Cabot, 21, is from Nashville, TN, and is a junior at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, majoring in Finance. Cabot joined Moondance as a student on the Pacific Northwest trip in 2018, and that experience left a lasting impact on him. He is excited to return as a leader this summer, eager to pass down the same life-changing experience his leaders gave him. Cabot’s enthusiasm for the outdoors and his passion for leading others will undoubtedly create a memorable experience for his students.
Maggie, 22, is from Charlotte, North Carolina, and recently graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Neuroscience. Though new to Moondance, Maggie brings a wide range of experiences that showcase her leadership, compassion, and adventurous spirit. She is EMT certified, played on UNC’s club soccer team, and volunteered as a youth soccer coach. Maggie also studied abroad in both Florence, Italy, and Dublin, Ireland, expanding her love for travel and cultural connections. We’re excited to welcome Maggie to her first summer with Moondance!
Springer, 21, is a junior at Texas Christian University studying Strategic Communication and hails from Columbus, Georgia. A proud Moondance alum, Springer took part in the Hawaiian Islands trip in 2021 and the Kenya + Zanzibar trip in 2022—both of which deepened her love for adventure and connection. She’s served on summer staff at a YoungLife camp and recently studied abroad in Innsbruck, Austria, further fueling her passion for travel and working with others. Springer’s energy, warmth, and enthusiasm make her a perfect fit to return to Moondance—this time as a leader!
July 22, 2025
A bittersweet final update:
After perfecting all of our new Scuba skills in the pool, it was finally time to hit the ocean! We started our day meeting up at the diving shop and then heading to our dive site off the shore! We unloaded and set up our gear, and then walked down to the beach and hit the ocean. Everyone did their first buddy checks and then did a proper descent. While diving, we saw an eagle ray, some puffer fish, and explored a broken lava tube. The boys even enjoyed a fun game of taking each other’s fins while underwater! While the rest were diving, Reeves and Elle went snorkeling with Cabot and saw lots of cool fish! After that, we came up and ate some lunch on the beach and then did it again! The waves were rough, but everyone did so amazing and completed their first day of real diving! Following the second dive we went back to the scuba place to recap and log our dives. After a long day of diving, we hung out in the town and got some coffee per Caroline and Karlyn’s request. Some of the kids also enjoyed the 8th best burger in America! We then headed back to camp, where we enjoyed some fantastic chicken quesadillas made by Karlyn and Davis. We played some spike ball where Alex and Luke beat Maggie and Springer in a nail biting tournament and also some rounds of everyone’s new favorite game, empire. Davis dominated the group and won both rounds! We then had another amazing moonup to end the night.
The next morning we woke up and set off for an action-packed final day in Kona! After breakfast, we headed straight to the harbor for our SCUBA boat dives! We headed to our first dive site, Garden Eel Cove, where we got to see garden eels sticking out of the sand like seaweed! On this dive, the open water certification students practiced their underwater navigation and finished up their skills in the ocean. After this dive, we had a nice lunch on the front of the boat and headed to our second dive site, Golden Arches… not to be confused with the McDonald’s down the street from the dive shop. On this dive, the students got to plan their own dive and practice leading the descent, navigation, and ascent for their groups! Lillian crushed it and expertly led her group through the two beautiful coral arches, and Hank drew everyone’s attention to a huge viper moray eel nested in the roof of one of the arches. Everyone did an amazing job today and earned their PADI Open Water SCUBA Certifications! We celebrated this awesome accomplishment with an ice cream sundae bar. After enjoying our ice cream, we hung out in the town surrounding the dive shop for a bit before heading back to the harbor for the crowd favorite manta ray night snorkel! We hopped back on the boat and enjoyed a sunset cruise out to our snorkeling destination for the night. As the sun was setting, we immediately started seeing the massive mantas soaring through the water underneath us, and we couldn’t wait to get in the water! We quickly hopped in and hung on to surfboards that illuminated the water below. The mantas came up from the depths of the water and circled right underneath our masks! A few of them even brushed against Karlyn! Elle said that this was one of the most spectacular things she had ever seen, and the group agreed that it was definitely a highlight of the trip! Afterwards, Luke and Springer had a dance-off on the boat, where they battled using Cabot’s famous dance move “laying the grapes”. The group was cracking up the entire ride back to the harbor! Once we got back to camp, Luke and Taylor led a fantastic final Moonup for the group, where we talked about our favorite memories from the trip, and closed it off by saying our first impressions and favorite things about everyone.
