Creative Ideas to Stimulate Business: Start with Kids!
by Margo Peyton, co-owner Kid’s Sea Camp, Columbia, SC
Kids Sea Camps has certified over 8,000 youth as divers and offers travel programs for families and empty nesters.
Click here to read this article on our Flippingbook platform.
This year, the dive industry faces real challenges: geopolitical tensions, airline fuel surcharges, and oil prices hovering near $119 a barrel. International trips and distant hotspots are pricier than ever for families. Many North American families may skip overseas adventures and stay closer to home this spring and summer. But here’s the opportunity: what looks like a hardship can become a Hail Mary for local dive shops if we pivot smartly.
The key? Lean into what’s already working: families, kids, and community. With fewer travelers heading abroad, summer becomes prime time for domestic programs that draw parents, grandparents, and youth right into your storefront. These aren’t just “nice-to-have” activities, they’re revenue engines: gear sales, certifications, rentals, and building a community that generates repeat business. Here’s how to make it happen.
1. Launch Kid-Friendly Summer Programs – SASY, SEAL Team, Bubble Maker, and focus on junior dive courses.
“SASY” is a Surface Supplied Air System that resembles a scuba unit with a small tank and regulator designed to float on the surface. Kids wear a foam-ballasted BCD and snorkel in shallow water. It introduces the youngest kids to ocean science, marine life, and equipment basics. Pair it with arts and crafts, logbooks, and fish ID games, and you’ve got a five-morning summer or holiday program that parents will embrace.
For eight- to ten-year-olds, the PADI Seal Team, Bubble Maker, or even SSI Scuba Rangers offers an introduction to diving through fun learning games with an instructor. Include underwater photo hunts, PVC wreck building, fish ID, and treasure hunts to create a full week of fun. The PADI Seal Team offers logbooks, crew packs, and stickers, and can be done over multiple weekends, school vacations, or as a summer camp. Kids truly love the zero gravity, and learning about marine life is filled with arts and crafts and other hands-on activities. These confined water programs need only a pool, no ocean required, so any shop with access can run them.
Pro Tip: Keep ratios at one instructor to two kids. Hire happy, patient staff, or train instructors who enjoy working with kids. Recruit parents, more on that later. The joy created for both kids and families who walk through your doors for camp and leave with happy kids and goodie bags, including masks, fins, snorkel sets, and a dive shop camp T-shirt, is powerful. Many parents have one diver and one non-diver, so the experience, if done well, can lead to mom or dad starting their Open Water certification. My own business exploded because non-diving parents crave meaningful summer options not just for their kids, but with their kids. Your shop can be that option.
2. Build a Junior Divemaster Pipeline
Teens aged fifteen to seventeen will love the Junior Divemaster program. It’s not just training, it’s building character, leadership, and mentoring the next generation of leaders. They can help set up topside classes, supervise topside activities like bathroom breaks and snack time, rinse gear, and load materials for the day. Junior Divemasters want to learn the business of diving and can help with social events, talk about diving, and invite family and friends from school and home.
They learn leadership, earn certifications that shine on college applications, and, best of all, go on to complete their Divemaster program with you once they are 18. I have over 35 instructors who started as young kids with me and over 50 Divemasters. I take great pride in contributing to their future and mentoring them as they grow into fine young adults, many of whom come back year after year to help with trips, teaching classes, or inspiring the next generation.
This summer, run a week-long intensive: morning Junior Divemaster programs including learning skills, customer service, store tasks, and welcoming clients for socials. One teen Divemaster can recruit five more kids just through their Facebook or Instagram posts. That’s instant foot traffic.
Run a Rescue Diver camp, not just a class but a week-long experience. Work on skills, real-life scenarios, and include Junior Rescue. Invite parents who may not want their kids to outrank them, or who want to feel more confident diving with their newly certified kids. Talk about safe places to dive, good questions to ask when planning a family dive vacation, and different types of diving. Ask participants to write a story about their journey learning to dive with you.
