the good you have done in the world. I am honored to know you.

K-that all looks a bit mushy and sentimental But it’s the truth.

Palau

November 2009, Thanksgiving

Jane Colon-Bonet’s Adventure Journal

 

November 20 & 21, 2009 (Friday and Saturday- crossing international date line)

The flight seemed to last an eternity.  20 hours from Denver and four flights later we finally arrived in Palau.   Even though it was 10pm Palauan time we were greeted by some native girls and boys dressed in native attire.  They placed lays on us made of local flowers interlaced in palm fronds.   It was late night when we arrived at The Palau Royal Resort so I went straight to sleep.

 

Unfortunately, only one bag out of six arrived with us.  The rest had been left at the last stop, Yap, due to “fuel  shortages.” 

 

November 22, 2009 (Sunday)

I woke up this morning still adjusting to the humidity and heat (82 degrees F and sunny).  I went out onto the balcony and I saw a breathtaking view.  For the first time my Mom woke up early and actually wanted to stay awake.  I saw tall limestone cliffs where each inch was covered with lush, green growth dipping into crystal clear blue water.  There was no smog so I could see to the end of the Earth.

 

We headed down to an unusual breakfast buffet.  It had a combination of American, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese foods.

 

We rented some snorkeling gear (since our luggage was still in Yap) at Sam’s Tours and headed out to the dock for our boat tour of the Islands and Jelly Lake.  It was amazing!  The boat ride took us through more lush green islands unspoiled by mankind sticking up like heads of broccoli.  Jelly Lake was incredible!  This is my first time ever touching a Jelly fish (that didn’t sting).  The Jelly fish in Jelly lake have lost their ability to sting because they have no need to. Jelly lake is an isolated saltwater lake with no predators to eat the jellies and no fish for the jelly fish to hunt. Now they rely on internal algae for food following the sun during the day, but at night they go down into a highly toxic (to humans) nitrogen rich layer of water to fertilize the algae.

 

Later that day we had a BBQ lunch, I made a new friend her name is Calliie she is 10 years old blonde and energetic, plus a certified diver like me.

 

We all loaded back up onto the boat and headed for a snorkel at Clam City.  The Clams there Mackenzie.  She is younger than me, 8, and in the Kids Sea Camp sassy program.

From Clam City we went back to the resort, explored a bit and then we got ready for our welcome dinner at the Sea Passion resort. 

 

We knew the President of Palau was coming that evening so I had to borrow one of my Mom’s  dresses (the only luggage that made it).  We had a exuberant welcoming by native dancers and a native ritual of “Calling of the Canoe”.  The President of Palau gave a welcoming speech where he talked about the islands of Palau and how much he enjoyed having us there.  A week before our arrival he had declared to the United Nations that Palau was the first and only “Shark Sanctuary” in the world.  I got to shake his hand and take a  picture with him and all the kids in Kids Sea Camp.

When we returned to the resort our lost from Yap luggage had arrived.

 

November 23, 2009 (Monday)

The second day we had the unusual breakfast again and headed over to Sam’s tours for our first dive.  There I was assigned to the “Whale Shark” boat where I met some of the other Junior Open Water Divers and our Dive guides.  

 

Our first dive took us on a one hour boat trip winding through the Palauan islands to a location named German Channel.  We sighted a 6 foot Manta Ray, lots of corals, a porcupine fish and lots of sharks.  The German Channel is a cleaning station for all fish.  In this area fish come from all over the ocean to stop and allow cleaner wrasses which safely clean large predatory fish that would otherwise eat these smallish fish.  This makes the German Channel a safe and amazing place to view lots and lots of ocean creatures.

 

 The food was OK but the lunch spot was awesome!  We went to private white sand beach with ocean on both sides and large coconut palms for shade on the edges of a dense jungle.  I went swimming and shell collecting with my friend Callie.

 

The second dive of the day was named “Big Drop Off”.  This dive is a wall drift dive.  Along with many varieties of fish we found a lizard fish and a Nudibranch among the corals and sea fans that covered the wall.

 

We returned to the resort and got ready for out next evening.  Dinner was served at an Indian restaurant named the Taj.  They served us a delicious dinner of different and interesting Indian foods.  That evening we had interesting Indian dancers about my age.  They did a bunch of dances changing clothes between each one.  Some of the dances had veils and some had little bells all over the outfits – like belly dancers.  They were quite impressive.

 

November 24, 2009 (Tuesday)

Once again we did the breakfast and headed out to the German Channel.   We were met by a lot of rain coming sideways at us like bullets as we sped along in the boat. At German Channel we saw two humungous Manta Rays the size of cars at the cleaning stations, 28 sharks - all different kinds – white tip, black tip and reef – the size of surf boards, a Green Sea turtle and some very interesting sea stars.  An excellent and lucky dive!

 

We had another fabulous lunch – a chicken bento box.   This time we had lunch at Sam’s Tours because of the rain.  

 

The second dive took us through rough surf to the Blue Corner dive site.  Since I was limited as a Junior Open Water diver to 40 feet of depth this dive was ok.  We saw one puffer fish, two warty sea slugs and some star fish amongst schools of trigger, butterfly, and bannerfish.

 

That evening we went to the Sea Passion for another exquisite dinner.  That day we had the Polynesian dancers.  There wasn’t much singing like before but there were some instruments like a hallowed out gourd made into a drum and two frayed sticks that sounded like rain and thunder when put together.

 

That night we went home (back to the hotel) and slept like rocks.

