A retail guide to selling to generations – not just kids.
by Margo Peyton, co-owner Kid’s Sea Camp &Family Divers, Columbia, SC
Kids Sea Camps has certified over 8,000 youth as divers and offers travel programs for families and empty nesters.
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FOR MORE THAN twenty-six years, I have watched something simple and powerful happen during my trips: a grandparent, an adult child, and a grandchild sharing the same underwater moment. The industry has long known how to sell gear, certifications, and trips to individual divers. What many retailers are only beginning to capture is the larger opportunity sitting right in front of them – the multigenerational family that wants to stay active, connected, and diving together.
In an era of online school, constant screens, and social media, families are quietly searching for better ways to be with one another. They want real experiences and quality time together. Grandparents and aging parents feel this especially keenly. Once they turn sixty, time is no longer abstract.
Healthy, active time becomes the measure of a good life. These divers already know the ocean. What they want now is a way to share it – safely, comfortably, and meaningfully – with the people they love most.
There are roughly 2.5 to 3 million active scuba divers in the United States who have dived in the past year, according to recent DEMA figures, and a far larger community of certified divers worldwide. Many of those divers are now grandparents or soon will be. The question for retailers is not whether these families exist. It is whether your shop is the place they trust to introduce the next generation.
Start by Educating Yourself and Your Staff: Many longtime divers still do not know the current pathways for children and diving. Junior Open Water certification begins at age 10. With the PADI Seal Team, PADI Bubblemaker, and SSI Scuba Rangers programs, children ages 8 and 9 can enjoy the underwater world safely with a certified instructor. Parents or grandparents can also share this experience in a confined-water pool. Parents count toward ratios, so make sure you apply the correct staffing when combining Seal Team kids with parents.
The only program designed for younger children is SASY, for kids ages 5 to 7. In SASY, they do not go below the waterline. Kids breathe with a SASY unit that keeps them on the surface. It is essentially a snorkeling program. Non-diving family members can snorkel with kids in the SASY program. It is designed to teach them the very first stages of scuba and get them familiar with a BCD and breathing from a supplied air source while keeping them safely on the surface.
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Once children are certified, the opportunities expand. Family dives, underwater photography, scavenger hunts, and seasonal fun such as decorating a holiday tree or carving (or decorating) pumpkins underwater give certified kids and their adults something to do together. Discover Scuba Diving experiences can be run for a parent and child side by side. The key is scale. Keep groups small. One instructor with one family – a mother, father, and one child, for example – is ideal. When organizing family dives, plan for at least one divemaster per family. When I have two children in the water, I often place two divemasters: one focused on the kids and one supporting the parents and grandparents. The goal is simple: make grandparents as comfortable as possible while diving with their grandchildren.
Address the Comfort Gap: Experienced divers know how to take care of themselves. Most have never had to supervise another diver, let alone a child. Encourage grandparents and parents to take a refresher or reactivation class before they dive with newly certified kids. Skills and hand signals change. A short update removes hesitation and lets them communicate clearly with children who have just learned the current standards.
Kids themselves need to feel safe with the adults they love. Children are taught to respect and obey their elders. In diving, however, a newly certified 10- or 12-year-old is often more current on signals, buoyancy, and procedures than a parent or grandparent who was certified decades ago. When the professional hands the child over to the family, that disconnect can create stress on both sides. Having a dive professional in the water – watching, guiding, and modeling the interaction – lets parents and grandparents learn while the child remains comfortable. It also lets the adults relax and enjoy the dive instead of worrying about every detail.
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Treat Family Diving the Way the Ski Industry Treats Family Skiing: The ski industry figured this out years ago. It offers terrain, instruction, and services designed for children, parents, and seniors on the same mountain. Diving needs the same mindset. That means safe, easy sites suitable for newer and younger divers; a dive team with patience and a gentle approach; and the understanding that a family needs a different pace than a boat full of experienced buddies. Family-friendly operators I have worked with for years share a few practical traits: they stock or can quickly source kids’ rental gear, they have shallow and protected sites, and their staff is comfortable teaching and guiding children as well as adults.
High service for senior divers is part of the same picture. In an earlier article in this magazine, I wrote about “golden” divers and the value of valet-style support. Combining that service with grandchildren is powerful. Do not ask grandparents whether they want their gear carried or tanks changed. Simply do it. Make the day feel like a vacation, not a chore. They will notice. They pay for good service, they tip well, and the sight of their grandchild’s face lighting up is the real return.
Market What You Actually Offer: If you promote yourself as family-friendly, back it up with specifics that matter to parents and grandparents. Tell them about your staff’s experience in teaching and diving with children. Mention that you offer (or can arrange) kids’ rental gear and that you sell quality children’s equipment. Private guides and private boats for families are especially attractive; price the extra service reasonably and pass the cost along. Safety is the deciding factor for most parents. Clear communication about ratios, supervision, and experience removes the biggest barrier.
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Gift marketing works year-round. Parents and grandparents are always looking for meaningful presents. An eLearning Open Water Diver course for a 10- to 14-year-old, a digital underwater photography course for ages 10 and up, Rescue Diver from age 12, Advanced Open Water, Enriched Air Nitrox, or Night Diver specialties give families something they can start together on a cold winter day. Most courses allow a full year to complete the practical portions. These are not impulse buys; they are investments in shared future adventures.
The Moment That Matters: A couple of years ago, I encouraged David Benz of Scuba Diving Magazine to get back in the water with his adult children and grandchildren; it had been over 10 years for him. When returning from his first family dive with newly certified family members, David had an ear-to-ear grin I will not forget. “I had forgotten how much fun that was,” he said. Since then, he and his wife have been diving again, and they have just returned from St. Lucia and are already planning the next trip. They keep adding members to the group. All it took was a reminder that time is limited and that fun with the people you love belongs in life’s equation. That is the feeling retailers can sell.
At the recent DEMA show, I spoke about selling the Cayman Islands to your customers. It is a natural starting point for family diving – clear water, easy sites, and operators who understand multigenerational groups. The larger point is the same everywhere: you are not only selling certifications and trips. You are selling life, fun, memories, and joy. Those are easy to market once you show families you know how to keep everyone safe, comfortable, and together.
The multigenerational diver is already in your database or living down the street. The shops that make it simple, safe, and genuinely welcoming for grandparents to bring their adult children and grandchildren will keep those families diving for decades. That is good business. It is also the kind of work that keeps the industry growing in the most human way possible.
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