Your Adventure Awaits with SeaTrek

Published: Saturday, October 2, 2021
By: Ella Kyle, Age 15

I have always wanted to scuba dive and see cool shipwrecks and amazing reefs, and with SeaTrek I was able to! SeaTrek BVI is a camp for teenagers who like sailing, scuba diving, marine biology, hiking, and getting to know new people from all over the place. SeaTrek opened my eyes to the underwater world while diving, and to the amazing feel of the wind in your hair while sailing right next to gorgeous islands. They helped me realize that the coral reefs need to be helped quickly and that sharks are awesome.

There are multiple different types of camps at SeaTrek. There is Trek 1, 2, and 3, which are the camps that teach you how to scuba dive. Then there are ‘Voyages’, like the Fathoms Science Voyage, which is all about marine biology and expanding your knowledge about it, or the Bahamas Explorer Voyage, which can be about anything like fishing, scuba diving, and sailing (participants get to pick what they do) but it’s all done in the Bahamas! There are courses to learn more advanced diving, become an instructor, explore the BVI or the Leeward Islands, and more; each boat has 12 kids, three instructors, and one intern.

Who I am: I am Ella Kyle, daughter of Erik and Melanie Kyle, and the reason I wanted to go to SeaTrek is because I am a very adventurous person and I wanted to learn how to scuba dive and sail. Living in Ohio and having Lake Erie is nice but I wanted to try a saltwater adventure. I first came across SeaTrek on Instagram and showed it to my parents. They agreed that it would be a great experience and signed me up for “Trek 1: Open Water Diver,” which is a 21-day camp for kids 12 and older who have never gone scuba diving before.

The time that I spent at SeaTrek will forever change my life and I am so grateful that I got to have that experience of a lifetime! My first week was very eventful between flying there, meeting everyone, and starting to scuba dive. On the first day, we all met at the St. Thomas airport and three SeaTrek staff escorted us to the ferry, through customs (where we were screened for Covid), and then finally to the boats around 10:00 p.m. We met everyone, got a tour of our boats, ate dinner as a camp, and went to bed. Even though it was one of the most exhausting days, meeting everyone and getting set up with my new cabin mates made this day one of the most fun.

On the second day, after a cereal and muffin breakfast, we went to a cove where we had our swimming tests and ate lunch. Later, the instructors talked to us about what to expect for the next three weeks and, after dinner that night, we had our first salt water shower and it was so much fun! We ended up calling it a ‘shower party’ because we blasted music and showed off the back of the boat in swimsuits. That night, I slept on the tarpaulin.

Day three was the first diving day and we began learning our underwater skills. During the dive we learned how to take our BC’s and weight belts off as well as purging our regulators and clearing our masks. We also had a presentation about sharks, which ended up being my favorite presentation of the trip. The next three days were all training days to get our open water diving certification and by day six, we had taken our Open Water SCUBA certification test which, if you passed, meant you had your license—but don’t worry about not passing since the instructors give you as many tries as you need. Day seven was our first dive with the entire boat, our first hike, and our first port day. Port days are where you can buy items like snacks, bathroom supplies, and other things you need. You also get to call your family and friends because most of the places have a spot with wifi (or you can join a plan).

Day eight we had our first hands-on sail where the campers did most of the work such as getting the sail up and figuring out the way the wind is blowing. The captain of your ship might let you steer but it depends who you have; all the captains that I knew let everyone steer the boat. We also did a navigation dive for our advanced open water. It might seem difficult when you first try to navigate, but it gets easier as time goes on and you can always ask your buddy for help. We also learned about night dives and wreck dives and went on our first night dive, which was so fascinating and felt very different than a day dive.

We got to visit a salt pond on day nine and go on two dives, one was a coral reef and the second was to The Indians, four large rocks that stick up from the water under which you find all kinds of coral and colorful fish. It was an amazing dive to go on. On day ten we dove the RMS Rhone, a UK Royal Mail Ship that sank in 1867 during a hurricane. I thought this was the best dive that I went on because we got to see multiple reef sharks and a spotted eagle ray. The ship was super intact but was split in two, the bow being more intact than the stern. We filled the rest of the week with another port day, tons of sailing and hiking, another night dive, a couple of science presentations, and plenty of day dives. During our free time, we went tubing, played sand volleyball and soccer, had parties in the saltwater showers, and even got to jump off the side of the boat and do flips and dives! I got dingy-certified on day twelve and drove the dinghy around for a while that day.

On the thirteenth day, we went on a hike where you could choose between a longer hike to an amazing view, or on a shorter hike to the ‘bubble pool’ and then to an area where a lot of turtles are where we could go turtle tagging. After this, we went to port, ate at a restaurant in town, and then had a going-away party for the two weekers (the 14-day participants) and got to meet the kids arriving for the 10-day “Set Sail” Voyage, which is a program that focuses on basic sailing skills, marine biology while snorkeling, and the forest while hiking. The party was so much fun because the staff was dancing with us and there was a tiny beach that we could mess around on.

During the third week, we got to dissect a lionfish; it was optional but I would really suggest doing it. We all took turns passing it around and taking apart some of the lionfish. I was the first person to cut it and I opened up the belly. We got the stomach out and tried to figure out what it ate last! We hiked and dove more this week—both a navigation dive and at The Indians again—and we got our last Advanced Certification. We had our last dive on day twenty because you cannot dive 24 hours before you fly, and then packed, went on a tour of the island, had a pizza party, and took showers at The Moorings’ BVI location.

Saying goodbyes on day twenty one made it a sad day. We woke up at 5:30 and put all of our stuff on the ferry. After getting through immigration and arriving at the airport, there was so much crying because of the friendships we all had made. Even now, months later, I still talk to the people on my boat and I will never forget the amazing experience I had with SeaTrek. It is a fantastic opportunity!