For our final day, we had a nice leisurely morning and enjoyed a great breakfast of eggs, sausage, and pancakes. We packed up our bags and tents and cleaned up camp, but of course had to get in one last round of our favorite dancing games, “Shake and Pop” and “Calabria” before leaving camp. Peter and Alex were the stars of the games, showing off their best moves and making us all laugh. After leaving camp, we headed to Goodwill to buy funny outfits for our banquet lunch. We were all assigned partners to buy an outfit for, and everyone crafted hilarious get-ups for us all to show off at lunch. Addie’s outfit was a crowd favorite, fitted up in a Christmas dog nightgown and a trendy belt to tie it all together. After lunch, we walked through town, grabbed some final shaved ice, and hit the road for the airport to say our bittersweet final goodbyes to everyone in this amazing group!
We are so grateful for the opportunity to get to know and spend time with each and every one of the students on this trip. We couldn’t have asked for a better final session! They are all such amazing people, and we are so excited to see all of the incredible things they are going to accomplish!
Signing off for the last time, sending lots of love,
Springer, Maggie, and Cabot
July 20, 2025
Aloha from the beautiful island of Kona!
After an incredible few days adventuring on the garden isle of Hawaii, we made our way to the airport so that we could begin our journey on the big island of Hawaii. Although we had a long airport day, the group sure did take advantage of every fun opportunity to have. We played fun games such as empire and mafia in the airport to pass the time, and then finally hit the air for our next adventure. Once we got back to camp, the leaders of the day, Luke and Taylor, prepared a fried rice dinner for everyone to enjoy, and then we got to bed so that we would be well rested for our hike as well as cooking class the next day!
After airport day, the kids deserved a later wake up, so that morning we prepared a traditional American breakfast for everyone to enjoy, although Elle enjoyed it she does miss her English breakfast and hopes to inspire others to give an English breakfast a try! We then hit the road for our beautiful hike to the black sand beach, where we could experience the incredible view of the Pacific Ocean while basking in the sunlight on the dark sand. Here, we played our favorite game, Shake and Pop, where Peter took home the gold medal with his impressive “veggie off” win. After the hike, we had a little time to spare, so we made chicken Caesar wraps for lunch before traveling to the Northside of the island where our cooking class was hosted. Once we got there, we were briefed on knife skills so that we could be safe while cutting, but Reeves had already known how to use her skills as a cutter, which were quite impressive. Here, Hank decided it was a great idea to record the whole experience on his camcorder, where he captured everyone laughing, enjoying each others prescence, and of course chopping our vegetables for the homemade salad. After enjoying our three course meal we headed back to camp, so we could rest up for our first day scuba diving in the pool!
Once we arrived at our diving locker, everyone was quizzed on their PADI Elearning, where everyone passed with flying colors! After the boring classroom section of the course was finished, the kids hopped into the pool to experience what it was like to be able to breathe underwater. They worked on skills such as mask removal, buoyancy, and how to setup and breakdown their equipment. Although Taylor was already certified, she was a huge help and partnered up to help teach some of the skills! After a tiring day in the pool, we hit the mountainous road up to our favorite sunset, at Mauna Kea! On the way, Addie showed off her musical prowess, not missing a beat to Ice Ice Baby. We held a pizza picnic at the top, where everyone showed off their impeccable dancing skills, and Alex finally showed off his moves that he had been hiding from everyone (They were awesome). At the summit, we watched over the horizon as the sun set, and everyone made sure to get great pictures so they could show you later! After a long, tiresome day, we headed back to camp, held a moonup hosted by Lillian and Peter, and then hit the hay to be ready for our second day diving!
The next morning, we headed straight to the pool for our second and final day of pool dives! Everyone crushed all of the skills that were covered today and even finished early! The SCUBA groups got to plan their own simulated dives today, where Karlyn expertly led the 5-point descent for her group. The underwater window at the bottom of the pool was a crowd favorite! The leaders got to watch and snap funny pictures as the groups messed around in the bottom of the pool. Luke and Davis showed off their underwater dance moves for the camera! Once we finished our time at the pool, we celebrated with some gelato at a shop nearby! After spending some time walking around the town, we headed to a beautiful beach to spend the remainder of the afternoon. We got to swim in the crystal clear water, throw the football, and work on our tans- we even got to see a sea turtle! After a lovely day on the beach, we headed back to camp. We played a few spike ball games before beginning the first annual Moondance Cheeseburger Grill-Off. Our three strong contenders were Hank (the tank), Davis (the dominator), and Luke (the legend). Our first round was in the style of the cooking show Chopped, where the three contenders prepared their best burger for the judges (us leaders) and we blindly selected the winner. Our champion, crowned for his impressive double smash burger, was Hank! The boys finished cooking burgers for the rest of the group for dinner and we had some watermelon on the side. After dinner, we played some fun games of Empire, where Peter dominated by choosing some unexpected characters and Lillian got to show off her impressive memory! We had a great Moonup led by our LODs Caroline and Alex, and went to sleep ahead of our first day diving in the ocean!
