Today’s family vacations have not been limited to road trips in mini vans to visit relatives and the occasional amusement park. Have you ever thought about taking advantage of your passion for scuba diving to share with your children and even your grandchildren? Waiting until you are empty nesters deprives your children of the most magical and remembered family vacation of all, the scuba family vacation.

Each year we host several weeks dedicated to families. Watching the children’s eyes light up when they see their first eagle ray or answering their myriad of questions after every dive or snorkel adventure gives our staff the most pleasure of all the weeks they are out on the water. Some of my own favorite scuba memories are being with my own children and grandchildren underwater as they encounter the wonders that exist on every dive. When your children return to school from their summer vacation and it is their turn when asked by the teacher, “what did you do on your summer vacation?”, no one will be expecting the answer, ‘scuba diving and snorkeling with sharks!’.

With our family weeks, your children will still get the time to mingle with others their age, skip a dive and watch a movie or get in some electronic game time. However, what we most often find is that while these were high priorities coming into the week, they are quickly left behind to get more in water time! This is the perfect vacation where they come out of it learning something new every day about scuba, snorkeling and the ocean’s critters and corals but never having it feel like a classroom. For anyone who may start out the week reluctant about snorkeling or scuba diving, we have plenty of beach combing, swimming off the rear platform and other activities to ease them into the adventure.

At the end of the day, no matter what you decide to do with your vacation time, I hope it is spent with family and making the most of your time together.