Paid Advertisement
Discuss jobs they can qualify for with a Rescue Diver certification, like lifeguard, pool patrol, or safety diver, another angle for partnerships with local pools or schools. Talk about the path to Master Diver and Divemaster. Invite past participants to speak at social nights.
3. Turn Photography into PR Gold
I buy SeaLife cameras and give them out for free use in all my classes and trips. They are rugged, affordable, kid-proof, and not too expensive. They’re your secret weapon. Assign “adventure dives” where they shoot stills and video, then write stories like “My First Wreck” or “What I Saw on My Dive Today.” Encourage them to post and share with your hashtag and tag your social media. They share, you get free viral reach.
I pull all the photos from the cameras and provide them on a thumb drive or teach them how to do it during the class. Ask them to tag your store.
Pro Tip: Have them take a photo of themselves before and after the dive so you can identify which photos belong to whom. Running a photography or video class results in inspired kids, promotion for your store, and content for your website if they write about their experience. Not to mention the additional revenue from selling SeaLife cameras.
This also creates an end-of-week graduation and slideshow where you showcase their best photos and invite parents to experience it through their eyes. This creates a strong emotional connection and often leads to bookings for the next class or trip.
Add a photo contest: best shot wins a free certification. Parents love bragging rights, and you gain content and leads. I’ve seen kids outshoot pros, those raw, emotional frames are pure gold.
4. Host Family Events & Milestones
Host underwater birthday parties, graduation dives including parents or even grandparents. I cut a piece of PVC, tie a ribbon around it, and write the student’s name, the instructor’s name, and the dive shop name on it. I present it underwater with a handshake and capture a photo with the family. These moments turn into holiday cards and incredible word-of-mouth marketing.
One mom bought her daughter and eleven classmates an Open Water certification as gifts. That created long-term clients and lasting memories.
Partner with local schools, churches, and community groups. Many have pools and are eager for new summer experiences. Offer group dive programs with special rates and invite community leaders to demo days.
Mom-and-me classes, where parents and kids learn together, are powerful. Grandparents too, I’ve helped certify over 100 parents who now dive with their grandkids.
Host social barbecues, destination nights, and local dive outings. Inland shops can use lakes or quarries. Every event drives gear sales, rentals, and future travel bookings. Encourage attendees to bring a friend and offer incentives.
5. Leverage Free Promotion & Customer Stories
List your Junior Open Water classes online for free. Local media love stories about kids learning to dive. Run beach cleanups and women’s dive nights.
Ask families to write blog posts, share them on your site, and tag them. Authentic stories perform better than ads.
Make graduations memorable: underwater ceremonies, family participation, and photo opportunities. Offer group promotions like “buy four certifications, get one free.” Promote eLearning as a revenue stream. It allows students to learn at their own pace and frees up more hands-on time during training.
6. Keep Travel Alive – Smarter, Closer
With everything happening in the world, the Caribbean is still accessible and feels safe to many. Promote family-friendly resorts with strong dive programs for kids. Work with trusted partners who prioritize safety and family experiences.
If traveling overseas, work with a tour operator to help navigate routes and logistics. With high airfare, many families will stay local, so your shop becomes their escape. Make kids and families your focus this summer.
7. The Bigger Picture: Joy Over Hardship
War and fuel costs hurt, but they don’t have to take away the joy of summer. Diving is not just a luxury, it’s bonding, stress relief, health, and adventure. It gets kids off their phones, helps families connect, and keeps older generations active.
Certifications like Rescue, Underwater Naturalist, and Wreck Diver can even support college applications. My daughter earned significant scholarships through her diving achievements.
So this summer, open your doors to youth. Run camps, contests, and events. Train junior divers. Share stories. Turn “stay home” into “dive local.”
You’ll see revenue grow through gear, classes, and travel, and you may help create the next generation of divers. Because once they’re hooked, it’s contagious. That’s the real win.
Paid Advertisement
Click here to read this article on our Flippingbook platform, or continue reading here:
More from This Issue:
MARCH 2026 ADVERTISING PARTNERS
RECENT ISSUES
MAGAZINE TOPICS