The mic was passed to us and I recognized Athena’s nervousness mixed with excitement as she stood up in front of the crowd to share. She sat back down, smiling proudly as the guests clapped encouragingly. It was the first of many moments at Kids Sea Camp where we stretched ourselves, and the act of getting out of our comfort zones helped us feel more connected to ourselves and each other. brave act for me was hopping on a swing without a belt and pushing off over the open water, and where Athena joined the rest of the kids at the end to jump off and swim back to shore (it’s a KSC tradition). There was learning to ride a blow kart (like a go kart but with sails added so it MORE THAN DIVING There was the sunset sail, where a is purely wind-powered). There was a poetry contest where Athena wrote and then performed her poem. There was karaoke, which I didn’t think was my thing, but I did it anyway when my new friend Jessica asked me to join her to sing “I Will Survive” because I couldn’t leave her hanging. I’ll admit, it was kind of fun despite me being terrible, and Tom came up to me afterwards with a big grin and said, “See, it’s not just about diving.” He was right. 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 Camp for 20 years because of their long-standing friendship with the Dutch owners Paul and Michelle, who have young children of their own who also now dive. The KSC staff are largely friends and family, like Woody the dive instructor and Bigs, one of our photographers in Bonaire who also hosts KSC at her own dive resort in the Philippines. Athena made fast friends with another 10-year old girl in her Junior Open Water course named Hadley, who was on her second KSC. Apart from being dive buddies, they made plans to meet at dinner, at the pool after the PADI instruction was over, and before the trip ended we even made plans with Hadley’s parents Jessica and Bryan to meet at another Kids Sea Camp in 2026. THE KSC BUBBLE Our cell phones and ipads languished because we were so immersed in the world that Kids Sea Camp created, a
world of exploring nature, stretching ourselves, playing, learning and making real connections. Honestly it felt like a bubble from the outside world, where living a life online, cruelty, and polarization seemed to be normalized. It was a glimpse into what is possible, the kind of world we might create if only we put more intention into connecting, more focus on being curious about the world and each other, and make it a point to give back where we can (KSC gives dive scholarships and grants through Ocean Wishes, which Margo co-founded). We made it to the end of the week and I got to join Athena on her first open water dive after she had completed days of instruction leading up to that moment. She squeezed my hand underwater, and then swam over to give her dive buddy Hadley the “OK” sign to let her know she was there. BECOMING A DIVE BUDDY My chest tightened with pride and joy that she was in the ocean with me, experiencing the underwater world and looking out for her buddy. I realized my little girl wasn’t so little any more. I thought about mothering, and how it’s a balance of being hands on and giving another room to grow, of stretching one’s limits without going too far in order to gain
confidence and discover their potential. And it struck me that there was so much mothering energy baked into Kids Sea Camp. I saw it in so many ways. MARGO CARES Take how Margo, a Woman Diver Hall of Famer who received the PADI lifetime achievement award for dive education for kids, seemed to have energy for everyone, especially if they are in the water. Her vigilant watch over the guests (kids and adults alike), checking gauges or gesturing for us to see an underwater creature she discovered, was unwavering. Or when my dive buddy C.P, a trailblazer who became the first woman publisher of a dive magazine in the 80s, shared her best dive tips with me and brought me her extra dive skins because she knew I got cold the day before. I saw it in big ways, like when Tom and Margo shared their partnership with the Reef Restoration Program to help restore the coral. Kids Sea Camp is all about care. That’s exactly the kind of energy the world needs right now. Lost in my thoughts, I felt a hand on my arm. It was Athena, giving me the “OK” signal to see how I was doing. I flashed her a smile, signaled “OK,” and gestured towards the surface. It was time for us to go back up.
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