Mike Ange

Training with Mike

Things You Should Know About Your Dive Courses:

Click here for a schedule of upcoming events Mike Ange Expeditions

 

In choosing an instructor you are making a big decision not only about the safety of your course but also about your safety and comfort over a lifetime of diving activities.  Most organizations in the dive industry made a decision in the early 90’s to dumb down the training standards in order to get more divers certified more quickly.  The unfortunate result has been that basic foundation skills were neglected in these programs and most divers dropped out of diving because they never learned to be comfortable in the water and we do not like to do things we are not comfortable doing.  We are now into 3 or 4 generations of instructors that received their initial training in that system and many of them cannot adequately develop a student’s foundation skills because they never developed the skills themselves.  This difference is one of the things that sets Mike and his instructional team apart from the masses.  The other is a philosophy, most divers are trained to dive commercially – that is on a commercial charter boat with a divemaster basically holding your hand with all risk decisions being made for you.  In the hey-day of diving this was not the case – diving was an adventure sport that took place anywhere there was water and divers had to assess and accept their own levels of risk.  We still train every diver as an adventurer, so you have that capability whether you choose to use it or not.  Because we look at life a little differently and recognize that in life:

IT IS NOT THE MOMENTS WE BREATH

IT’S THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY

We want you to be able to seize life the same way we do, so Mike’s programs are a bit more intense but they are not really boot camp (unless you sign up for one) – he just refuses to do the shorter, cheaper get the money now method of training at any level.  If that is what you want you came to the wrong place.  If you want to have a great time while being challenged to develop the best water skill set possible at any level of your choice then you have reached your destination.

So what are our qualifications and what do we teach?  We teach pretty much everything (see a partial listing of courses below).  Mike holds over 60 international teaching certifications that include Master Instructor, Instructor Trainer and/or Train the Trainer issued by a number of international training agencies including: CMAS, ERDI, IANTD, NASE, PADI, PERT (Asia only) PSAI, RAID, SDI, SSI & TDI.  Mike has received the rare honor of selection as both a Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor and Platinum Pro 5000 Diver with SSI.  In addition to that, he has written a number of diving textbooks, developed the ground breaking “Lessons for Life” training column, served on training/safety boards for six international training agencies and served as adjunct faculty at several colleges and universities.  Three of his annual training programs have become signature events covered by the major media outlets in the industry and he has worked on a number of high profile dive expeditions.  Mike was a diving safety officer for NOAA permit project dives to the USS Monitor Historic Site in 230 fsw off Cape Hatteras, NC and he was the technical dive team leader for the sinking of the USNS Vandenberg off Key West Florida in May of 09.  His team was responsible for removing unexploded ordinance and clearing the interior of this, the second largest artificial reef ever sunk. 

Scheduling:  Mike Ange Expeditions runs a regular schedule of classes that you can locate here.   But increasingly we offer individual and private schedules for divers.  For specially scheduled programs we work on a daily fee or weekly fee plus expenses basis.  Our services are also available to Dive Centers and other companies on a contract fee basis.  Contact our office for details via email (mike@seaduction.com) or call 727-271-8400. 

Courses We Teach

For Recreational Divers we teach:  SCUBA Diver, Open Water Diver, Advanced Diver, Stress & Rescue, Advanced Adventure Diver, Altitude Diver, Deep Diver, Dry Suit Diver, Equipment Specialist, Marine Eco Systems, Night/Limited Visibility Diver, Nitrox Diver, Search & Recovery Diver, Underwater Photography, Underwater Videography, Wreck Diver, Cavern Diver, Limited Penetration Wreck Diver.  Pro certs – Dive Guide, Dive Master, Dive Control Specialist and instructors at all of these levels.

For Technical Divers we teach: Advanced Nitrox, Technical Foundations, Decompression Procedures, Technical Diver, Normoxic Trimix, Full (Hypoxic) Trimix, Intro to Cave Diver, Full Cave Diver, Technical Wreck Diver, Semi-Closed Rebreather Diver, Closed Circuit Rebreather Diver and a number of other specialty courses.  Pro courses:  We train Technical Divemasters and instructors at all of these levels except Full Cave Instructor.

For Public Safety Divers we teach: Advanced Stress & Rescue Diver, Emergency Response Diver (1 & 2), Hazmat Diver, Public Safety Diver, Hazmat Surface Tender, Surface Tender, Heavy Recovery Diver, Tactical Diver Levels 1 through 3 (open to law enforcement only).  Pro Certifications: We train Emergency Response Divemasters, Emergency Response Diver Training Supervisors and Instructors at all of these levels.

Mike w/best friend and business partner Joe Flanders at the helm of Deep Dreams, 1998,  R.I.P. Joe-you are missed

Rebreather dives off Cayman Brac

Mike on Deco in the early 1990s