 

November 25, 2009 (Wednesday)

That day I awoke to something very unusual – it was absolutely pouring rain.  We headed down to breakfast and tried to avoid the downpour.  After breakfast we headed down to Sam’s Tours hopped on the boat.  My guide, Alex, warned me that I still needed to put on sun screen even if the sun wasn’t visible.  Once again the rain was coming into the boat sideways as we sped over to German Channel.  That day I wore my wet suit before I even got into the water.

 

One thing about SCUBA it that if it rains it doesn’t matter because you are below water!  That day I saw schoolmasters, horse eyed jacks, squirrel fish – the usual hordes of schools and corals.  I didn’t see much in the channel unique or extra large this dive.

We had lunch at Sam’s today due to the Typhoon now seemingly closing in on Palau judging on the torrential rains and white tipped water.  When I got to Sam’s Callie, two other boys, Jefferson and I played a volleyball/soccer game.  We got sopping wet but it was fun!  The rain and the air was mostly warm – about 81 degrees F. 

 

That afternoon we headed out to Blue Corner – also there I didn’t see any unique fish – a large puffer but I was told that the adults down at 70 feet saw quite a few sharks.  

 

That night we went to the Sea Passion.  It had stopped raining as they Typhoon moved North East from Palau.  The Teen Divers also had a painting lesson with Rogest  (pirate name of Ron Stevens).  Rogest is a funny, funny artist that travels with Kids Sea Camp around the world teaching children how to dot paint.

 

After the dot painting with Ron I did my first night dive.  It was amazing.  I kept on feeling like I was getting stung by jellies and I got kicked a lot.  I saw several interesting Sea Cucumbers but no fish.  All of them were hiding.

 

That night we had the Yap dancers.  Yap is a very small island just North East of Palau.  We were told we were going to have topless girls dancing but instead they sent the young men with bo staffs.

 

We fell asleep just as soon as our heads hit the pillow

 

 

November 26,  2009 (Thursday – Thanksgiving)

It was my first time celebrating Thanksgiving outside of America.  I was told that the locals don’t really celebrate the holiday besides going to church.  Catholic is the main religion.  They do celebrate Halloween there.

 

It was a sunny day as we headed out on the Silvertip boat to our morning German Channel dive.  There I saw one large Manta Ray going into the cleaning station and a couple of sharks.  I was surprised that the sharks were so large.  I must say it was quite a thrill to be diving with them.  My dive guide told me that in thousands of dives there have never been any issues with the sharks.  They are in the channel as part of their life styles and don’t bother with us divers.

After a fabulous lunch on the beach we went to Jake’s Sea Plane.  This dive spot is an interesting plane wreck with a lot of interesting coral.  It’s down about 40 feet so perfect for Junior Open Water Divers.  There were lots of Parrot fish.   Part of the planes right wing was missing.  I found it 20 feet away hallow and covered in corals.  This plane was a WWII plane – I don’t know who’s.

We did a third dive at 10 feet for 15 minutes where I saw a puffer fish and my first Mandarin Fish.  It was soooo cute.  A native of this area with large yellow lips, green to it’s forhead, blue chin, orange body and blue squarish circles all over it’s body. 

We finished our dot paintings with Ron and went to Sea Passion for dinner.  We had four turkeys baked four different ways and several other sides like corn bread, mashed potatoes, gravey, corn and cranberry sauce.  That evening we made a sand Manta Ray on the beach about the size of the real deal.  With my guide and new best friends’ boyfreind,  Paul, who made a sand shark with the boys. 

 

November 27,2009 (Friday)

Our last day diving.    My first dive was German Channel and almost as if there was a going away send-off we saw large Manta Ray, Sharks and lots of interesting Fish.  After that dive we went back to Sam’s  for lunch and caught up with our parents.

We went to the Light House dive site where we dove as a family just the four of us with two guides!  The other families wimped out of this last dive because the parents had already done two dives.  This was my fathers 100^th dive making him a century diver.  My mother got her century dive in a few days before.  It was a great dive with loads of fire corals, lizard fish and bubbles.

 

Dinner at the Sea Passion with lots of playing in the sand again.  We went home and crashed again.

November 28, 2009 (Saturday)

Today is my last day in Palau.  I am not pleased to be leaving.  I made a lot of friends in Palau.  I will miss my guide Alex and I wish I could stay. 

I went to a beautiful waterfall with my dad.  I went under two waterfalls and jumped off small ledges into a pool of water along the path of the river.  There was lots of mud and one time I actually got stuck.  I think my Keens were a little less pink after that hike.

 

We went to the stone head garden.  Some looked happy ,sad or angry.  There we had lunch.  The usual Bento boxes but this time we had some traditional Palauan food like candied tapioca and fresh coconut milk/meat.  After that we headed back to the hotel stopping at the capitol building.

 

When we got back we packed up our stuff, took a shower and headed over to Sam’s tours for the graduation ceremony. There was a whole cooked pig!  There was a ceremony for each of the groups: adults, teens, sassy/seals and junior open waters.  Then there was the poem contest.  The poem that my mom and I worked on the evening before got first place (out of like 20 poems).  We won a underwater digital camera.

 

We then watched the video made my Nick Martirano, who followed us around all week, said our last goodbyes and headed for the airport.  I practically cried all the way there I was so sad to leave.

 

We arrived at the airport for our treacherous flights to Colorado.  I slept most of the way through it.  The odd part about it was that it started out Saturday, then it was Sunday, then it was Saturday again and finally we got home on Sunday morning at 5am.

 

Final thoughts

I think Palau is one of the best places to go in the entire world.  It is a great place to meet new people and learn about the different cultures of the world.

 

I also think it is one of the best places to go diving.  Magnificent Mantas and Sharks.  Try to go there at least once in your lifetime.