By David Espinosa From Sport Diver

My wife and I love our two daughters, but sometimes we need a break. Apparently they do too. “Just like you and mommy need to go out for movie-and-dinner dates, we kids need to be on our own sometimes,” says my 7-year-old, Chloe Mei, as we board the plane for a week at Kids Sea Camp, Grand Cayman, which is a PADI Diving Society sponsored event. Fourteen years ago Margo Peyton started Kids Sea Camp, a weeklong family dive vacation in some of the world’s most brilliant dive destinations. A “summer camp” for families where the kids and parents both share and have separate adventures is a novel approach, and one that seems to be working.

Kids Sea Camp has become synonymous with family fun, but it was recently given a name change to Family Dive Adventures. “Kids grow up, and so do their adventures,” says Peyton. “Family Dive Adventures is just Kids Sea Camp all grown up, but we haven’t lost the part that made us — the little kids.”

It takes no time at all for my little kids, Chloe Mei and 5-year-old Ella Lin, to get into the swim of things at Cobalt Coast Resort, on Grand Cayman’s Northwest Point. Every day is a new adventure: One morning they snorkel on the house reef with massive cobia and turtles, the next day they’re beachcombing on Seven Mile Beach. They’re water babies and expert snorkelers, but the third day throws a curve: They strap on Supplied Air Snorkeling for Youth (SASY) units — essentially snorkeling with scuba gear — for some time in the pool before a romp in the ocean. I don’t hear how it goes, though; when we meet for lunch, the girls are too busy playing with friends they’ve made in their Turtle Group (for ages 5 to 7). It takes my wife and me hours to cajole enough information out of them to know that SASY was “awesome.”

PADI Seal Team kids (8 and older) take part in PADI Seal Team Photo Aqua Mission, which includes a SeaLife Mini II camera for them to keep. The kids who participated in the digital photo certification received a SeaLife DC1400. The SeaLife cameras are perfect for budding photographers.

I have my own memories to create with my wife, who hasn’t dived since Chloe Mei was born. I travel a lot for my job, but no matter how good the diving, I always feel a part of me is missing — that sharing of experiences with my wife, who is my No. 1 dive (and travel) buddy, and has been since before the girls were born.

As Chloe Mei and Ella Lin explore the island each morning with the six other Turtles, Divetech takes us out on Grand Cayman’s reefs. It’s my first time in Grand Cayman, which is perfect since my wife and I can explore together.

My wife is so excited each time we giant- stride into the water that it’s like diving with an open-water newbie.

Everything is fresh and novel. Round Rock features an encounter with the largest loggerhead turtle I’ve ever seen; at 3 Trees we’re treated to an extended appearance by an eagle ray. My wife loves exploring the passages of the Kittiwake

— it’s her favorite dive of the trip, this beautiful wreck bathed in clear Cayman waters. That is until we dive Eagle Ray Pass, where we see a shark and multiple eagle rays hover for minutes next to an unconcerned turtle munching on a sponge, and finish off the dive with spawning yellowtail parrotfish at the safety stop.

By day four, our family settles into a nice routine: Eat breakfast, bathe the girls in sunscreen, get our dive bags out of the lockers, and deposit the girls at their meeting point. Dive, rinse, repeat. We meet for lunch and then have an afternoon for joint adventures — snorkeling, swimming in the pool until our hands are pruny and white, a car trip to (the town of) Hell, followed by Kids Sea Camp-organized evenings with pirates, bonfires and s’mores, and pizza and movie night (kids only!). I even make a night snorkel with Chloe Mei that she initiates — which shows just how comfortable she’s become in the water.

I notice little transformations in both of my daughters that show me just how independent they’re becoming here.

They eat together with friends instead of Mom and Dad. They explore the resort with friends, beachcomb with friends, swim for hours in the pool with friends. It’s sad to know that, at least here this week, we’re not entirely needed.

One day I leave behind my wife and daughters for a few hours to go diving with the Advanced Open Water kids on Kittiwake. My curiosity is piqued — I’m living the present, but I want a glimpse into my future. I’m not sure what I was expecting. On the whole, they’re similar to their parents, with whom I’ve been diving all week, with a wide-eyed enthusiasm for the wreck. There’s a difference in size, of course, and they snap photos every five fin kicks instead of 10, and stay a little closer to their buddies. Back on the boat, though, there’s a distinct difference:

Instead of quietly reflecting like their parents, the kids bubble over with energy, gobbling oranges, cracking jokes and trying to outdo each other in pull-ups on the boat’s inside hand railings. Grand Cayman is the perfect destination for first-timers. After a week of adventures shared both on and off the water, we decide to spend our “dry day” with a trip to Stingray City. My wife jumps in with the stingrays, while I stay on the surface with the girls. Holding hands with Chloe Mei and Ella Lin, each in SASY units that make them look like divers in miniature.

As we make the long flight home, I reflect on what has been our best vacation ever. My wife believes every dive in Grand Cayman has eagle rays, turtles or sharks; I think she’s right. My daughters are convinced every summer camp from here on out should be Kids Sea Camp. With more than 10 destinations to choose from every year, maybe they’re right too.

Special thanks to the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Cobalt Coast Resort, Divetech, SeaLife, and Margo Peyton and Family Dive Adventures.

PHOTO: Kids Sea Camp Grand Cayman

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