We have loved growing closer as a group over the course of this trip and can’t wait to soak up every last minute!
Until next time,
Maggie, Cabot, and Springer
Thank yous:
Reeves: Hey fam again! Thank u guys so much for giving me this opportunity. I’m having so so much fun. Can’t wait to see u guys in t-minus 2 days. Love you all!!
Caroline: Hi! This trip has been amazing and I’m so so grateful. Thank y’all for giving me this opportunity. Love yall and see yah soon!!!
Lillian: Hey! I have had so much fun on this trip and am so grateful to have the opportunity to have an experience like this! I love y’all and cannot wait to see you!
Addie: Hi! Thank you for allowing me to experience this trip, it has been a life changing opportunity and I’m so grateful. Can’t wait to talk to you in two days. Love you!!!
Luke: Hey! Thank you for allowing me to experience this trip, it has been a life changing opportunity and I’m so grateful. I can’t wait to see you in a few days. I have so much to tell you! I hope y’all had as much fun in yalls trip as I have had in mine.
Karlyn: HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! omg i am having the absolute best time ever! miss yall tons and cannot wait to see yall!! i literally never want to leave hawaii. it is truly so beautiful and the ocean is gorgeous. i want to bring yall next time. we just finished all of our snorkel training and have our big open water dive tmrw!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR LETTING ME GO I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE MY GROUP LOVE YALL!!!!
Taylor: Hey mom and dad!! I can’t thank y’all enough for providing me with this experience, and it’s definitely not one to forget! Everyone around me is beyond amazing, and I can’t believe the time with them is coming to an end so soon! I can’t wait for the hugs and finally getting to see yall! I’m going to miss it, but I’m glad it was this much fun to be able to miss it this much.
Peter: Hey mom and dad!! This experience has been absolutely amazing and the people have been so fun and nice, the counselors have been really fun and caring. We have been scuba diving the last couple days and it has been one of the best experiences I’ve been a part of. I can’t wait to see y’all.
Elle: Hey mom and dad!!! This has been SUCH an unforgettable experience- everything we have done has been so so cool and fun and all the activities have been things I wouldn’t have gotten to do anywhere else like climb a volcano so thank y’all SO SO SO incredibly much. Everyone here is so so sweet and I can’t wait to see you guys!!
Davis: Hey mom and dad! I’m having so much fun! I’ve made a lot of new friends and invited Hank to Birmingham for senior pines. Hopefully y’all are cool with him staying at our house! Can’t wait to see yall! Thank yall so much for letting me go on moondance! It’s been the coolest 2 weeks! Love yall!
Alex: Hey mom, hey dad this is your son, Alex. Thank you for sending me on this trip. I’ve had fun kayaking, ziplining, and scuba diving, See y’all soon.
Hank: Hey Dad love you thanks for sending me here having a great time we surfed, zip-lined, sea kayaked, hiked, and we a scuba diving right now. See you soon.
July 15, 2025
We’ve had an incredible time getting to know each and every kid on our adventure this summer, and can’t wait for what is to come from this great group! We began our trip by waiting for everyone to arrive in the airport, and passed the time by playing hacky sack, solving riddles, and of course making some friendship bracelets. After a tiring travel day we hit the road to showcase the beautiful beachside campsite, where we held a brief Moonup and got some good rest for our adventure to officially begin!
Our first true day as a group was no disappointment. Everyone has been getting along incredibly well, whether it may be through our fun activities or downtime at camp. We left camp after a quick breakfast to hit the waves of Hanalei Bay, where everyone showed off their impressive surfing skills. The guides were particularly impressed with Hank’s ability to not get tired after surfing through both sessions, which was around three hours! Everyone was able to crush the waves and shred the gnar just before we left the bay for a lunch at a nearby beach, with stunning views and even caves! After getting time to tan, and throw the football we got back on the road to have a dinner consisting of Fajitas and chips and guacamole, which everyone loved! After our first jam packed day, we held our official moonup and went to bed to be ready for the famous Nuololo Hike!
After a great nights rest we all drove to the famous Waimea Canyon, where our hiking journey awaited us. We met our guide, and began the difficult trek through the woods, playing fun games and appreciating the local wildlife of Hawaii! Once we found our destination, the kids were stunned to see staggering cliffs, luscious greenery, and of course the Na Pali Coast, which we would later kayak off of! We had a quick lunch, while admiring the great view, and took wonderful pictures with everyone! After hanging out at the top of the cliff head, we started our way back to the trailhead, which was much more difficult than the way there, mainly due to the steep terrain right off the bat. Once the tiring, but worth it, hike was finished we headed back to camp where we enjoyed a meal consisting of fresh Mediterranean bowls, prepared by the LODS, Caroline and Hank! Caroline was particularly great at cutting the veggies, which is a useful skill for the cooking class on the next island, so she’s already ahead of the game!
