Page 26 - KSC Magazine 2020

Kids Sea Camp AMBASSADORS:
HUNTER HOPKINS & SAM HOPKINS
“HONEY, I THINK WE FOUND WHAT WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR!”
By Patti Snyder
In the spring of 2010, I sat at my computer late one night, search- ing for family vacations. Sam was 5, and we recently had adopted our son, Hunter, also 5, from China. My husband,Andy, and I were avid divers.While Andy’s diving background was drysuit diving in the cold ocean off the coast of Scotland, I preferred warmer waters.
As avid cave divers together, we loved diving the springs in Florida. Having kids meant that cave div- ing was in the past for us.
While we enjoyed the beach and boating, our passion has always been scuba diving, so we started searching for the perfect family vacation.
Unfortunately, we thought, kids and scuba diving would not go together very well. As I sat at my computer, hopeful, I entered vari- ous words into the search en- gines online:“family diving,” “kids scuba diving,” “family vacations.” Kids Sea Camp popped right up, and I turned to my husband and said,“Honey, I think I found what we have been looking for!”
I read everything I found about Kids Sea Camp and its founder, Margo Peyton. If you Google either of those phrases, there are pages of great stories and infor- mation, and it’s all positive.
I called the next day, and Margo answered the phone.We spoke at length as I had many concerns
because Hunter couldn’t swim and he couldn’t speak English, and Sam, who has ADHD, is not one to sit through a course. Maybe it was selfish on our part, but I just knew we had to go.
Margo assured me it would all work out, and we booked our first of many trips to Buddy Dive in Bonaire for June 2010.
At this point, Hunter was not too enamored with the ocean as his first water event occurred at home, when he fell in the pool and sank to the bottom.This soon was remedied with swim lessons, and by spring, he had donned a wetsuit and was playing in the waves in St.Augustine, Florida.
When we arrived at Buddy Dive, we were apprehensive.
What was I thinking go- ing off diving while my
two 5-year-old kids were left with the Kids Sea Camp staff? My fears were allayed when I watched the kids feeding beautiful parrot fish off the dock.They were laughing and having the time of their life. By the end of the week, these two 5-year-olds were making new friends, learning about fish and even managed giant strides off the dock in SASY gear.They loved their instructors and learned how to set up and use their gear.We have never looked back.
Over the past eight years, all
of our family vacations have been with Kids Sea Camp.There were challenges along the way. The hardest part for Sam was completing the book work for his Jr. Open Water class. But you put Sam in a wetsuit and scuba gear and the little diver in him
www.familydivers.com 803-419-2556 email: dive@familydivers.com www.oceanwishes.org