OUR MISSION: Kids Sea Camp’s mission is to inspire families to dive, travel and explore environmentally and culturally diversified destinations, and thus we have created family-friendly resort packages, activities and tours designed to provide safe, fun and educational vacations to children and their families.
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CASE STUDY
KOBIE SPENCE, AGE 10, DAGENHAM, ESSEX
Paul French from Bespoke Scuba Diving sent us in some information about an inspirational youngster who had recently started diving with his centre. I first met Kobie at the end of 2017 just before he turned nine. His mum Jacquie had booked him in for a PADI Bubblemaker with us at Bespoke Scuba Diving and, as with all kids, he was very excited to be getting in the water and blowing some bubbles! I asked Kobie’s mum Jacquie why Kobie decided he wanted to dive, and she said: “Having seen the Bespoke Scuba Diving pop-up banner at the pool, he was mesmerised and wanted to give it a try. He kept asking me until I made contact and booked him in for a course. Kobie told me he thought that it would be so much fun! He thinks he may want to be a marine biologist in the future,
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and convinced me this would be a great thing for him to experience.” Jacquie also told me that she tries to encourage Kobie to try and learn as many things as possible – ‘do it now before we get older’, she said, adding: “I always think that the more we learn from our life experiences, the more enriched our lives become. I want Kobie to experience as many things as he can, and to be the best wellrounded person he can be.” One fun session in the pool later, and Kobie was hooked! His mum quickly signed him up for his PADI SEAL Team course, and over the course of five sessions, Kobie mastered all of the required skills, and was having a great time with his fellow students, as they all progressed together. SEALs done, what next? Kobie was really keen to take the next step and
become a PADI Master SEAL. When asked why he wanted to do this, Kobie said he was “so excited the thought of one day diving in the ocean with real sharks, not just the toys. The courses are fun, and I knew that these lessons would teach me some skills that I needed in the future”. Kobie completed the PADI Master SEAL Diver course, and showed a determination to become a better diver, great trim, good buoyancy skills and a desire to learn - all the things any instructor looks for in a student. Kobie is always well prepared for lessons and clearly has a general thirst for learning. So what next? After discussions with his Mum, he is going to start his Junior Open Water Diver course in 2019, and complete his qualifying dives when UK waters return to warmer temperatures. I know Kobie is going to be a delight to teach, will apply himself, and will become an outstanding advocate for our marine environment. I have just two things left to add: A word on diving from Kobie - “Diving is such a good experience. I like the feeling. I get the chance to use underwater torches, cameras and many other really interesting things too. I also have learnt about underwater animals too. Hopefully, I can use these skills in a future job!” Finally, is Kobie our only junior customer, no, we have been blessed with a great group this year, and I hope to be able to tell you about some others, along with those starting with us in 2019 in another edition. n
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