The next morning, we went back up to the surfing spot and hit the waves one last time. Taylor and Lillian impressed all of us by catching the waves and riding them all the way to the shore! After a great day on the water, we had the opportunity to zip line in a beautiful location, where many movies such as Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones were filmed! We started the day with two ziplines back to back. The group loved the second zipline, called the Pendulum, and many of the kids took on the challenge of going upside down through the rainforest! Next, we got to cool down in a pond with a water zipline, where Luke got to showcase his impressive tricks landing into the water and Peter showed off by spinning around on the zip bar before dropping into the water! Addie embraced the leap of faith jump, jumping from a high platform into the chilly water below! We finished the zipline tour with the crowd favorite head-first zipline, which is the longest zipline in the state of Hawaii! The group loved laying down and soaring above the trees and taking in the view. After our adventure ziplining we went back to a local restaurant which held a line dancing event! Everyone was impressing us with their incredible skills, while Karlyn was particularly good at rounding up the troops to participate. After our meal, we held a great Moonup hosted by our leader of the days Peter and Elle, where we talked about our spirit animals and events in our lives that have shaped us to be the people we are today. This wrapped up this awesome day and then got in bed to rest up ahead of our long kayaking adventure the next morning.
Our morning began bright and early so that we could beat the waves and get out into the ocean to kayak! We were quickly briefed on safety and precautions before hitting the water and traveling to the secluded beach to eat. The highlight of this paddle was definitely seeing a huge pod of Hawaiian spinner dolphins come right beneath our boats! The group did an incredible job kayaking and we made record time for the summer! Cabot and Alex’s boat started the prank wars where we started flipping everyone’s rudders to make it harder to turn, but consequentially flipped the boat while doing so. Once we arrived at the secluded beach we had a quick lunch and swam off the coast of the great Na Pali Coast, then headed back to the send off location. After a tiring but exhilarating day, we headed back to camp to relax for the rest of the afternoon. Our wonderful LODs Karlyn and Alex cooked a great grilled cheese and tomato soup dinner for the group before hosting Moonup!
The next day, we headed straight to the National Tropical Botanical Gardens for our community service aspect of the trip! After a quick safety briefing, we got to work in the gardens helping dig trenches, pull weeds, cut down sugar cane, and wash pots! The kids did an amazing job this afternoon, fully embracing the hard work. We celebrated our accomplishments with lunch and a tour around the beautiful gardens! Our guides taught us about local plants and Hawaiian culture, and the group participated in a trivia game with prizes for the kids who gave the right answers. Elle blew us all away by expertly answering their questions and earning 5 stickers! We headed to a nearby town after our tour and enjoyed some ice cream from a shop with fun local ice cream and shaved ice flavors, which the kids loved! We walked around the town for a bit before heading back to camp and enjoying a spaghetti dinner prepared by our LODs Davis and Reeves! After eating, we had a hilarious Moonup where we each told embarrassing stories that cracked the whole group up!
We have loved getting to know and spending time with everyone and we can’t wait for all that the next week has in store for us!
Signing off for now,
Maggie, Cabot, and Springer
Here are some shoutouts from the kids!!
Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how are yall?? moondance has been sooooo much fun! we are finished on kauai island and are headed to kona island tmrw!!! that is where we will do all of our scuba diving and go visit volcanos! love you and tell everyone and ava and her fam hey! -karlyn
Hi I like Hawaii -Alex
Love you having fun see you in a week. -Hank
I’m having so much fun Hawaii is awesome! See you in a week -luke
I’m having fun – davis
This is amazing and everyone has been so cool, love yall!! -taylor
I’m having so much fun and I can’t wait to tell you guys all about it. Hawaii is awesome. – Peter
I can’t wait to see you guys when I get home. Thank you for letting me do this I’m enjoying every second and everyone here is so fun. Love you!! -addie
This trip has been so amazing and I’m having a lot of fun. Miss and love yall so so much!!! – Caroline
I have been having so much fun and Hawai’i is so beautiful! I love y’all so much and miss you tons! – Lillian
Hey fam!! I’m having so so much fun. Miss you guys! Hawaii is so pretty. Tell all the animals I miss them. Can’t wait to see you guys in a week. Love you all so much! -reeves
I’m having SUCH a great time!!!! We are about to leave to Kona tomorrow and start scuba diving!! Could you by any chance bring my orange English folder & midsummers nights dream in my bag? Also remember to tell heather to pack for me I miss her!!! Love you guys so so much!!! -elle
July 10, 2025
Hello Hawaiian Islands Families!
We heard from our leaders this morning that the group has landed safely in Hawaii! The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure! Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
