Kids Sea Camp has taught thousands of kids to love diving and the ocean in its first 20 years. But for some KSC alum, that connection to the sea has meant so much more.

In 2000, seven families attended the first Kids Sea Camp in Curaçao. For co-owner Margo Peyton, it was a simple concept: Provide a safe, fun experience for families who love the ocean, diving and traveling. In the two decades since then, KSC has certified thousands of kids and adults, all over the world, without a single dive accident. For many families, Kids Sea Camp vacations are annual events. But KSC’s success isn’t measured only by the number of C-cards it has issued, or repeat guests. KSC’s ability to connect families to the ocean has prompted many youngsters to dedicate their lives to diving and ocean conservation.

We talked to three Kids Sea Camp “kids” and asked them what the program has meant to them.

KENDALL WILLIAMS
AGE: 20
HOMETOWN: Emporia, Kansas
YEAR CERTIFIED: 2013
WHERE CERTIFIED: Grand Cayman
CURRENT LEVEL OF CERTIFICATION: PADI Divemaster

Kendall Williams understands focus and discipline. The New Mexico native (above left) just finished her junior year at Emporia State University, where she is majoring in nursing and competing as a long-distance runner.

Her first Kids Sea Camp was at Cobalt Coast Resort on Grand Cayman. “I was 13 years old getting my Open Water certification,” she says. “I had always been in love with the ocean, but I discovered that diving is the only place on Earth where you can feel no gravity and just float.”

A love of diving and the ocean runs in the family. Williams’ dad, Todd, got certified as an 18-year-old, and it quickly turned into a passion. “Once he met my mom, she also got certified,” she says.

“When my sister and I were born, they had less time to go scuba diving, but I can still remember times when they left us with our grandparents to go on dive vacations.” Williams has returned to the Cayman Islands multiple times on Kids Sea Camp trips, but she’s also attended them all over the world, in Bonaire, St. Lucia, Palau and the Philippines.

“There is a lot of unexplored ocean out there, but being at 100 feet deep and looking out into the open blue, it really kicks in how little we have mapped out,” Williams says. “The KSC trips have taught me to be a lot more observant. I find it extraordinary that the oceans are the biggest ecosystem on the planet, yet we know so little about them.”

Williams plans to work as a nurse after earning her degree, but she also hopes to further her dive education. “I want to be able to work as a dive instructor too, and maybe someday even get certified as a tec diver.”

MAX LAVINSKY
AGE: 19
HOMETOWN: Galveston, Texas
YEAR CERTIFIED: 2010
WHERE CERTIFIED: Dallas, Texas
CURRENT CERTIFICATION LEVEL: PADI Divemaster

Max Lavinsky’s first Kids Sea Camp— in the Galapagos in 2011—was mind blowing. “The amount of marine life that I could see everywhere around me— whale sharks, schools of sharks, friendly and playful sea lions—I just couldn’t get enough,” he says. “There was just so much to see that I had never even imagined was there to discover!”

Like many KSC attendees, diving is a family affair for the Lavinskys. “My dad, mom and sister all have their diving certifications, and my little brother, who is only 9, is doing SASY [Surface Supplied Air System] and Seal Team,” he says. “As a kid, I had always been interested in animals and loved the ocean, so scuba seemed like the natural next step for me.”

Since his first trip to the Galapagos, Lavinsky has logged more than 400 dives at 14 Kids Sea Camps over the past nine years, in places as diverse as St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Bonaire, Roatan, Little Cayman, Yap, Palau, Philippines and Utila. “It has really been eye-opening to experience all of the different cultures that I’ve come into contact with during the camps—it has really shaped how I view the world and the events happening in the news,” he says.

“I have a much richer, broader view of the world than I ever could have had without the traveling that I have done.” Lavinsky is studying marine biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston; he credits KSC founder Margo Peyton’s influence for his degree choice. “KSC holds a special place in my heart. It was my true catapult into the diving world, and the thing that started me along the path that I currently am on.”

After earning his degree, he plans to work in a lab, conservation center or aquarium. He also wants to earn his Instructor certification with KSC. “Hopefully, I’ll manage to find something that involves both marine biology and diving, but I guess I’ll just have to wait and see!”

LILLY BLAKEY
AGE: 22
HOMETOWN: Seattle, Washington
YEAR CERTIFIED: 2008
WHERE CERTIFIED: Roatan
CURRENT LEVEL OF CERTIFICATION: PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor

Lilly Blakey was only 8 years old when she attended her first Kids Sea Camp— held at Anthony’s Key Resort in Roatan —in 2006. “I was too young to go into the ocean with the rest of my family, but I remember going into the pool and putting on the gear,” she recalls. “It was SASY, but it felt like real scuba diving to me.”

Two years later, her family returned to another Kids Sea Camp at Anthony’s Key, and Blakey earned her Junior Open Water certification. “It was so cool to swim with fish for the first time, to feel the ocean current.” Blakey has been on nearly 20 KSC trips, making repeat visits to Utila, Roatan, St. Lucia and Bonaire. After several trips with her family, she began attending without them as a 15-year-old.

“My mom trusted Margo and the program,” she says. “Her reassuring presence can help even the most timid diver feel calm underwater.” But there was more to Blakey’s family’s decision than trust in Peyton as an instructor. “My dad, who was the reason we first attended KSC, passed away a week after I got my Junior Open Water certification,” she says. Blakey was only 10.

“We didn’t go diving again for five years. My mom eventually reached out to Margo and told her she wanted us to go diving again.” Susan Blakey’s youngest son was old enough to get certified, and she wanted him to have the same opportunity as his older sister and brother.

“Margo made sure that my family went on a week that [the Peytons] were on,” Lilly Blakey says. “While we three kids went off diving, Margo helped my mom get readjusted to diving, something she had only ever done with my dad.” During that trip, Blakey earned her Advanced Open Water certification, and she told her mom she wanted to improve as a diver. For the next few years, Blakey’s mom sent her on trips that Peyton’s daughter Jen was also attending. “I would stay for two or three weeks with the Peytons,” says Blakey. “I was able to achieve something I really wanted, to become an Open Water Instructor.”

Now 22, Blakey graduates this summer from the University of Alabama with a degree in management information systems. She was supposed to spend four weeks working for Kids Sea Camp this summer, until the COVID crisis interrupted those plans.

Blakey’s respect for Peyton comes from understanding how tough it is to be a single mom. “She created a safe haven for kids to learn how to dive, all while on a family vacation. Her dream and her company has literally changed my life, and I know it has done the same for others.”