Meet Our Staff

Dive Qualifications: PADI IDC Staff Instructor, DSAT Specialty: Trimix Gas Blender Instructor, Tec Deep Diver, NSS-CDS: Full Cave Diver Diving since: 1997 From: Wise, VA Favorite Upper Keys Dive Site: USCG Duane Favorite Keys Restaurant: Sharing the experience of that first breath underwater with a new diver, or technical dive into a cave/wreck, or just floating aimlessly with the underwater windLor-e-lei at sunset Favorite Keys Hangout: Dillions Irish Pub or Flakey’s Tiki Hut; wherever the crew goes after work « View All Staff

Scott Sanders

For someone who has never been diving, the best way to describe the experience is like being an astronaut in outer space; floating around in three-dimensions. It is this feeling of escaping gravity that was the seed for Scott’s interest in diving. He was first certified in 1997 at a freshwater lake in Tennessee. While attending Virginia Tech, and a leader in the Scuba Club, he achieved a rating of PADI Divemaster. However, it was another facet of the organization that became a bigger influence on his future: fall and spring break trips to the Florida Keys. After only a few years of working with an engineering firm in the mountains of southwest Virginia, Scott took an “occupational vacation” that set him adrift on a tropical journey to the waters of the Caribbean. While living on a 31’ sailboat, Scott began his professional diving career at Flakeys. Today, he is a seasoned diver with training and experience in wreck, technical deep and cave diving. He holds teaching credentials with PADI, DSAT and EFR. Whether it is a CPR/first aid course for the local community, a discover scuba diving experience, or helping to prepare new instructors for the business of diving; Scott holds the highest standards for his students and peers. His training philosophy; the highest level of comfort and safety is accomplished by a solid foundation of good form underwater and constant training to remind ourselves that we are only visitors in the aquatic world we love so much.